White IPA super bitter

[scottballz]

Hey everyone,
So I just kegged my White IPA and took a sample to check FG. I decided to give it a taste and it was SUPER bitter. I know what the culprit, I threw some orange and grapefruit zest in the fermentor once the primary was done and I'm guessing it was the grapefruit zest. Hopefully adding an orange slice will balance it out a little. Do you guys have any ideas of how I can take away some of the bitterness?

 

[Hobanon]

Maybe blending with another batch or even adding very small amounts of boiled lactose at a time (?)

There's a recipe on here for a lemon hefeweizen that adds a bottle of Simply Lemonade during fermentation. I made it as my third or fourth ever brew and it was delicious.

Depending how long ago fermentation ended and how flocculant your yeast was and whether or not you filter, you could maybe add some natural, bottled lemonade and let it ferment out to get a "sweeter" tasting citrus flavor? I'm just spitballing here.

 

[scottballz]

I was kind of thinking the same thing, pretty much back sweeten it. I think I'll start off by adding an orange slice, to the pint, first to see what happens and then go from there. I just don't want to have to dump the whole batch.

 

[HBC]

Not to throw a wrench in.. but keep an eye on it. If it looks funky, starts to taste like cider, you may have an infection. I had a similar circumstance where I keg'd and it was exceptionally bitter-- but ended up having an infection that progressively got worse.

The other issue, might just be that it is not carbonated and still green. You might find in a month it is the BEST beer you ever tasted.

Both circumstances mean one thing; just keg that baby and let it sit for a while. Beer is better a month or two from brew-day.

 

[scottballz]

Not to throw a wrench in.. but keep an eye on it. If it looks funky, starts to taste like cider, you may have an infection. I had a similar circumstance where I keg'd and it was exceptionally bitter-- but ended up having an infection that progressively got worse.

The other issue, might just be that it is not carbonated and still green. You might find in a month it is the BEST beer you ever tasted.

Both circumstances mean one thing; just keg that baby and let it sit for a while. Beer is better a month or two from brew-day.

Yeah man, I was thinking the same thing. It def needs to condition a little. I carbed it on friday and gave it a little taste this morning and it had already gotten a lot better, so I'm very optimistic.

 

[MEPNew2Brew]

I have yet to taste a beer that I thought was any good prior to carbonation. I see lots of posts to the effect that "I pulled a sample while bottling/kegging and it tasted awesome!" For me, nice aroma, usually, but they don't taste good at all. Now, after carbonation and chilling - great brews.

So, as other have suggested and you are finding out yourself, bottle it or keg it and let it condition for a while. While I have never tried it, I think that trying to back sweeten it would be really, really hard to get right.

 

[scottballz]

Yeah man, I was thinking the same thing. It def needs to condition a little. I carbed it on friday and gave it a little taste this morning and it had already gotten a lot better, so I'm very optimistic.

Don't worry man, I brewed a white IPA 2 summers ago and did the exact same thing you did with the orange and grapefruit zest and had the same problem, AT FIRST. It took a good week or two of conditioning in the keg and the bitterness mellowed out. Try it with a fresh slice of grapefruit, it will knock your socks off!

 

[heckler73]

I added coriander and orange peel to mine. No bitterness, just goodness.


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