I Have A Conundrum (bitterness Q)

[gibbocore]

I have brewed myself an IPA, i have bittered to 62IBU, its down to about 1025 and its tasting VERY bitter, in the sense that its not tasting all that balanced, i may have mashed to low (66) it has 800g of crystal in it all up.

I love IPAs and love a good bitter so its not my palate, but at what point should i consider feeding it some ldme and steeped crystal? Will the bitterness over a month be less perceived and i gather it will be less perceived when cold also as i'm tasting it at 18 degrees.

???

OG 1055

should finish at 1014

 

[t2000kw]

I love IPAs and love a good bitter so its not my palate, but at what point should i consider feeding it some ldme and steeped crystal?

I'll let those more experienced with overbittering (never had that problem, fortunately) answer the other part of your question, but you can certainly add steeped crystal/ldme at any time now, and up to at least a few weeks from now. Fermentation will re-start if it was finished, though, and if that happens, you'll have to wait again for it to finish.

I've only done it once, but I added a specialty malt a few days into fermentation when it was missing in the ingredients pack I bought. The seller shipped the missing grains right away and said it would come out OK. The beer won an award, so I guess it did come out OK.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

I find that sometimes if the yeast is still in suspension that the bitterness is higher than after it has dropped out

I'd let it finish before worrying about it

Cheers

 

[fraser_john]

I find that sometimes if the yeast is still in suspension that the bitterness is higher than after it has dropped out

I'd let it finish before worrying about it

Cheers

This is especially the case if you used hop pellets and some of the material is still in suspension.

John

 

[Maple]

This is especially the case if you used hop pellets and some of the material is still in suspension.

John

Agree with the above 2 comments. The yeast cells do collect alot of the bitterness, once your chill it and the yeast flocc out, it will mellow. let it go, see in a few weeks how it stands up, then make your adjustments if any on the next one.

 

[gibbocore]

Cool, cheers fellas, i may have jumped the gun, i tasted the same sample after i had something to eat as well and the bitteness seemed a lot more mellow. I did use pellets and the yeast is doing a dirty old job of it too.

 

[Hutch]

During primary, I often worry that I've overshot my IBU target, tasting more bitter than I would have expected. Always seems to mellow quite a bit once finished and conditioned though.

Just as an observation gibbo, your BU:GU ratio is about 1.1, so already a bit higher than most "quaffing" styles. I'm guessing that >60 IBU is gonna taste pretty bitter in primary.

 

[gibbocore]

this is all very reassuring stuff here fellas, thanks.

With the BU:GU ratio, is there a list of what should be aimed for in terms of styles? Because i'm gathering that for an IPA it should be a higher than usual?

 

[BoilerBoy]

Dont know how you did or measured your hop additions, but 62 IBU is in no way OTT and remember IPA is a style that designed to be matured and balanced over time. If it didn't have some of that bitterness your describing in primary I'd be worried.

Cheers,
BB

 

[gibbocore]

anxiety head gibbo is anxious, no supprise there, hahaha

 

[Screwtop]

I have brewed myself an IPA, i have bittered to 62IBU, its down to about 1025 and its tasting VERY bitter, in the sense that its not tasting all that balanced, i may have mashed to low (66) it has 800g of crystal in it all up.

I love IPAs and love a good bitter so its not my palate, but at what point should i consider feeding it some ldme and steeped crystal? Will the bitterness over a month be less perceived and i gather it will be less perceived when cold also as i'm tasting it at 18 degrees.

???

OG 1055

should finish at 1014

With your target FG of 1.014 I gather the OG was in the 1.052 - 1.054 ballpark. 62IBU gives a BU:GU ratio of 1.4 pretty high when the average for the style is around .8 a bit out of balance, will be fairly bitter - this one might turn your ears backwards. You can always blend with other beers to tame it down a bit, or you just might like it after a while.

Cheers,

Screwy

 

[Fourstar]

The longer you condition the better it will be, the yeast flocs out as does the resins coating the yeast cell walls. The will drop the IBU perception and also kill any of that 'harsh' bitterness you speak of witha hazy IPA.

Good example was my 68IBU Red rocket clone... was uber astringent when it had yeast haze, when it floc'd out it smoothened up. the only pitfal was too much amber malt... quite overpowering unfortunatly for my palate. was still enjoyable in small doses

Cheers.

 

[fraser_john]

Using the Balance Value calculation (Assuming 1.014 final gravity), adding some non fermentable crystal sweetness certainly may help in the long run. But I'd be patient first.

Target Beer
BJCP Style Sub Category Mid BV
IndiaPaleAle 7. India Pale Ale 1.76



Your Beer
Starting Gravity 1.054
Final Gravity 1.014
Bitterness Units 62


Balance Value 2.339622642


Refer To http://beercolor.netfirms.com/balance.html

I use a spreadsheet for this calc.

 

[eamonnfoley]

I would say the short answer to all these explanations is: the beer is green

 

[eamonnfoley]

Agree with the above 2 comments. The yeast cells do collect alot of the bitterness, once your chill it and the yeast flocc out, it will mellow. let it go, see in a few weeks how it stands up, then make your adjustments if any on the next one.

on this point - I'm finding the combo of POR bittering hop pellets, and US05 seems to take a fair while to mellow out. Although I didnt use finings.

 

[Snow]

If after conditioning the beer it is still too bitter, you can brew a mini batch with some extract, but no hops and blend that with your beer. Brewing software can help you work out volumes to reach target IBUs.

Cheers - Snow

 

[gibbocore]

with this cold weather the us05 has flocced out really well at 1016, perfect for an IPA imho, an the bitterness has mellowed out really well.

 

[crundle]

If you don't have beersmith, this site helps - BU:GU ratio

DJ1984 made an IPA with over 70 IBU's and it was really bitter, but after about 4 months in the keg, the bitterness has really dropped noticeably.

Give the wort time to ferment out, and then the finished beer time to mature - it will work out great.

Crundle

 

[fraser_john]

with this cold weather the us05 has flocced out really well at 1016, perfect for an IPA imho, an the bitterness has mellowed out really well.

Yay

 

[gibbocore]

Yay

Haha, indeed!