Docjowles
Well-Known Member
I've noticed a common off flavor in hoppier homebrews, both mine and those of a friend, and I'm just wondering what people think could cause it and why. All of them were extract + steeping grains, partial-boil brews. The batches in question used amarillo, centennial and/or cascade. Pellet hops.
Basically the beer ends up very harshly bitter (and more bitter than what I'd expect from the recipe IBU's), as well as having a kind of soapy flavor. These batches were done very simply; steeped grains and then boiled the extract the full 60 minutes, around 3 gallons in the pot. Then I chilled it down and topped up in the fermenter.
Any thoughts? Is the very concentrated boil totally screwing up hop utilization? I'm brewing all-grain with full volume boils now so this is just my curiosity, and also trying to help my buddy who's just getting started. I haven't done a hoppy all-grain batch yet to test my theory but it's coming up as soon as a keg comes free
Basically the beer ends up very harshly bitter (and more bitter than what I'd expect from the recipe IBU's), as well as having a kind of soapy flavor. These batches were done very simply; steeped grains and then boiled the extract the full 60 minutes, around 3 gallons in the pot. Then I chilled it down and topped up in the fermenter.
Any thoughts? Is the very concentrated boil totally screwing up hop utilization? I'm brewing all-grain with full volume boils now so this is just my curiosity, and also trying to help my buddy who's just getting started. I haven't done a hoppy all-grain batch yet to test my theory but it's coming up as soon as a keg comes free