Too Much Citrus Oil - Help

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by DirtyHoodBrewing, Aug 5, 2015.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. DirtyHoodBrewing

    DirtyHoodBrewing Initiate (0) Aug 5, 2015

    We brewed a 5 gallon batch pale with citrus peels (dried) and fresh lime peels, the amount of hop oil turned the beer extremely too bitter during secondary fermentation. To correct for the mistake, we boiled two pineapples in a gallon of water and pitched it for another week and a half. It corrected for a miniscule amount of the bitterness. Any other ideas on how to correct or neutralize the batch to a drinkable condition?

    Thanks!
     
    #1 DirtyHoodBrewing, Aug 5, 2015
  2. jlordi12

    jlordi12 Pooh-Bah (1,856) Jun 8, 2011 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah

    Blend it with something malty?

    edit: hop character will have faded some by the time beer #2 is ready so probably another round of Dry Hopping would be in order
     
    #2 jlordi12, Aug 5, 2015
  3. DirtyHoodBrewing

    DirtyHoodBrewing Initiate (0) Aug 5, 2015

    My idea was to make it into a 10 gallon batch by mixing it with equal parts of malt only wort. I also sampled it, added a couple tbsp. of honey to it, it mellowed out the front but the bitterness was still attacking your pallet at the backend.
     
    #3 DirtyHoodBrewing, Aug 5, 2015
  4. machalel

    machalel Initiate (0) Jan 19, 2012 Australia

    Boiling and adding pinapples will not reduce the bitterness in any way apart from diluting the beer with extra water. Your best bet is to brew something that has very little bitterness in it, and then blend the two together.

    If it is still bitter, let it sit and age for a while longer before trying again. How long ago did you make it?
     
    #4 machalel, Aug 6, 2015
  5. DirtyHoodBrewing

    DirtyHoodBrewing Initiate (0) Aug 5, 2015

    I would have to look to be sure, but I believe 6 weeks ago.
     
    #5 DirtyHoodBrewing, Aug 6, 2015
  6. machalel

    machalel Initiate (0) Jan 19, 2012 Australia

    What sort of beer is it?

    How much citrus did you add?

    How much hops?

    What's the recipe?
     
    #6 machalel, Aug 6, 2015
  7. Brew_Betty

    Brew_Betty Initiate (0) Jan 5, 2015 Wisconsin

    The white pith of the orange peel is unpleasantly bitter. It's better to use a fresh orange and remove the pith from the zest rather than buying dried orange peel with the pith.
     
    #7 Brew_Betty, Aug 6, 2015
    pweis909 likes this.
  8. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,250) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    As @Brew_Betty indicates, your problem likely is the bitterness from the citrus peel pith. It can be pretty unpleasant, and in my experience, it does not fade quickly.
     
    #8 pweis909, Aug 7, 2015
  9. machalel

    machalel Initiate (0) Jan 19, 2012 Australia

    If it is the pith that's the issue, I have a sour that had the same problem. Fast forward about 2 years and it's really good. So... I guess... wait a long time and see? :stuck_out_tongue:
     
    #9 machalel, Aug 7, 2015
  10. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,250) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    My experience was lemon in a wit. Unfortunately, the wit didn't suffer age too well, so when bitter lemon pith faded, there it left behind little to admire. FWIW, I also have made mead in which the orange pith bitterness was sufficiently masked by a high degree of residual sugar. But I don't know that there is a beer solution in there. This was a very sweet beverage that I could only drink with club soda diluting both the sweetness and orange bitterness. I guess if you have a strong beer with too much citrus bitterness, you can try diluting it to a weak beer. Probably not the way most peeps would want to play it.
     
    #10 pweis909, Aug 7, 2015
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.