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lowering the bitterness in a brew that is still in fermentation ?


amberfiend

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hey there good people of the diy forum 😉

i took a break from brewing because i had built quite a stockpile to keep me going over the last few months etc, anyway starting to run low and still had quite a few ingredients stockpiled so roughly a little over a week ago i kicked off a coopers xpa recipe which i dry hoped yesterday (tasting pretty good so far) and i also did a near full grain neipa which was probably the most ambitious effort yet.. everything thing seemed to go to plan but i suspect i boiled for too longafter adding hops and as a result there is quite a pronounced bitterness to what ive sampled from the hydrometer tube so far. today was its 7th day in fermenter and i added the dry hops for the final stage before bottling in a few days etc.

my question at this point is will the bitterness subside slightly once i add sugar to the bottles and let sit for a few weeks ? or is there any steps i can take to reduce the bitterness before the brew is ready to consume ?

*i noted somewhere else somebody suggesting adding a teaspoon of sugar into the glass when serving from the final fermented bottle which kind of makes sense (i would probably use dark brown sugar as it has a nice caramal flavour etc).. this suggestion also made me consider adding a few hundred grams of dark brown sugar to the fermenter now so that its character taints whats already in the fermenter before bottling in 3 days. im not sure whether this would reactivate the whole ferment process or whether i might end up with over carbonated beer when i add additional sugar at the bottling stage ? im still too inexperienced to know if thats a gamble worth taking yeah ?

anyway, any body who has knowledge of this kind of situation and can offer advice on how to alter the final outcome slightly ? i would love to hear your suggestions 😉 cheers for now and hope you all had a good silly season and new years

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26 minutes ago, Lab Cat said:

Brewing with extra sugars won't add sweetness, you'll just boost the ABV - and you will start up another fermentation, at 7 days it's already done.

I would bottle and leave it. Time will smooth it out a bit

yerp

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41 minutes ago, Lab Cat said:

Brewing with extra sugars won't add sweetness, you'll just boost the ABV - and you will start up another fermentation, at 7 days it's already done.

I would bottle and leave it. Time will smooth it out a bit

yeah i figured as much 😞 (i willl adjust to the bitterness no problems, but i was hoping to win over a few old friends etc lol) *have you ever heard of people dropping a pinch of sugar in their glass before pouring in a chilled brew ? or would that just be wishful thinking ?

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7 minutes ago, amberfiend said:

yeah i figured as much 😞 (i willl adjust to the bitterness no problems, but i was hoping to win over a few old friends etc lol) *have you ever heard of people dropping a pinch of sugar in their glass before pouring in a chilled brew ? or would that just be wishful thinking ?

I suppose you can add anything in it you like once all bottled and that. The problem you have is the aroma you get from dry hopping will be gone in 5 to 6 weeks and will still be bitter. Options are waiting a few months or more for bitterness to slowly disappear. You could then make a hop tea and refrigerate it and put drops of this in glass when pouring to get flavour. Or just drink it and dont make so bitter next time.

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49 minutes ago, amberfiend said:

yeah i figured as much 😞 (i willl adjust to the bitterness no problems, but i was hoping to win over a few old friends etc lol) *have you ever heard of people dropping a pinch of sugar in their glass before pouring in a chilled brew ? or would that just be wishful thinking ?

You could do a simple lemonade shandy.  Another option might be to mix it in the glass with a much less bitter brew.  Sort of a tan and tan.

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47 minutes ago, jamiek86 said:

I suppose you can add anything in it you like once all bottled and that. The problem you have is the aroma you get from dry hopping will be gone in 5 to 6 weeks and will still be bitter. Options are waiting a few months or more for bitterness to slowly disappear. You could then make a hop tea and refrigerate it and put drops of this in glass when pouring to get flavour. Or just drink it and dont make so bitter next time.

didnt have the intention of it being so bitter, im just new to this in general etc

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7 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

You could do a simple lemonade shandy.  Another option might be to mix it in the glass with a much less bitter brew.  Sort of a tan and tan.

yeah i could chop it with something a  lot milder i guess, will be going in bottles in a few days and then will see where its at in another few weeks afterr that.. put a lot into this one, will be an expensive lesson yeah, lots of hops involved and time getting through the process etc ;)'

 

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39 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

You could do a simple lemonade shandy.  Another option might be to mix it in the glass with a much less bitter brew.  Sort of a tan and tan.

I have done this. Back in my kit/extract days I once made an IPA that was way over bittered. It was out of balance and a little unpleasant.

I bought a case of cheap Aldi lager and mixed it on a 2:1 basis (IPA to lager).

It helped me get through it. After a while it calmed down enough to reduce the amount of lager to eventually none.

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46 minutes ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

You could do a simple lemonade shandy.  Another option might be to mix it in the glass with a much less bitter brew.  Sort of a tan and tan.

Yes, easiest and best solution. I've had some beers I didn't like - either too bitter or overdid other things. Grab a more neutral beer and mix and match.

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55 minutes ago, amberfiend said:

didnt have the intention of it being so bitter, im just new to this in general etc

yes I know was only trying to help I thought leaving it and adding hop tea down track was a good idea but these other ideas of mixing it are great ill remember it if ever do it myself.

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9 hours ago, Hairy said:

I have done this. Back in my kit/extract days I once made an IPA that was way over bittered. It was out of balance and a little unpleasant.

I bought a case of cheap Aldi lager and mixed it on a 2:1 basis (IPA to lager).

It helped me get through it. After a while it calmed down enough to reduce the amount of lager to eventually none.

 

9 hours ago, Lab Cat said:

Yes, easiest and best solution. I've had some beers I didn't like - either too bitter or overdid other things. Grab a more neutral beer and mix and match.

Also, if you do a mix of two beers like this, you might create something that you really like.  Mixing will give you ideas for brewing a single brew to match your mixed version.  This can apply equally to all grain and kit brewing. 

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2 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

 

Also, if you do a mix of two beers like this, you might create something that you really like.  Mixing will give you ideas for brewing a single brew to match your mixed version.  This can apply equally to all grain and kit brewing. 

my mates a big LEO drinker (a thai beer from aldi rewed with rice) im into it as well as far as commercial brews go, so might end up do some experimenting with that lol

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Hey Amberfiend. 
I made the same mistake recently. I found that time was my friend in this case. After a few months it had mellowed out quite a bit and was a nice beer in the end. Still on the bitter end but not as harsh as the first few weeks. 
Let it ride I say and put it down to learning. 
Cheers

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One thing that I've found is that tasting a sample that still has yeast in it can give a false impression. I have a hunch that a lot of the bittering compounds - such as tannins - will settle down with the yeast and won't end up in the finished beer. Has happened to me a few times.

I'd let it settle down and mature a bit and have another taste.

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2 minutes ago, Bribie G said:

One thing that I've found is that tasting a sample that still has yeast in it can give a false impression. I have a hunch that a lot of the bittering compounds - such as tannins - will settle down with the yeast and won't end up in the finished beer. Has happened to me a few times.

I'd let it settle down and mature a bit and have another taste.

yeah even though im only about 10 brews in so far i have noticed transformations in flavour during the duration of a fermentation/bottling process. ive even had a few beers that i considered failures become a bit more drinkable over time (i hate wasting things, so ofetn ill start the session drinking one or two of the less likable brews to get through them then move onto the more successful ones)

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