Goldings Hops left in Barrel

[iandiggs]

Hello, don't suppose somebody could advise me; i dry hopped my barrel of real ale and now it's a little bit too bitter. Obviously i cannot take the hops out now without exposing the ale to air. Will the potency of the hops and their bitterness decrease over time, even though the hops are still in the barrel?
Your advice would be greatly appreciated.Ian

[GrowlingDogBeer]

I'm sure the bitterness only comes out of the hops whilst the wort is boiling, I don't think you get any from Dry Hopping so there shouldn't be a problem.

[unclepumble]

You won't get bitterness from dry hopping, you need temps above 80 deg C to isomerise the alpha acids.

If the taste is harsh, age it, it will mellow out with time.

Incidently how long has the beer been in the barrel?


UP

[iandiggs]

..it's been in t he barrel about 2 weeks now - not long in the grand scheme of things..

[gnutz2]

I've dry hopped two 5 gal brews while they were in the keg both with 50g of hops, some times you get the odd hop leaf coming out but its not too bad.

The resinous hop taste takes a while to mellow out and taste great but this will also depend on what hops youve used but when i got to the end of the first keg i got a really unpleasant grassy taste but only from the last few pints.

I dont know what it would be like after 3 weeks because none of my brews ever last that long but i imagine if the flavour is too strong you used too many hops, try a lesser ammount next time.

Generally i think dry hopping is best left before kegging.

[iandiggs]

thanks for that