Super High IBU...

B

BuckNasty

New Member
Trial Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2013
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
0
This is my first post and second batch so bear with the noob mistakes, please
I had a brew day with my brother the other day and we were making some IPA. I did a partial mash and he did a full, everything went smoothly. However, we were drinking while we were brewing, and we just decided to throw in some extra hops along the way. Here is the breakdown(all in pellet)
.5 Oz Magnum-first wort
.5 Oz Magnum @ 0mins
.5 Oz Centennial and .5 Oz Cascade @ 15min
.5 Oz Cent.&.5 Oz Cas. @ 30
again @ 45
again @ 60
Total boil: 75 mins w/ 2 Oz Cascade 2 Oz Centennial and 1 Oz Magnum

OG was 1.044, kinda low, and the projected IBU is about 134…a little high, the wort tasted delicious though
I am planning on adding some sucrose(~3lb) after a few days of brewing

I like hoppy beers, but this number is a little absurd, how worried should I be/can I do anything to balance out the bitterness?

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/r ... /super-ipa

Thanks y'all!
 
A little lactose - the sweetness will balance too much bitter and it's not fermentable. Since Magnum is a very neutral bittering hop, I'm wondering about using it for flavor applications.... Hmmm.
 
So maybe 1/2 lb for the 5.5 gallon batch? Should I add that before I rack it to the secondary fermenter?

As for the Magnums, I was following a recipe from a local brew store up until about 15 mins, then I started to trail blaze into the unknown, pretty excited for the result though.
 
BuckNasty said:
.5 Oz Cent.&.5 Oz Cas. @ 30
again @ 45
again @ 60
Click to expand...

So that we are all tracking, when you say @ 60, is that with 60 minutes left on the boil, or after 60 minutes of boiling? When working with hops, the time generally represents the amount of time the hops are in the boil. Depending on how you did your calculation the IBU's could hit the 199 mark. :eek: If you keg, then you have some more options to back sweeten it otherwise Lactose maybe one of the few options.

I would not add the sucrose at this point. It is nearly 100% fermentable and 3lbs may thin out your beer to much. If you are trying to drive up the alcohol content at this point I would try some DME, and figure about 75% attenuation, which will also help to sweeten it up a bit.

Good luck, and post back the results.
 
I recorded the time that had elapsed when i threw the hops in, so @60 means they were in there for 15 minutes. I will pick up some DME to try and balance it out, is 3 lbs too much? Also do I need to parcel out the DME additions as I would with straight sucrose and do it over the course of a few days?
I am bottling so it looks like the lactose may be my best bet, when should I add that?
 
I was just reading in the How to Brew site that FWH should use at least 30% of the total amount of hops, and that you should only utilize low AA hops. Also found blog post here from 4 years ago with similar guidance. Of course, what's the use of homebrewing if you can't break some of the rules and do what you want. I'm an extract brewer, but I have made some attempts at FWH by tossing them in with the steeping grains. Only one batch so far, and that was thrown off by a boilover that resulted in the loss of some flavoring hops, plus a poor job of dry-hopping (got bitterness but not great aroma or flavor). Tried again on most recent batch and the balance in the samples seems MUCH better.

Wanted to elaborate a bit on my statements above. I used the BF recipe builder to make a semi-clone of Gumballhead, but with Cascade instead of Amarillo. The recipe gives AA of 7, but my LHBS listed their Cascade as 5; that said, the dude recommended upping amounts by 40%, which was overkill with the bittering. So I adjusted the value in the builder to 5, and went from there, and the results were better (so far). Recipe below (I don't think I'm close to 30% in my own FWH):

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/r ... pper-wheat
 
Honestly I would just ride this one out, you might be surprised at what you end up with.

3lbs, of DME in 5.5 gallons will put the gravity at 1.027 (1.044+ 3lbs DME(.027)=1.071). You can use the recipe builder to play around with the numbers.

I have never added sugar during fermentation so I am not sure on the best method.

Double check your recipe, and in the hops section make sure the time you use is the amount of time the hops are in the boil. So if you input 60 mins, that means the hops are added to the boil with 60 mins left (60 min means boiled for 60 mins).

Also after you hit 100 IBUs bitterness does not necessarily go up. 200 IBUs will not be twice as bitter as 100 IBUs. At around 100-120 IBUS you are reaching the upper limit of AA's that you can extract into your beer. So just because you can calculate it, that does not mean that is what you have.

RDWHAHB
 
I agree with Foster - ride it out. Taste the result in secondary before deciding on a course of action - you may like what you get. Remember we add hops to counter the sweetness of beer, it works the other way around too - sweet counters bitterness. Lactose is not fermentable so you can add it to up sweetness at any time during fermentation or after for that matter. And, cue mantra, RDWHAHB.
 
Thanks for all the help, I just get a little nervous when I know I won't taste the result end result for another month, and that nervousness will probably lead me to over correcting. In the off chance this batch becomes a sensation, I will send you all a sixer!

Diggin the mantra, too. Words to live by
 
@ 1.044 it looks like you have a bitter, very hoppy session IPA.
That may be fine or if you want a more typical IPA, you can certainly add some DME and some simple sugar.
You said you did a partial mash, what were the grains and extracts used?
You may have plenty of non-fermentable sugars already, so I'd be careful adding more.

If you decide to make your beer a more typical IPA, I'd add 1 pound of DME and 1 pound of Dextrose (corn sugar).
Carefully take the 2 sugars and 2 cups of water and bring it to a simmer on the stovetop for about 10 minutes. Then put a lid on it and let it cool a bit. Add the mixture to the primary fermentor slowly and then give the beer another 2 week to finish up.

Good Luck,
Brian
 
Well I gave it a taste today as the bubbling slowed down considerably.
Verdict-wow, bitter. Kinda light in body too.

I added some simple sugar and a lb of light DME balance it out. Bubbles have appeared again, looking forward to see how these additions play out.

Thanks for all the input, I think in the future I will stick to recipes to save myself the headaches. Then again, forging new paths is fun.
 
SIMPLE sugar and DME won't work. They will just ferment and give you a lighter bodied, stronger bitter beer. You'll have to add a non-fermentable sugar like lactose to sweeten the beer.
 
Who said an IPA is balanced! :mrgreen:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Copyright © 2007-2024 Brewer's Friend, Inc. - Send Feedback - Terms - RSS Feed - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Back
Top