Heavily hopped NEIPA terrible hop bite. Conditioning tips?

[Brewer #334545]

Hey everyone after struggling with my NEIPA flavour and aroma I beefed up my hop schedule and the beer is fresh, 3 days in the keg it has terrible Hop bite.
Hop schedule:
Flameout:
4 Oz lemon drop
165F whirlpool:
2Oz cryo citra
2oz Amarillo
2 oz taiheke

day 3 dry hop
2 oz cryo citra

day 7 drop hop
2oz Amarillo
2oz taiheke

OG 1.065

took gravity sample day 10 it was 1.011 had slight airlock activity
No airlock activity day 12 and kegged was at 1.010
man it’s like drinking a glass of fireball right now, is it best to let mellow out at room temp or should I throw it in the kegerator?
I’m assuming it’ll take a couple weeks to round out.
Thanks

 

[Donoroto]

Time will be your friend.

Count on it, less than 2 weeks from now that bite will mellow.

 

[Mark Farrall]

I've stopped drinking my heavy late hop beers for a week or two (or just a small sample to check the carbonation). I know everyone talks about having hazies fresh, but I think anything under a week is definitely too fresh and I think they're at their peak at two weeks. Considering most commercial beers are going to be ridiculously fresh at two weeks from packaging I don't think people really mean as fresh as we can get them with homebrewing.

 

[Box of Rocks]

I’d say stick it in the kegerator. Time should mellow the hop bite, especially since the schedule is with lower temp Whirlpool and dry hop additions, reducing the degree of bitterness that’s “baked in”.

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

Heavily hopped beers are a little rough at first, but it’s more of a green character, at least it is to me. I completely agree with the posts above that hoppy beers have a “peak”, typically it’s two to four weeks from crashing.

The other thing it maybe is a high finish pH in the beer. It should be 4.2-4.4 or so. High levels of hardness in the water can cause it and heavy dry hopping will raise pH as well. If that’s the cause, no amount of aging will improve that.

You can do an experiment by pouring a small amount of beer in a glass. Dip a toothpick in 85% lactic or phosphoric acid and add a drop to the beer, taste it and see if it improves. Keep adding until you are happy with it or you can taste the acid. If the acid additions improve the beer, that would be an indication of a high finish pH. You can add acid to a finished beer to improve it, but be careful that you don’t add too much at a time. A little goes a long way. I add1/4 tsp to 5 gallons at a time. If you don’t have brewing acids, you can do the experiment in the glass with white vinegar. I would hesitate to use vinegar to correct the entire batch, phosphoric acid is my first choice, lactic my second. Most home brew stores sell 85-88% lactic acid, but only 10% phosphoric acid. Take the higher concentration. 85% phosphoric acid is available on Amazon.

 

[Brewer #334545]

Heavily hopped beers are a little rough at first, but it’s more of a green character, at least it is to me. I completely agree with the posts above that hoppy beers have a “peak”, typically it’s two to four weeks from crashing.

The other thing it maybe is a high finish pH in the beer. It should be 4.2-4.4 or so. High levels of hardness in the water can cause it and heavy dry hopping will raise pH as well. If that’s the cause, no amount of aging will improve that.

You can do an experiment by pouring a small amount of beer in a glass. Dip a toothpick in 85% lactic or phosphoric acid and add a drop to the beer, taste it and see if it improves. Keep adding until you are happy with it or you can taste the acid. If the acid additions improve the beer, that would be an indication of a high finish pH. You can add acid to a finished beer to improve it, but be careful that you don’t add too much at a time. A little goes a long way. I add1/4 tsp to 5 gallons at a time. If you don’t have brewing acids, you can do the experiment in the glass with white vinegar. I would hesitate to use vinegar to correct the entire batch, phosphoric acid is my first choice, lactic my second. Most home brew stores sell 85-88% lactic acid, but only 10% phosphoric acid. Take the higher concentration. 85% phosphoric acid is available on Amazon.

Thanks I will give it a try. I wouldn’t say it’s bitter but almost a pepper spice or tea bag quality. It is definitely very intense though lol

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

Thanks I will give it a try. I wouldn’t say it’s bitter but almost a pepper spice or tea bag quality. It is definitely very intense though lol

High pH can cause the tea bag astringency bitterness, it’s not pleasant.

 

[Brewer #334545]

High pH can cause the tea bag astringency bitterness, it’s not pleasant.

I know strips aren’t the most accurate but mine is showing below 4.6 it is the lowest ph it can read. I just tried it for the first time in 48 hours and it has taken a pretty big turn for the better. Thinking I might be in the clear

 

[Nosybear]

I know strips aren’t the most accurate but mine is showing below 4.6 it is the lowest ph it can read. I just tried it for the first time in 48 hours and it has taken a pretty big turn for the better. Thinking I might be in the clear

I've found that low pH in finished beer can cause the bitterness to go harsh. Make a baking soda solution, it will only make about a 9.2% solution. Add dropwise to your sample and see if it eliminates some of the harshness. It may not but it's worth a try.

 

[Brewer #334545]

I've found that low pH in finished beer can cause the bitterness to go harsh. Make a baking soda solution, it will only make about a 9.2% solution. Add dropwise to your sample and see if it eliminates some of the harshness. It may not but it's worth a try.

I actually have some dental grade CaOH, it’s a very fine powder though spooks me lol. Unfortunately I will be on a business trip next 2 weeks so I’m just going to wait it out before getting too gung ho on the PH balance.

 

[Nosybear]

I actually have some dental grade CaOH, it’s a very fine powder though spooks me lol. Unfortunately I will be on a business trip next 2 weeks so I’m just going to wait it out before getting too gung ho on the PH balance.

Aging it may work, too. Good luck with it.