How big of a goof did I make?

[CPFITNESS]

Newbie here, doing my first 5 gallon batch. Previously only done a 1 gallon kit from brooklyn brew shop which is an all grain kit. I didn't even know what an extract kit was until last week! Anyways, the 1 gallon kit came out great and I was hooked and went for a 5 gallon setup. I liked the beer I made the first time and decided to make it again however I made a little goof. I had so many things going on and accidentally added my first set of hops BEFORE the hot break of my boil. Because it was a 5 gallon batch it took quite awhile for it to get up to the hot break. yesterday , I took a gravity reading and then tasted the brew. It seems WAY more bitter than the 1 gallon batch I made the first time. Yesterday was day 8 in the fermenter. Also, my recipe called for adding 3 3/4 cups of maple syrup at the end of the boil. I thought I had bought enough but I was short 3/4 cup. Will this negatively affect my recipe? I assume that maple syrup is fermentable so perhaps it will marginally reduce the ABV. Is it possible that 3/4 cup of missing syrup is also contributing to the bitter taste? In my limited reading it seems like if I just keep going with the flow and let it do it's thing by the time it's bottled and ready to drink it will probably be fine.

 

[atom]

I just keep going with the flow and let it do it's thing by the time it's bottled and ready to drink it will probably be fine.

it'll be fine. don't worry.

 

[Krane]

I see nothing that seems that bad here. Part of brewing is learning something new each time. As long as you boiled the hops for 60 minutes, no worries. Over that, it will be more bitter, but dont sweat it at this point. I would measure more accurately next time though.

 

[flushdrew42]

i'm unsure of how much the first set of hops before the hot break will affect your IBU's... but i'm doubting that it will very much.

depending upon your recipe, and the total amount of fermentables, 3/4 cup in a 5 gal batch will probably only lower your ABV less than 1/2 a percent, i just plugged in some ingredients in my brewing software and 3/4 cup only dropped it .3%...
the taste you are having is simply green beer.

RDWHAB&WFYHBTBR

relax, don't worry, have a beer... and wait for your homebrew to be ready!

i bet it'll be delicious.

 

[tre9er]

You may be a touch low on ABV but that depends on your efficiency/OG. The bittering should mellow out over time. RDWHAHB

 

[akervin]

The missing maple syrup will change the ABV but not a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if you OG was a little lower then the recipe called for.

As far as the hops I don't think your going to see a significant change. It is better to wait for the boil to get going (about 5 mins is always good then add your hops) but plenty of people have put them a little early with ill effects on the end result.

I think you will be fine. The beer may be a little different then what you're one gallon batch was but then again you may not even be able to notice and remember "IT'S STILL BEER!!!".

I wouldnt worry.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

The bitterness comes from putting the hops in longer than 60 minutes. If you want less bitterness, put fewer hops in the 60 minute addition and more in the 15 minute ( flavor) or 5 minute (aroma) addition. If you had less maple syrup than the recipie called for, you'll end up with a lower alcohol content than the recipie intended. That can be good or bad depending on your taste preferences. Not sure how much flavor Maple syrup contributes, I believe its pretty fermentable. I know 2 lbs of honey in a 5 gallon batch provides very little flavor. Plug the original recipie into tastybrew, note the calculated values, then plug in your "goof" and compare. I bet there isn't much difference. FYI, the human tongue cannot detect a difference in IBU less than 5 points.

 

[CPFITNESS]

thanks guys, meant to put a link to the recipe in case anyone was interested http://hopville.com/recipe/1120391/home-brew/chocolate-maple-porter

This was taken from www.brooklynbrewshop.com I bought their book for my tablet and it seems cool. they've got 52 recipes one for each week of the year! They really try to make it simple since they know new yorkers have small apartments and limited space.
the 1 gallon batch was great, just not enough!

One more question. What does leaving a beer in the fermenter do after the gravity has come to a steady state? I didn't get an initial gravity reading because the hydrometer that came in my kit was broken. I measured the gravity yesterday and it was 1.016. The recipe online estimates the final gravity will be 1.015. I'm wondering if this is actually ready to be bottled?

 

[foodplusbeer]

Adding your hops early won't increase the bitterness that much. You get the vast majority of the bitterness that you are going to get out of the hops in 60 minutes. See the chart and read up here:

http://realbeer.com/hops/research.html

As for the maple syrup, yes decreasing the amount of fermentable sugars in your beer will increase the bitterness, or more importantly it will provide less sugars to balance out the bitterness. Since it's only 3/4 of a cup, I don't think it will make a huge difference. You'll should still get perfectly good drinkable beer. It's only been 8 days, your hops will mellow out over time.

Lastly, Maple Syrup, among other food products, usually has a measurement on it. For future reference. 8oz = 1 cup. Theres about 4.25 cups to a liter.

 

[tre9er]

thanks guys, meant to put a link to the recipe in case anyone was interested http://hopville.com/recipe/1120391/home-brew/chocolate-maple-porterOne more question. What does leaving a beer in the fermenter do after the gravity has come to a steady state? I didn't get an initial gravity reading because the hydrometer that came in my kit was broken. I measured the gravity yesterday and it was 1.016. The recipe online estimates the final gravity will be 1.015. I'm wondering if this is actually ready to be bottled?

The yeast eats up by products of sugar-to-alcohol conversion, basically cleans up after itself and any other minor snafu's you made. 3 weeks is a good time to bottle, in general.

 

[CPFITNESS]

Adding your hops early won't increase the bitterness that much. You get the vast majority of the bitterness that you are going to get out of the hops in 60 minutes. See the chart and read up here:

http://realbeer.com/hops/research.html

As for the maple syrup, yes decreasing the amount of fermentable sugars in your beer will increase the bitterness, or more importantly it will provide less sugars to balance out the bitterness. Since it's only 3/4 of a cup, I don't think it will make a huge difference. You'll should still get perfectly good drinkable beer. It's only been 8 days, your hops will mellow out over time.

Lastly, Maple Syrup, among other food products, usually has a measurement on it. For future reference. 8oz = 1 cup. Theres about 4.25 cups to a liter.

what I didn't realize is how much syrup my gf puts in her oatmeal! I had bought a bottle from when I did the first batch and had plenty left over...so I thought. I went to the store and bought what I thought was enough and then got back and discovered how much she had used!

Thanks again for the advice, guys, I'm feeling a lot better about things. Definately have to go get some more fermenters. This waiting game is killing me!!!!

 

[CPFITNESS]

UPDATE:
Beer tastes great, got me buzzed pretty nice. Had to force myself to cut back and save some so i could see how they would be with 3+ weeks of bottle conditioning

 

[tre9er]

a common problem I have all the time

 

[TTB-J]

UPDATE:
Beer tastes great, got me buzzed pretty nice. Had to force myself to cut back and save some so i could see how they would be with 3+ weeks of bottle conditioning

It sounds like you simply can't be trusted with this beer - I'm going to have to ask you to carefully package the entire batch and send it to me for proper disposal.