Can I Fix It?

[tfbrews]

Good morning,

I did a double IPA (my first) and the beer did not ferment all the way to my target so now I have a super hoppy, undrinkable beer.

Any way to fix this?

I was shooting for 9.1% and 100 IBUs and ended up around 8.2%.

I tasted it out of the fermenter and it was hoppy but not terrible, then once kegged it was just too much.

 

[Hello]

Hops do fade over time.
Can you gives some info on original gravity, final gravity, recipe, yeast and fermentation time and temp?

The perceived IBUs, in my opinion, would be less if you have a beer that did not ferment out as much as it should have. I would expect a slightly more malty beer. I think there is something about your entire process, perhaps you used a recipe that had listed hops with a lower AA% than what your hops were. Hops vary in AA% depending upon crop and such.

When did you keg it? I would give it a couple of weeks from kegging and try it again. If it is still bad, wait a month. Otherwise, you could brew another beer, exact grain bill but keep the IBUs to about 10 and then keg that, blend the two together as you pour.

 

[ricshayne]

Without more info it isn't possible to diagnose the situation, although I will say that I doubt it is the hoppyness causing the problem, it would be very, very hard to over hop a DIPA

 

[blizz81]

The only way to address this problem: I will PM you my address and you can send the batch to me in bottles for proper disposal. I will make sure this "too hoppy" beer gets "dumped" the correct way.

 

[tfbrews]

13.75# 2 row
1# 120
1# Victory
0.5# Carafoam

Mashed at 152 for 60 mins with 5 gals
Sparged with 5 gals at 168

PB Volume: 7.5
6 gal into fermenter

Used 1056 with a 1L starter

PB Gravity: 1.063
OG - 1.074 (was shooting for 1.090)
FG: 1.011

about a gallon of boil off.

1oz. Mosaic at 60
1oz Chinook @ 25
1oz Columbus @ 23
1oz Mosaic @ 15

14 days in primary
14 days in secondary

 

[tfbrews]

Also, too-hoppy and undrinkable are two different things.

I love a lot of hops, but this is downright undrinkable.

 

[ReverseMonk]

Also, too-hoppy and undrinkable are two different things.

I love a lot of hops, but this is downright undrinkable.

A FG of 1.011 is pretty well fermented out on a beer of this gravity. If its undrinkable to you, its probably just over hopped. 1.011 doesn't leave much malt backbone behind to balance out 100+ IBUs.

Time will probably be your only friend on this one...

 

[blizz81]

So by "the beer didn't ferment all the way to your target", it seems you're really just talking in ABV%, not attenuation? 1.011 is getting towards the dry side, but surely any lower there is not helping a "too hoppy" problem. I guess you probably just mean missing your OG?


I still don't necessarily think 1.073 vs. 1.090 in this recipe is going to make or break it, but then again a) the recipe seems like a pretty decently strong, maybe more bitter-hoppy beer than full-on DIPA with no dry hopping / not a lot of hops at flameout and b) I don't even know how much it would take to "over hop" a beer (I've tried, and haven't gotten close I don't think - we're talking 5gal batches of upwards of 13oz of pellet hops start to finish, some more full-boil centric than others), but trying to pretend the threshold exists for advising people that might not like as hoppy beers as I do, I still don't think you're close to that point. I wish I had some suggestions on how to "fix" it, but I think I'd have to taste it to know what's making it undesirable.


I don't know that you have many options at this point anyways other than maybe brew another beer and blend it, or just see if time helps.

 

[jrgtr42]

Can I ask what is going on with the batch?
Recipe and procedure?
OG and FG?
EDIT: Those posts weren't there a minute ago.

Short of something really wrong with it, I don't see this brew going much lower than 1.011.
The thing I wonder about is you say pre-boil gravity was 1.074 and OG into fermenter is 1.073? Not only is it not possible that the gravity went DOWN during the boil, it should have gone up pretty significantly with a gallon plus of boil-off. Can you please confirm those numbers and how you reached them?

 

[tfbrews]

My bad... the PB Gravity was 1.063.

 

[tfbrews]

So by "the beer didn't ferment all the way to your target", it seems you're really just talking in ABV%, not attenuation? 1.011 is getting towards the dry side, but surely any lower there is not helping a "too hoppy" problem. I guess you probably just mean missing your OG?


