Hop question

I am fairly new to the homebrew game and need some advice. I am currently brewing a honey ale which I just transferred to a secondary for aging/clearing. I gave it a taste and got a strong hoppy presence which I thought this kit should not have had. I am quickly learning that I do not care for the bitterness. What can I do subdue those flavors?

Perceived hop bitterness will most likely change quite a bit after the beer has been conditioning in the bottle. Sometimes this only takes a few weeks. Sometimes it can take five weeks or more for some beers to be ready for drinking. I’m not familiar with honey ales but give it time. Try one beer after about three weeks of conditioning for hop presence and carbonation. If the hop presence is still to much wait a few more weeks to try another.

What was the amount of hops used and the addition schedule? Was this for five gallons?

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It was 1oz of tettnang for a 60 min boil and 1oz vanguard for 2 min. Yes for a 5 gal batch

That isn’t a lot of hops. Tettnang is a noble hop with low bitterness which is supposed to be mild and spicy. Vanguard would not give up much in the way of bitterness with only two minutes in the boil. The Vanguard would offer aroma.

If the bitterness is from the hops I would say it is going to be very subdued after bottle conditioning.

There is another possibility, but maybe not to likely. Could the bitterness be tannins. If your recipe contained steeping grains could the temperature during steeping have gotten to high and extracted some tannins?

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Could be a possibility. I do my boils on my kitchen stove and have found temp control to be difficult thus far

Give it some time. Hop bitterness will fade. Like flars said, that is not a lot of hops. It won’t take long for the bitterness to subside at least a little.

If after secondary and some time in the bottle or keg you still find it too bitter but you like the beer then try the recipe again and back off on the hops some. My bet is you will like it just fine as is.