Hello everyone,
I've been brewing for well over a year now and I have over 20 all grain brews under my belt and I recently brewed an IPA that I though would be pushing the limits. I enjoy a good hop bitterness so I wanted something that would punch me in the face with bitterness. To be frank, I wanted to create a brew that made me say, "This is too bitter: there is such a thing as too many hops/ibu's." I wanetes to learn something from this brew in terms of what I really liked/desired in terms of bitterness. After a recent online hop haul I created this IPA.
Here's my recipe:
(GRAIN)
10 lb 2 row rahr
2 lb Munich 10L
1 lb Crystal 60
Estimated gravity of 1.063 (@ 70% calculated efficiency but I find I usually do a little better) on this particular brew day I got a post boil gravity @59 deg F of 1.070.
(HOP SCHEDULE)
60 min 0.500 oz Apollo 18.0% AA
45 min 0.500 oz Zythos 10.90% AA
33 min 0.500 oz Zythos 10.90% AA
25 min 1.000 oz Zythos 10.90% AA
15 min 1.000 oz Zythos 10.90% AA
10 min 1.000 oz zythos 10.90% AA
5 min 0.500 oz Cascade ~6.00% AA
1 min 0.500 oz Zythos 10.90% AA
After 1 week (7 days) of vigorous fermentation with a 2000ml starter of Wyeast 1335 English ale II I dry hopped. (Fermentation was actually done in about 4 days but I let it go an extra three before racking into a secondary for dry hopping) (I racked into secondary so I could use some of the yeast cake for a version of an Ed Wort's Pale Ale!)
(DRY HOP) 7th day of fermentation
0.500 oz Apollo
1.00 oz Zythos
1.00 oz Cascade
9th day of fermentation
0.500 oz Centennial (for S's and G's_
I let the dry hops go for about 2 weeks (13.5 to 14 days) until they all dropped out. ( the secondary was a 6 gal. better bottle with a better bottle stopper and an airlock)
I transferred the brew into my keg (final gravity of 1.015) a day or two ago and let it go on 30 psi @ 34 deg F for 3 days ( not perfectly carbonated but i can work with it).
I had not tasted this brew (not even the wort!!!) until today because I thought this would be epically delicious and bitter. I tried it today (about 4 weeks+ after the brew day)..... It is epically delicious....there is little to no bitterness. My brewing software dialed this in to about 116 IBU's with a 1.84 IBU/GP ratio.....
The ed wort's haus pale ale variant I did has more bitterness than this brew (which had 1.0 oz cascade @ 60min, 0.500 oz tradition (7.0% AA) @ 30 min, 0.250 oz tradition @ 15min, and 0.250 oz tradition @ 5 min.)
What I'm wondering is, is: WHERE IS MY BITTERNESS!?!?!?!?!
Did I mask it with excessive maltyness and fruity flavored late addition/dry hops or or what!? I was babysitting my wort throughout the duration of the boil and I had a normal (or what I should call my usual amount) of wort boil activity which I would consider moderate ( continuous rolling boil of the wort which is not to vigorous to jump out of the kettle but vigorous enough to role the wort consistently)
What's you input? I think for some reason I added much unfermentable sugar through the grain bill and added too much aromatic hops too late in the boil/dry hop but I have bot clue...
Don't get me wrong... this brew is delectable. Its is mildly sweet (like a slight green tea sweetness) with an effervescent aroma an flavor or a melon-grapefruit-citrus hop aroma, but like I said less noticeable bitterness than my ed wort variant (and less than the original version of the ed wort's haus pale ale I did a month ago). If I had to pin point a flavor I would say it is similar to something like what I would presume this guy's 1lb zythos pale ale is. (The brewer used 1lb of zythos but only used them for late additions)
^^^ this individual is not the brewer, but a reviewer of the brewer's 1lb zythos pale ale.
Let me know what you think went wrong/ what is masking the bitterness .
Also How can I up my bitterness!?!?!? I was thinking, different yeast, less dry hopping, less unfermentable, grains, and/or more early additions of more of the hops previously stated with less and lower late additions of these hops.
Thanks for your advice in advance.