I still don't necessarily think 1.073 vs. 1.090 in this recipe is going to make or break it, but then again a) the recipe seems like a pretty decently strong, maybe more bitter-hoppy beer than full-on DIPA with no dry hopping / not a lot of hops at flameout and b) I don't even know how much it would take to "over hop" a beer (I've tried, and haven't gotten close I don't think - we're talking 5gal batches of upwards of 13oz of pellet hops start to finish, some more full-boil centric than others), but trying to pretend the threshold exists for advising people that might not like as hoppy beers as I do, I still don't think you're close to that point. I wish I had some suggestions on how to "fix" it, but I think I'd have to taste it to know what's making it undesirable.


I don't know that you have many options at this point anyways other than maybe brew another beer and blend it, or just see if time helps.

Forgot to add that I used 3 oz of Nugget to dry hop.

 

[kh54s10]

13.75# 2 row
1# 120
1# Victory
0.5# Carafoam

Mashed at 152 for 60 mins with 5 gals
Sparged with 5 gals at 168

PB Volume: 7.5
6 gal into fermenter

Used 1056 with a 1L starter

PB Gravity: 1.063
OG - 1.074 (was shooting for 1.090)
FG: 1.011

about a gallon of boil off.

1oz. Mosaic at 60
1oz Chinook @ 25
1oz Columbus @ 23
1oz Mosaic @ 15

14 days in primary
14 days in secondary

I think what I highlighted in red are leading to your problem. Maybe 1/2 pound or less of c-120 and a mash temperature of about 148 degrees.

It could also be out of balance a little because it was hopped for 1.090 and you only achieved 1.074. I wouldn't think that would make it undrinkable though.

 

[fantomlord]

I think what I highlighted in red are leading to your problem. Maybe 1/2 pound or less of c-120 and a mash temperature of about 148 degrees.

It could also be out of balance a little because it was hopped for 1.090 and you only achieved 1.074. I wouldn't think that would make it undrinkable though.

^that's the problem. I don't think it's the grain bill...maybe a tad heavy handed with the victory, but I think the low OG is to blame for it being too hoppy.

 

[chri5]

13.75# 2 row
1# 120
1# Victory
0.5# Carafoam

PB Gravity: 1.063
OG - 1.074 (was shooting for 1.090)
FG: 1.011

1oz. Mosaic at 60
1oz Chinook @ 25
1oz Columbus @ 23
1oz Mosaic @ 15

Always underestimate your efficiency on big Gravity batches. It tends to be lower than expected until you get your system and process dialed in. If I've entered everything correctly, you would need around 80% efficiency to reach 1.090 with that grain bill.

In general, I would avoid those additions at 25 and 23 and move them to 10 and 5. Adding them earlier as you did does add I us, but I prefer the flavor from later additions. Personal preference though. Of course I also would have thrown in all the hops you used in dry hopping at flame out and not bothered dry hopping.

 

[bja]

In general, I would avoid those additions at 25 and 23 and move them to 10 and 5. Adding them earlier as you did does add I us,

This is your problem. How did you come up with that hop schedule?

 

[chri5]

This is your problem. How did you come up with that hop schedule?

When I first started brewing I would have recipes that looked like the OP's. The way I came up with those recipes was by having a target IBU in my head, and a fixed amount of hops to work with. Then I'd change my addition timing to hit that IBU target. The beer would be okay, but nothing amazing.

Over time I realised that the IBU number was overvalued (imo) in the craft beer community and that the flavor and perception of bitterness was more important. That is what has led me to my current method for ipa recipe building where most of my hop additions are fwh and late additions with just 10 minutes left in the boil.

 

[Raoul_Duke_PhD]

When I first started brewing I would have recipes that looked like the OP's. The way I came up with those recipes was by having a target IBU in my head, and a fixed amount of hops to work with. Then I'd change my addition timing to hit that IBU target. The beer would be okay, but nothing amazing.

Over time I realised that the IBU number was overvalued (imo) in the craft beer community and that the flavor and perception of bitterness was more important. That is what has led me to my current method for ipa recipe building where most of my hop additions are fwh and late additions with just 10 minutes left in the boil.

Backloading the hop additions works a lot better in IPAs. Other than bittering, I do all my additions at 10 minutes or less.

As for the OP, you could have always added some sugar or DME to build your gravity back up. Keep that in mind next time. Prost!:rockin:

 

[chri5]

Backloading the hop additions works a lot better in IPAs. Other than bittering, I do all my additions at 10 minutes or less.

Indeed. Unless I'm making a beer that should have no/minimal aroma the vast majority of hops go after 10 minutes.

 

[tfbrews]

Thanks all. Great suggestions all around and will def change my hop schedule moving forward.