Overly bitter upon initial taste pre-fermentation

[drat]

Noob questions here -

Made a Scottish ale this weekend. To offset the sweetness, recipe (4 gallons) called for 60 grams of Fuggle at initial boil (60 minutes) and that's the only addition. So, we were looking at a bittering hop and that's it. There was no Fuggle at the hbs, so I got some williamette (4.7 aa)) but only grabbed 31 grams by accident. I had some old cascade (12 grams, 6.2 aa) and centennial (14 grams, 8.7 aa).
Did I really fowl up my brew by making it ridiculously bitter and if so, is there any fix now that its fermenting?

 

[drat]

I should add that the two old hops had been in the freezer for about the past 6 months.

 

[vinylrooster]

Google ibu calculator and figure out your final ibu's. Then use this chart to determine your perceived bitterness relative to your SG. You may still be in the clear

 

[vinylrooster]

Also, I can't tell you how many times I've tasted my wort pre fermentation and was disappointed. After the yeast performed their magic everything tends to mellow out. As with most things, time will heal all wounds, so just let it ride and try it in a few weeks

 

[KepowOb]

Also, I can't tell you how many times I've tasted my wort pre fermentation and was disappointed. After the yeast performed their magic everything tends to mellow out. As with most things, time will heal all wounds, so just let it ride and try it in a few weeks

+1

I've had a few brews where the hops flavor was through the roof when I tasted my OG sample, it was almost foul, and it really dissipated and blended well in the end. Fermentation does wonderful things!

 

[gcdowd]

IME, pre fermented wort and post fermented wort are two different beasts. The bitterness definitely mellows after fermentation

 

[boysbrew2012]

Agreed if you make an IPA your taste buds will be on overload with hops once you keg it they really mellow out and the marriage of hops and grain really comes out....don't trip just age it for 2-3 months....my Scotty tasted like **** the first pour and now I can hit all the flavors I was expecting I'm looking at 5-6 months since the initial brew date....so be patient and if you don't like it you can always try again =)

 

[billl]

Your hop combo would have made your beer within about 3% of the intended bitterness level (depending on the exact AA of the fuggles in the recipe and the freshness of your "old" hops). So, you are right on target.

 

[johngaltsmotor]

Plus it depends what sample you taste. If you taste the remnants in the keggle after transferring to the fermenter they will be SUPER bitter. Some of the oils remain on the surface and if you drain from the bottom you'll have a lot of bitter oils in the keggle. (If you transfer the trub from an IPA brew to a pint glass it will separate into trub at the bottom, wort in the middle, and oils on top.)

 

[drat]

Great comments everyone. I was thinking that the yeasties will do some good things, but wanted to hear from some more experienced folks. Thanks for helping a noob!

Also, I've been looking up the calculations for ibus, can you explain how you determined how I was within 3 percent? Still trying to get that down. Thanks!

 

[vinylrooster]

Great comments everyone. I was thinking that the yeasties will do some good things, but wanted to hear from some more experienced folks. Thanks for helping a noob!

Also, I've been looking up the calculations for ibus, can you explain how you determined how I was within 3 percent? Still trying to get that down. Thanks!

Using this calucuator (http://www.brewersfriend.com/ibu-calculator/) you can plug in the grams of each hop addition and their respective AA level, which gives you a total IBUs of 45, assuming you did a normal ~5 gallon batch and ~1.055 OG. See the attached image for the calculations.

Now, if you re-do those calculations for 60 grams of fuggles (assuming ~4.5AA) you will get 37.6 total IBUs.

Basically, you wanted to get ~37.6 IBUs into your recipe and you ended up with 45.

 

[billl]

"Also, I've been looking up the calculations for ibus, can you explain how you determined how I was within 3 percent? Still trying to get that down. Thanks!"

To get to IBU, you need to use one of the calculators or utilization tables.

To just compare 60 minute addition, it's much simpler. Just multiply the AA times the weight and add them all together. I used a higher AA value than vinylrooster (the ones in my freezer are higher).

31x4.7 + 12x6.2+14*8.7 = 342

5.5 x 60 = 330

342/330 = 1.036 = 103.6%

If the recipe called for 4.5AA, you would have 4.5*60=270 or 26% more bitter. 5AA would be +14%.

Some recipes are actually written like that since AA and bitterness varies by crop year and even lot. eg bittering units. That is usually in AA ounces. So 10 bittering units would be 1 oz of 10AA or 2oz of 5AA.