Do I have a problem with Extract with Grain

Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum

Help Support Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jhay

Well-Known Member
Joined
5/1/13
Messages
87
Reaction score
4
Location
Tweed Heads
This was my last brew . Boiled on electric stove with what I would say was not a rolling boil but a gentle boil in the middle of the wort. The taste is very bitter and although I've become used to the bitterness others find it hard to drink. Is this caused by the bitterness hops or by the boil procedure .I've ordered a 40 litre hot water urn in anticipation of going All Grain.

Is it the bittering hops or the problem with the boil that is causing the very bitter taste. Any help would be appreciated .The current recipe is as follows and the batch is 35 days old.


[SIZE=medium]Seventh Brew [/SIZE] [SIZE=medium]1.5kg LME (Coopers) @ 10 Min[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]750gm DME (Coopers) @ 10 Min[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]500gm Pale Ale Malt Mashed[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]250gm Crystal Pale 90-110 Steeped[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]250gm Dextrose @ end of boil[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]250g Wheat DME @ 10 Min[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]250gm Wheat Malt Mashed[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]25gm Magnum Hop Pelletts 60 Min[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]20gm cascade Hop Pellets 30 Min[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]25gm Cascade Hop Pellets 15 Min[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]1 Teaspoon Irish Moss @ 10 Min[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Safale US 05[/SIZE] [SIZE=medium]See Brew Mate[/SIZE]



[SIZE=medium] [/SIZE]


[SIZE=medium] [/SIZE]
 
25gm of Magnum, plus the cascade at 30 mins, in a brew that I'm assuming is 19-23 litres is craploads.

Did you run any IBU calculations before you started? Do you have any software?
 
jhay said:
This was my last brew . Boiled on electric stove with what I would say was not a rolling boil but a gentle boil in the middle of the wort. The taste is very bitter and although I've become used to the bitterness others find it hard to drink. Is this caused by the bitterness hops or by the boil procedure .I've ordered a 40 litre hot water urn in anticipation of going All Grain.

Is it the bittering hops or the problem with the boil that is causing the very bitter taste. Any help would be appreciated .The current recipe is as follows and the batch is 35 days old.


[SIZE=medium]Seventh Brew [/SIZE] [SIZE=medium]1.5kg LME (Coopers) @ 10 Min[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]750gm DME (Coopers) @ 10 Min[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]500gm Pale Ale Malt Mashed[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]250gm Crystal Pale 90-110 Steeped[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]250gm Dextrose @ end of boil[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]250g Wheat DME @ 10 Min[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]250gm Wheat Malt Mashed[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]25gm Magnum Hop Pelletts 60 Min[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]20gm cascade Hop Pellets 30 Min[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]25gm Cascade Hop Pellets 15 Min[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]1 Teaspoon Irish Moss @ 10 Min[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Safale US 05[/SIZE] [SIZE=medium]See Brew Mate[/SIZE]



[SIZE=medium] [/SIZE]


[SIZE=medium] [/SIZE]
Need to know your volumes and aa% of your hops.
 
As emnpaul said aa% of the hops and IBU expectations would help if you can post them
 
This is the Brewmate calculations are as follows:


[SIZE=medium]American IPA[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 23.0
Total Grain (kg): 3.750
Total Hops (g): 70.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.050 (°P): 12.4
Final Gravity (FG): 1.011 (°P): 2.8
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 5.05 %
Colour (SRM): 7.4 (EBC): 14.6
Bitterness (IBU): 60.1 (Average
[/SIZE])
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

[SIZE=medium]Grain Bill
----------------
1.500 kg Liquid Malt Extract - Light (40%)
0.750 kg Dry Malt Extract - Light (20%)
0.500 kg Pale Ale Malt (13.33%)
0.250 kg Crystal 40 (6.67%)
0.250 kg Dextrose (6.67%)
0.250 kg Dry Malt Extract - Amber (6.67%)
0.250 kg Wheat Malt (6.67%)
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Hop Bill
----------------
25.0 g Magnum Pellet (12.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.1 g/L)
20.0 g Cascade Pellet (7.8% Alpha) @ 30 Minutes (Boil) (0.9 g/L)
25.0 g Cascade Pellet (7.8% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (1.1 g/L)
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Misc Bill
----------------
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 18°C with safale US 05
[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Recipe Generated with BrewMate[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Hope this helps[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Thank you[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium] [/SIZE]
 
Dude it's like fully 60 IBU. Like 'em bitter but that's alot of bitterness. Try about 30-35 and I think they'll be better received by your friends.
 
Sounds awesome! Get a bottle of "Palate Wrecker" and ask your buddies to compare. At a cool 140 odd IBUs it'll make your brew taste like Carlton Cold.
 
70 IBUs is high but certainly not over the top for an IPA. The trick is to balance out the bitterness with a strong malt backbone and plenty of flavour/aroma hops. I use magnum in most of my IPAs at 60 mins to around 30-40 IBUs. Have been happy with the results and don't find them too bitter. Currently drinking an IPA that was bittered to 60 IBU with the 60 minute addition alone. Was more of a test than anything else but has turned out to be one of my favourite beers that I have ever made. Plenty of late hopping in that one.
 
It's all about balance...basically, a 60 IBU/5% abv beer will likely taste a lot more bitter than a 60 IBU/6.5% abv beer.

I dunno about the other software, but IanP's spreadsheet that I use gives a BU:GU ratio (i.e. the balance between bitterness and OG). Your recipe above works out to a ratio of around 1.17, whereas a 'normal' American IPA would be more around 0.75.

To get your brew above to be an American IPA with a 0.75 BU:GU, you could have dropped it back to 20 grams of Magnum (giving an end IBU of 50), and added enough malt to get your OG up to around 1.066. That's smack bang in the middle of the AABC style range for an American IPA....plenty of room to move from there of course, depending on your taste. It seems 'bigger is better' applies to most IPA's these days, but keep in mind Feral's Hop Hog, voted craft beer of the year 2 years running now, is an IPA with 5.8% abv and 48 IBU. A lot of IPA brewers/drinkers will scoff at those numbers, but it obviously works.
 
Back
Top