My latest batch of IPA has come out really unpleasantly bitter, it was only supposed to be about 45 IBUs, using a combination of Northdown, Target and Bobek for bittering (60 minutes) and some more Bobek at flame out and for dry hopping. But I think I may have messup up somewhere as it tastes like it's much much higher than that... I've not bottled it yet (it's still in the secondary - been there for a couple of weeks), …

Just read this Beer and Brewing article on iso-alpha acids in hops and am trying to understand something. The 3rd paragraph in that article states: "Iso-alpha acids are formed typically during wort boiling, when hops are added, and alpha acids are extracted from the hops’ lupulin glands (or from the hop resin in hop extracts). Isomerization is the result of the effect of heat on the alpha acids. The process is both time and temperature dependent. The longer the alpha …

The prevailing wisdom seems to be that dry hopping is for aroma only, and effects on flavor are assumed to be a matter of perception. (i.e. smell affects taste) However, while attempting to "fix" a beer that came out far too sweet, I have been looking into hop extracts, etc. While researching I came across this message: From a chemical point of view, dry hopping will extract all of the alpha and beta acids in hops. The humulones, lupulones and …

When I planned my last batch (my 4th, so I'm pretty inexperienced) using Beersmith for a single hop IPA, I realised that the IBU I got from the recipe was way to low. So I adjusted the recipe and aimed for about 40IBUs. I ended up with the following numbers: 7g Simcoe (12.9%) 60min 30g Simcoe (12.9%) 30min 38g Simcoe (12.9%) 5min Quite some hops, but I didn't realize this at that moment. After the boil I saw that I …

I'm 3 days into fermenting my IPA in a Fermentasaurus under pressure (if it makes a difference) and I've just taken a hydrometer reading, all better than expected. The beer looks beautiful and hazy, smells great and tastes mostly delicious already. However, there's a sharp, bitter afterflavor on it. Is this normal while it's fermenting for another few weeks, does that mellow out after a while? The reason I'm asking is because I am ready to start dry hopping but …

So I made a grapefruit wine recently, using Ocean Spray 100% grapefruit juice, mostly because I am lazy and it was a test batch of about a gallon and a half. The results were interesting. It is clear that ocean spray uses zest in their concentrate, and in taking the zest some pith clearly came with it. So my grapefruit wine is bitter, pithy bitter. However, when one eats grapefruit, or at least if they eat slices of grapefruit, the …

I seem to be noticing that the beers I drink early on from my kegs taste less bitter than the last few beers. My kegs do not move for 1 to 2 months while they are being emptied. Is it possible that the hop oils are separating to the top during this time causing the last few beers to be more bitter?

OK, so I'm now bottling my first batch. I opened the primary fermenter (did not use a secondary) and I've racked the beer to the bottling container. It smells hoppy and delicious. I'm pleased. I taste just a bit before I begin to bottle... and it tastes... bitter. Sort of burned maybe. I know (now) I didn't do a good enough job pouring the wort off the trub - I definitely left too much trub in the fermenter. Is that …

I've always disagreed with the idea that dry hopping or late hopping added 0 IBUs to your end product. If I ever brewed a kit or recipe and followed the hop schedule exactly, it would pretty much always end up too bitter. I found out that my local water pH was high (8.0) when running into some astringency issues and wondered if that had anything to do with it. At first I thought it was the high sulfate content in …

I just finished my first homebrew (yay!), but my hydrometer is reading a very low alcohol content. I brewed an Edme bitter (pre-made wort and I bought the malt extract) and it tastes great, but it's only reading about 1% alcohol content. I have a floating-style hydrometer that came with my brewing kit. I basically had it in the primary for about 5 days, then in the carboy for another 11-12 days. Then I added my corn dextrose (I believe …

My second brew was today and I have a sample from before the wart was throw in the fermentation bucket. It's a rye IPA and the sample tastes very bitter. I know that's to be expected, but I feel like it's more bitter than I thought and I am paranoid that the whole grain steeping might have released tannins. This is because we let the temp get slightly above 170 for a brief period (maybe 2 minutes - my girlfriend …

The starting position for most new extract brewers is to use a partial boil set up. Defined as using a pot smaller than the intended batch size, all the ingredients are boiled in a smaller volume. Then the wort is diluted to the final desired batch size. (Often the dilution step is used as part of a cooling step) What are the Ups and Downs of both Partial vs. Full boils?

I was brewing an English mild with an estimated IBU of 16. Followed the recipe exactly (I can post if needed). Added to the carboy and used a filter funnel to make sure the hops didn't make it into the carboy because in the past I didn't do this and had this same issue. Fermentation went well and my gravites are exactly what the recipe showed. But when I went to bottle and check for FG I also sampled and …

I'm going to brew a Kölsch soon with about 25 IBUs. I was planning on using Hallertau Hersbrucker for bittering. However, after I bought the hops I noticed they only have 2.3% alpha acid content. Using the calculator on Brewersfriend.com I calculated that I will have to use 100 grams at 60 minutes (~3.5 ounces I think) to achieve 25 IBUs. I've never added this much hops to anything but huge stouts and IPA's so I'm worried about the hops …

I made a coopers classic IPA beer kit with a hop tea (about 5min boil), tin of light malt extract and 500g of light spray malt. I forgot to add water to the airlock in the first 4 days of fermentation (hoping that was ok though, it was inside and the kit yeast looked pretty happy after hydrating it). Fermentation was kept stable at about 19 degrees Celsius. Anyway, I just tasted the beer going into the keg and it …

My knowledge about hops and their contributions to bittering and aroma: The hops can be grouped by four purposes, being: Bittering, Aroma and Dual, the dual can be divided yet by "bittering/aroma" and "aroma/bittering" (summarizing the four groups). Some vendors says that bittering hop (single-purpose) can only contribute to bittering, none or negligible contribution to aroma. In others hands, the aromatic hop, can only contribute to aroma, none or negligible contribution to bittering. But the dual purposes hops can contribute …

Since the FG is what measures the residual sugar in the final beer, why do we use OG, instead of FG, to calculate the ratio of the bitterness over the sweetness in final beer? How precisely is the quantity IBU/GU?

I recently brewed an Imperial Stout with some coffee additions. While I didn't boil the coffee for long (warm steeped 3oz beans and pitched grounds and two cups of brew at flameout), it did lend some unpleasant bitterness to the beer. Unlike hop bitterness, this isn't as pleasing to the tongue. The flavor isn't awful--the beer is still drinkable--but I'm wondering if I should expect it to fade with age. I just completed a 13 day primary, and ended up …

I am going to be brewing the Zymurgy KBS clone, but a little nervous with some of the additions listed: 2.5 oz Belg Bittersweet Choc and 1.5 oz unsweetened cocoa nibs @ 15 mins. ***I read that adding straight chocolate to the boil will kill the head retention due to the oils. Can I cold crash the primary and skim the oil layer before racking into the second? adding 2 oz of GROUND Sumatran coffee @ Flameout. Will this be …

I've had a 5 gallon all-grain batch of John Palmer's Elevenses in primary for just over a week. When I was brewing, I haphazardly dumped twice the prescribed amount of bittering hops (German Northern Brewer) in for the full 60 minutes. The recipe asks for 0.6oz, and I added the full 1oz sachet. Upon testing the gravity last night I tasted the beer and it's very bitter, but otherwise good. Is there anything I can do, adjuncts I can add, …