Julius BIAB Clone

[stickyfinger]

So I just Kegged after cold crashing. Purged the keg minimized oxygen. I did have a screwup where my siphon hose had a hook up, so i made a small fountain which was quickly covered in beer. Next time i will be more mindful (new hose).

I pulled a flat taste off.

Wow, tasted like bitter hell. Almost a chemical bitter. Sure, my glass had hop flakes and other debris floating around it it, being the first pull from the keg. but no hop aroma, just bitter.

This could be my palate not being ready for beer and not a great pull. Also, no bubble dispersing hoppy goodness. But what gives?

The only places I went off on the recipe were:
- Didnt use a hopshot, instead about 40IBU's worth of summit (per calculator)
- Poor efficiency 1.055 instead of 1.065
- London III yeast
- chilled while whirlpooling @0 instead of a whirlpool followed by chilling.

Hoping some carbonation will help it, but wow. bitter.

I have started bittering to around 20 IBU calculated with Rager for all of my IPAs. Dry hopping can add a ton of bitterness depending on the hop varietal. It will mellow some with a little age though. Also, if it is really cold, you won't get as much hop character.

 

[Brewmance]

just took a sip of a diff citra IPA. then mine. The bitterness gets picked up like toward the middle or back of your mouth and slowly sneaks up. The smell I'm getting is sweet. Candy almost. Thoughts? is it just time? Did I overdue my IBU's?

 

[Brewmance]

I have started bittering to around 20 IBU calculated with Rager for all of my IPAs. Dry hopping can add a ton of bitterness depending on the hop varietal. It will mellow some with a little age though. Also, if it is really cold, you won't get as much hop character.

Thanks for the reply, yea it is really cold because i just cold crashed. I just turned my keezer up to like 48 to see if that helps. appreciate the feedback.

 

[stickyfinger]

Thanks for the reply, yea it is really cold because i just cold crashed. I just turned my keezer up to like 48 to see if that helps. appreciate the feedback.

I'd try dropping off the kettle IBUs to much lower or none. If you ferment out the beer, there is really no need for a lot of bittering if you ask me. Some macho-types need the IBUs and bitterness to feel like real men, but if you are firm in your sexuality and self-confident you can drink non-bitter IPAs with tons of hop flavor and still not have shriveling-balls syndrome...

 

[Brewmance]

I'd try dropping off the kettle IBUs to much lower or none. If you ferment out the beer, there is really no need for a lot of bittering if you ask me. Some macho-types need the IBUs and bitterness to feel like real men, but if you are firm in your sexuality and self-confident you can drink non-bitter IPAs with tons of hop flavor and still not have shriveling-balls syndrome...

HAHAHAHAHA. I can do that easily. I actually prefer the hop flavor and aroma to the bitterness any day. thanks for the advice. Will do.

Funny you say that, this beard club that used to come into the brewery I worked in for open houses (basically all you can drink for $10) would insist on drinking our most aggressive IPA's and would make a stink about it when they weren't on tap. I remember grabbing the "alpha" a beer and saying "conncubine?"(our 80IBU 9% double IPA) and him saying, well I'm certainly not going to the watermelon ale.

Shortly after I ended up asking to be taken off the schedule because I hooked up with the owner's assistant...numerous times and it was getting weird(different story).

 

[stickyfinger]

HAHAHAHAHA. I can do that easily. I actually prefer the hop flavor and aroma to the bitterness any day. thanks for the advice. Will do.

Funny you say that, this beard club that used to come into the brewery I worked in for open houses (basically all you can drink for $10) would insist on drinking our most aggressive IPA's and would make a stink about it when they weren't on tap. I remember grabbing the "alpha" a beer and saying "conncubine?"(our 80IBU 9% double IPA) and him saying, well I'm certainly not going to the watermelon ale.

Shortly after I ended up asking to be taken off the schedule because I hooked up with the owner's assistant...numerous times and it was getting weird(different story).

ha ha living up to your moniker, Brewmance...


that's the other thing that gets annoying. Oh, it has to be a triple IPA, 12% ABV before it's worth drinking. Idiots.

 

[Brewmance]

So had a nother taste this A.M. Not as bad, but still a bitterness that haunts you. I am thinking this could be caused by using too much gypsum and calcium chloride.

 

[stickyfinger]

So had a nother taste this A.M. Not as bad, but still a bitterness that haunts you. I am thinking this could be caused by using too much gypsum and calcium chloride.

To me, gypsum gives more of a drying effect, similar to when you have a more tannins. Some say they think it increases bitterness too. I think you're going to have to just hope that it moderates a little as it ages and make modifications next time.

 

[h22lude]

To me, gypsum gives more of a drying effect, similar to when you have a more tannins. Some say they think it increases bitterness too. I think you're going to have to just hope that it moderates a little as it ages and make modifications next time.

Gypsum doesn't increase bitterness. Like you said, it dries it out which increases the perceived bitterness. IBUs will stay the same. Just seems more bitter. Thus is why I use very little gypsum and more chloride in NEIPAs.

 

[JoeMamasIPA]

So had a nother taste this A.M. Not as bad, but still a bitterness that haunts you. I am thinking this could be caused by using too much gypsum and calcium chloride.

Did you use Centennial in your final dryhop because it sounds like it. The waiting game should not need to be played with this recipe, 4 days post kegging should be enough to get the right taste.