hmmm... underhopped

[rhodian]

hi guys

fairly new to AG brewing and have just produced a SERIOUSLY under-hopped ale: i have a nice alcoholic malt drink, but it's barely beer... my own fault, a combination of just not paying attention and hops being a lot lighter than one might guess...

anyhoo, have just found a half sachet of "hop enhancement system" from a posh kit i had. it's a powder of hop oil and maltodextrin. i reckon i'm going to add it to the keg to see if it helps. um, any comments? this a bad idea? any better suggestions?

cheers

ian

[delboy]

I would imagine that hop enhancement thing is for hop aroma and possibly flavour so it may be naff all use for adjusting the bittering.

You can buy hop extracts from homebrew shops, a few drops of that should sort out the bitterness for you though.

[Garth]

I don't know whether this would work as I've never tried it, and am fully prepared to get shot down....

but what about drawing off a couple of pints and boiling it in a pan with a quantity of bittering hops for an hour, when it's done, cover it and when it's cool return to the bulk. When adding the liquid back, try not to splash etc.

I don't know how you would gauge how many hops to add though, and what utilistation you'd get, it might be a bit of trial and error.

[Scooby]

I second Garths idea and as I haven't tried it either just shoot him down

I don't think hop oils/essence will bitter your beer, maybe add aroma and a little flavour but not bitterness.

If you do as Garth said you'll end up with more bitterness, if it's not enough at least it's more than before and if it's to much it'll mellow in time.

[mysterio]

I've made a tea by steeping a few ounces of Centennial in some boiled water for 10 - 20 mins and adding it to the batch, worked quite well, the 'tea' was surprisingly bitter (in a good way) too.

[rhodian]

ok, i went ahead and added the hop enhancer stuff and the result is... interesting. from making the original kit it came from i remember the stuff as being quite powerful, but i guess the oils must have mostly evaporated in the intervening months as it's definitely not as strong as it was - i guess that's what happens once you open the sachet.

anyway, comparing keg + hop enhancer with same batch from bottle i can say that i have achieved something much closer to beer in the keg now, and no nasty off-flavours. still not enough, though. i think you're right scooby - i've got some aroma but not much bitterness.

so, i shall try boiling up some hops, i'll probly go for 20 mins rather than full hour, and adding that too. or do i need to hit the full hour, garth? anyway i'll let you know how it goes.

thanks for the tips

ian

[Garth]

No, you maybe don't need a full hour, just you'll need more hops if it's boiled for a shorter time