Sincerely,
Helper
I've been brewing for well over a year now and I have over 20 all grain brews under my belt and I recently brewed an IPA that I though would be pushing the limits. I enjoy a good hop bitterness so I wanted something that would punch me in the face with bitterness. To be frank, I wanted to create a brew that made me say, "This is too bitter: there is such a thing as too many hops/ibu's." I wanetes to learn something from this brew in terms of what I really liked/desired in terms of bitterness. After a recent online hop haul I created this IPA.
Here's my recipe:
(GRAIN)
10 lb 2 row rahr
2 lb Munich 10L
1 lb Crystal 60
Estimated gravity of 1.063 (@ 70% calculated efficiency but I find I usually do a little better) on this particular brew day I got a post boil gravity @59 deg F of 1.070.
(HOP SCHEDULE)
60 min 0.500 oz Apollo 18.0% AA
45 min 0.500 oz Zythos 10.90% AA
33 min 0.500 oz Zythos 10.90% AA
25 min 1.000 oz Zythos 10.90% AA
15 min 1.000 oz Zythos 10.90% AA
10 min 1.000 oz zythos 10.90% AA
5 min 0.500 oz Cascade ~6.00% AA
1 min 0.500 oz Zythos 10.90% AA
After 1 week (7 days) of vigorous fermentation with a 2000ml starter of Wyeast 1335 English ale II I dry hopped. (Fermentation was actually done in about 4 days but I let it go an extra three before racking into a secondary for dry hopping) (I racked into secondary so I could use some of the yeast cake for a version of an Ed Wort's Pale Ale!)
(DRY HOP) 7th day of fermentation
0.500 oz Apollo
1.00 oz Zythos
1.00 oz Cascade
9th day of fermentation
0.500 oz Centennial (for S's and G's_
I let the dry hops go for about 2 weeks (13.5 to 14 days) until they all dropped out. ( the secondary was a 6 gal. better bottle with a better bottle stopper and an airlock)
I transferred the brew into my keg (final gravity of 1.015) a day or two ago and let it go on 30 psi @ 34 deg F for 3 days ( not perfectly carbonated but i can work with it).
I had not tasted this brew (not even the wort!!!) until today because I thought this would be epically delicious and bitter. I tried it today (about 4 weeks+ after the brew day)..... It is epically delicious....there is little to no bitterness. My brewing software dialed this in to about 116 IBU's with a 1.84 IBU/GP ratio.....
The ed wort's haus pale ale variant I did has more bitterness than this brew (which had 1.0 oz cascade @ 60min, 0.500 oz tradition (7.0% AA) @ 30 min, 0.250 oz tradition @ 15min, and 0.250 oz tradition @ 5 min.)
What I'm wondering is, is: WHERE IS MY BITTERNESS!?!?!?!?!
Did I mask it with excessive maltyness and fruity flavored late addition/dry hops or or what!? I was babysitting my wort throughout the duration of the boil and I had a normal (or what I should call my usual amount) of wort boil activity which I would consider moderate ( continuous rolling boil of the wort which is not to vigorous to jump out of the kettle but vigorous enough to role the wort consistently)
What's you input? I think for some reason I added much unfermentable sugar through the grain bill and added too much aromatic hops too late in the boil/dry hop but I have bot clue...
Don't get me wrong... this brew is delectable. Its is mildly sweet (like a slight green tea sweetness) with an effervescent aroma an flavor or a melon-grapefruit-citrus hop aroma, but like I said less noticeable bitterness than my ed wort variant (and less than the original version of the ed wort's haus pale ale I did a month ago). If I had to pin point a flavor I would say it is similar to something like what I would presume this guy's 1lb zythos pale ale is. (The brewer used 1lb of zythos but only used them for late additions)
^^^ this individual is not the brewer, but a reviewer of the brewer's 1lb zythos pale ale.
Let me know what you think went wrong/ what is masking the bitterness .
Also How can I up my bitterness!?!?!? I was thinking, different yeast, less dry hopping, less unfermentable, grains, and/or more early additions of more of the hops previously stated with less and lower late additions of these hops.
Thanks for your advice in advance.
Sincerely,
Helper
Last edited by a moderator: