Too late to open the keg to "fix" the beer?

[psujeeperman02]

So, I attempted to make a grapefruit IPA.
Brewed, fermented, kegged.....then went to my LHBS.
They sold me a 2oz pack of dried grapefruit peel.
The package says to toss either into the boil kettle or secondary.
Since I was way passed the boil, I simply tossed into the secondary for 10 days with some dry hops (in a mesh bag).

The keg has been carbing at 11psi for about a week. I tried last night. It still needs to carb, but the beer has a strong bitterness to it. Girlfriend says it tastes like she's biting into the grapefruit peel.

Anyway, I dont think that peel bitterness is going to go away. After reading bits and pieces on the interwebs, Im thinking the only way to save this is possibly to dump some grapefruit juice into the keg and hope the sweetness balances the bitterness out a bit.

That being said....he keg has been carbing for a week now, is it safe to purge the air, open the lid to add this to the beer?
Then seal, purge, and continue carbing?

Just to point out...the bitterness is definitely not from the hops

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Yeah, peels can go a long way. If I was you I wouldn't add the juice to the keg I would add it to my glass.
That way if it dosen't work its not all messed up plus you can decide if you need a 1/4 cup of 1/2 cup of juice to make it enjoyable and that might vary by person. I added Ruby Red Juice to my IPA this weekend and I did about a 1/4 cup and it was really good.

However, if you must add it to the keg yes you can purge add it and close it. Don't make this a practice obviously but it wont hurt it one time if your quick about it.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

For the next batch, try citra hops instead/ I addition to the grapefruit pee. Gives a nice citrus/grapefruit taste.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Any update did the juice fix it? I also second citra hops its one of my favorite.

 

[psujeeperman02]

Oh yes, I love a nice Citra hop as well.

So last night I pulled another pint and tasted it.
It seems like the harsh bitterness of the peel is actually starting to mellow out.
Im wondering if it just may need a few days or so to condition a little better.

I did pull another pint and added maybe a half of shot glass of ruby red to it.
It was OK. It masked the peel bitterness a bit, but was still missing something.
I think tonight I will add more ruby and see what happens.

So you add 1/4 cup of juice to your pint glass after you tap a beer?

 

[madscientist451]

You have a couple of options, but I'd say opening the keg and trying adding something isn't the best one.
My first thought is a rebrew without the grapefruit and the blend in the glass as you drink it. Or you could buy a 30 pack of coors light or something similar and add 1/2 can or so to each pint.
Another idea would be to get some splenda, or real sugar and have it by the kegerator and put some in each glass before you pour a beer. Some experimentation with the amount of sweetener will be required, but that bitter bite from the peel could be balanced by sweetening.
I wouldn't add grapefruit juice to an already overly bitter beer, but you could do some taste tests and see if it works for you.

 

[psujeeperman02]

You have a couple of options, but I'd say opening the keg and trying adding something isn't the best one.
My first thought is a rebrew without the grapefruit and the blend in the glass as you drink it. Or you could buy a 30 pack of coors light or something similar and add 1/2 can or so to each pint.
Another idea would be to get some splenda, or real sugar and have it by the kegerator and put some in each glass before you pour a beer. Some experimentation with the amount of sweetener will be required, but that bitter bite from the peel could be balanced by sweetening.
I wouldn't add grapefruit juice to an already overly bitter beer, but you could do some taste tests and see if it works for you.

Good points.
Yeah, after posting the question here, seems like the best move is to NOT open the keg at this point.
Never thought about just adding sugar to each glass, but that's surely a possibility as well.
Im still hoping the bitterness of the peel with mellow a bit over time.
trust me though...this definitely won't be a drain pour

 

[55x11]

Good points.
Yeah, after posting the question here, seems like the best move is to NOT open the keg at this point.
Never thought about just adding sugar to each glass, but that's surely a possibility as well.
Im still hoping the bitterness of the peel with mellow a bit over time.
trust me though...this definitely won't be a drain pour

I think quick open of the keg, pouring the juice, close the keg and re-carb is fine. You may risk a bit of oxidation but if beer it too bitter, it may be your best choice.

I agree that you should dial the dose by adding it to the beer first.
I had similar experience with Orange IPA that had way too much Orange concentrate added (this was my friend's beer) - we ended up diluting a bit with a regular IPA, but orange IPA also faded a bit over the next 3-4 weeks. Just FYI.

If you really object to the strong bitterness, I would brew another 5G batch and mix the two via closed transfer. So you will end up with 2 kegs of slightly less bitter IPA!

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Oh yes, I love a nice Citra hop as well.

So last night I pulled another pint and tasted it.
It seems like the harsh bitterness of the peel is actually starting to mellow out.
Im wondering if it just may need a few days or so to condition a little better.

I did pull another pint and added maybe a half of shot glass of ruby red to it.
It was OK. It masked the peel bitterness a bit, but was still missing something.
I think tonight I will add more ruby and see what happens.

So you add 1/4 cup of juice to your pint glass after you tap a beer?

Not every beer, but I do find that I enjoy adding about 1/4 cup of juice to my Pint on certain IPA's.

After having this beer, its just been a thing b/c I liked it so much.

https://www.stiegl.at/en/brands/range/main-range/stiegl-radler-grapefruit

 

[kpr121]

Oh yes, I love a nice Citra hop as well.

So last night I pulled another pint and tasted it.
It seems like the harsh bitterness of the peel is actually starting to mellow out.

Do you think theres a chance some of that grapefruit rind made it over into the keg?

I know a lot of times my first couple pulls off a dry hopped brew will be very hoppy and sometimes even get some hop particles in the glass.

That could explain the mellowing out.

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

Do you think theres a chance some of that grapefruit rind made it over into the keg?

I know a lot of times my first couple pulls off a dry hopped brew will be very hoppy and sometimes even get some hop particles in the glass.

That could explain the mellowing out.

Yes, he put grapefruit peel in the beer he said that in his first post.

 

[kpr121]

I guess my point is that the rind particles may be settled at the bottom of the keg and the first couple pulls will be stronger than the rest maybe. Sorry for the captain obvious post.

 

[psujeeperman02]

Do you think theres a chance some of that grapefruit rind made it over into the keg?

I know a lot of times my first couple pulls off a dry hopped brew will be very hoppy and sometimes even get some hop particles in the glass.

That could explain the mellowing out.

This is very possible.
I only inspected the peels briefly when I opened the bag that I purchased from the brew supply store.

I wouldn't think they'd throw the rind in there, but it was tough to say.

Let me back up saying that I dry hopped right into the keg which I am now carbonating and serving.
I did pull the dry hops and peels out of the keg before carbonating though.

 

[kpr121]

I vote don't do anything to it until you've pulled about 6 to 10 beers off the keg. You may find that it mellows out more once all those hops/grapefruit particles are relatively cleared out.

 

[psujeeperman02]

I vote don't do anything to it until you've pulled about 6 to 10 beers off the keg. You may find that it mellows out more once all those hops/grapefruit particles are relatively cleared out.

Good call!
I pulled a few more pints off last night and WOW...the harsh bitterness has already mellowed out.
It isn't as clear as I was hoping....still hazy, no particles floating around...but the taste has definitely improved.

I could ask why the haze, or if that will improve over time, but I guess that could be for another thread topic

 

[kpr121]

Good call!
I pulled a few more pints off last night and WOW...the harsh bitterness has already mellowed out.
It isn't as clear as I was hoping....still hazy, no particles floating around...but the taste has definitely improved.

I could ask why the haze, or if that will improve over time, but I guess that could be for another thread topic

Glad to hear it! The haze will likely get better but may not clear completely.