Too Many Hops

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PieOPah

Too Many Hops

Post by PieOPah » Tue Aug 22, 2006 8:26 pm

Just had a sneak taste of my stout which is busy fermenting away and eeww, far too many hops for my liking. I could probably deal with it but it seems like it is over powering the taste of the beer :(

Is it ruined or will this eventually mellow out? I do know in future I'm never gonna boil the full 125g for 60 minutes like I was advised (damn americans!)

PieOPah

Post by PieOPah » Tue Aug 22, 2006 8:51 pm

QUOTE (Daft as a Brush @ Aug 22 2006, 08:36 PM) btw 90mins is the common boil time, if you want less hop bitterness, use less hops, dont reduce the boil time.
Thanks for the advice (as always) DaaB. Just gotta be patient and let it mellow :)

I know about reducing the hops rather than the boil time. Also, in general I only ever do a 60 minute boil

Road Runner

Post by Road Runner » Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:04 am

I too have had a few beers that seemed way too overhopped when they were young. Maybe even after a month or so's conditioning where still too overpowering.

I've just left them alone for maybe a couple of months & the flavour will really mellow. These have then turned out to be some of my better brews.

Stouts often are a higher gravity beer than say a bitter and so will take longer to mature any way. What was the OG of this stout?

I know there's a rule of leave it a week for every 10 degrees of OG, but all my beers I find reach their best condition after around 2 months in the keg, even if it was a low OG.

Don't worry, sit back & have a (more mellowed) home brew. I'm sure it'll turn out ok after some time in the keg.

PieOPah

Post by PieOPah » Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:53 am

QUOTE (Road Runner @ Aug 23 2006, 08:04 AM) Don't worry, sit back & have a (more mellowed) home brew. I'm sure it'll turn out ok after some time in the keg.
Can't quite remember the exact OG. I think it was about 1.055 (currently 1.016). This was going to be my Cherry Chocolate Stout, but I think that I am going to save the cherries until I have perfected my mashing technique and found myself a fairly decent base brew that I can build on. Don't want to waste 1.5kg of cherries just yet :)

I would love to try a more mellowed home brew but I thought I had an extra crate but recently discovered I had already drunk it (ARGHHHHH!). Was hoping that I could get into this stout fairly early :) Guess I'll be waiting longer than anticipated.

Great thing is it is an excuse to brew again at the weekend :D

Road Runner

Post by Road Runner » Wed Aug 23, 2006 9:19 am

QUOTE (PieOPah @ Aug 23 2006, 08:53 AM) I would love to try a more mellowed home brew but I thought I had an extra crate but recently discovered I had already drunk it (ARGHHHHH!).
I know the feeling PoP. I too currently have an empty home brew cellar, my kegs are dry. So I sympathise with you on that.

I have a Coniston Bluebird that needs racking to secondary as soon as I can be asked to do it. But I also hope to get a "MYSTERY" brew on the go this weekend.

Sounds like this bank hol weekend will be a bit of a brew fest, as I believe Andy has thoughts about christening his new copper mash tun manifold too.

PieOPah

Post by PieOPah » Wed Aug 23, 2006 9:49 am

I think that for my next couple of brews I'm going to do some pre formulated recipes... I can always tweak them to my own liking afterwards!

Road Runner

Post by Road Runner » Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:51 am

Just checked out your recipe in the recipe section. It does look like quite a lot of hops you've used, which might be the cause of the strong hop flavour/bitterness.

Although as we've said, you can't really tell untill the beer has matured for a while.

When I've had quality control samples of green beer, it has often seemed strong on hop flavour, but has mellowed conciderably after some time in the keg.

PieOPah

Post by PieOPah » Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:54 am

Going to keg it this weekend while I brew another beer. Definately gonna hold back on the hops :)

mysterio

Post by mysterio » Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:44 am

I agree with the above. My last IPA was face-puckeringly bitter until it had matured for about 5 weeks, when it rounded out nicely. I assume you've got some roasted/dark grains in there aswell, which also will be contributing to bitterness before they've mellowed.

One thing to remember: If you get a lower efficiency than expected, you should also balance your hops out accordingly. For a stout your probably wanting your IBUs about the same as your OG, I.E. 55 IBUs for a 1.055 OG.

PieOPah

Post by PieOPah » Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:49 am

QUOTE (mysterio @ Aug 23 2006, 11:44 AM) If you let a lower efficiency than expected, you should also balance your hops out accordingly. For a stout your probably wanting your IBUs about the same as your OG, I.E. 55 IBUs for a 1.055 OG.
This never even occured to me....

Must say though coincidentally, my IBU was in the 50's (according to BeerSmith) while my OG was also in the 50's. Will definately keep this bit of info in mind the next time I make a stout :)

Thanks :)

andybrock

Post by andybrock » Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:58 am

QUOTE (PieOPah @ Aug 23 2006, 08:49 AM)I think that for my next couple of brews I'm going to do some pre formulated recipes... I can always tweak them to my own liking afterwards!

I have several Protz and Wheeler books ("Brew Your Own Real Ale at Home" etc.).

It's worth noting that Graham Wheeler's recipies seem to assume approx 20% hop utilisation, normally you get a lot more than that. Making them very bitter, you could probably half the amount GW states.

The first recipe I brewed needed maturing for about 4 months before the bitterness declined. (however after that if was fantabulous)

mysterio

Post by mysterio » Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:24 pm

QUOTE (PieOPah @ Aug 23 2006, 10:49 AM) QUOTE (mysterio @ Aug 23 2006, 11:44 AM) If you let a lower efficiency than expected, you should also balance your hops out accordingly. For a stout your probably wanting your IBUs about the same as your OG, I.E. 55 IBUs for a 1.055 OG.
This never even occured to me....

Must say though coincidentally, my IBU was in the 50's (according to BeerSmith) while my OG was also in the 50's. Will definately keep this bit of info in mind the next time I make a stout :)

Thanks :)
You should be fine then.

You should check out Ray Daniels' book 'Designing Great Beers', Its full of info like that plus guidelines for brewing most beer styles. It's the best homebrewing book I own.

Like andybrock pointed out, hop utilisation varies from set-up to set-up, so IBUs are very subjective.

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