hops astringency

[randomiser]

Hi all,
I tried to make an IPA based on a kit and 1.5kg llme. There were 25g perle 1 hour 15g goldings 15min 15g goldings 2 min. All I can taste is the extreme bitterness. Should I not be bittering kits? If I used unhopped liquid malt would that still be too much bittering. It has only been in the bottle 2 weeks.

[rwh]

To work out the theoretical bitterness of your beer, I need to know a few things:
1. What kit did you use?
2. What was your boil volume?
3. What is the AA% of your hops?

Sounds to me like the 25g perle at 60 minutes is your culprit. That would probably be enough to bitter the batch all on its own (depending on its AA% which can be anywhere from 5 to 9.5 %).

I use this calculator to work out my IBUs:

http://www.rooftopbrew.net/ibu.php

And here's a good page on understanding hops vs malt:

http://www.brewsupplies.com/hops-gravity.htm

[randomiser]

It was a black rock IPA kit. I can't find the bitterness for it on the web.

[drsmurto]

Black Rock East IPA is 16 IBUs.

The current batch of Perle is 6.3%AA.

EKG is normally 4-5%.

As rwh said, need to knwo what volume you boiled the hops in and how much of the malt you added etc.

[randomiser]

I boiled the llm with about 3 litres of water and the hops. I made the brew up to 21 litres.

[drsmurto]

This is like pulling teeth....

Without the actual AA% of the hops there isnt much we can do to help you altho with such a concentrated boil hop utilisation will have been greatly reduced.

So mate, what is/was the AA% exactly of the hops you used?

[ryan]

16 IBU is pretty low for an IPA kit though, isn`t it?

[Trough Lolly]

...yeah, more an English Mild than an IPA kit!!
That said, the 25g of Perle is a heap, but a high gravity boil probably spared you from losing your tongue!!

Cheers,
TL

[Kevnlis]

Give it a few more weeks in the bottle. They almost always come good with a bit of age.

[James L]

yeh.. time always heals the wounds... my NWPA that i worked out to be 90 IBUs, is actually a very nice beer now (after 2 months).. it still has a bit of a bitter bite when you take your first mouthful, but is still nice... you just need to get the SG/BU ratios right, but thats another thing that time will help you do...

[Trough Lolly]

Don't worry, it's an IPA...

Months 1-2 = Imperial Pale Ale
Months 3+ = India Pale Ale!!



Cheers,
TL