Any way to add more bitterness once a beer is kegged?

Northern Brewer General
1

I just kegged a Double IPA and I found it to be less bitter than I was hoping. My thinking is, since I used a mesh hop bag, for the first time, for majority of my hop additions in the boil kettle, I had poor hop utilization. Also I added 1 tsp of gypsum for the first time to get a greater sulfate:cholride ratio. This was an all-grain full volume boil which attenuated very well by achieving 9.7% ABV.

Would adding one of the hopshots to the keg add more bitterness? Is there any issue adding a hopshot post fermentation? The beer is still drinkable but I would just like a stronger bite.

Cheers!

2

I doubt the hopshot would dissolve in cool liquid. I’ve heard of brewers having remnants of it in their kettle even after boiling.
Maybe brew up a small beer (quart or two) and load the heck out if it with hop shot and blend in the keg???

Edit: I’m not sure if a hop extact tea in water would even impart bitterness…never done it myself.

3

A hop shot is just a tube of hop resin, it has to be boiled to extract bitterness just like real hops.

You could dry hop in the keg (which I highly recommend for IPAs anyway) which will add more hop aroma (which our brains often interpret as flavor) but no more true bitterness.

You could maybe make some sort of hop tea and add that, but it sounds to me like something that is likely to do more harm than good.

I say dry hop your keg (just cause that’s awesome, not cause it will add more bitterness) and if you’re still not happy with it chalk it up as a lesson learned.

4

Get some isomerized hop extract…it will do exactly what you’re looking to do and will do it perfectly.
I’ve used the stuff on a few occasions where bitterness didn’t originally end upwhere I wanted it, and the iso extract allowed me to incrementally adjust the finished beer to exactly where I wanted it.

5

If you can’t find the iso, simmer a quart of the finished beer with some hops for 60 minutes and then add to taste. Do not make a “hop tea”!

6

[quote=“The Professor”]Get some isomerized hop extract…it will do exactly what you’re looking to do and will do it perfectly.
I’ve used the stuff on a few occasions where bitterness didn’t originally end upwhere I wanted it, and the iso extract allowed me to incrementally adjust the finished beer to exactly where I wanted it.[/quote]
+1. I have used this stuff and it really works. The bitterness is already in there… just add some to the keg. I also agree with the idea of dry hopping in the keg. I have had some not-so-stellar pale ales come out a little flat and bland but 1-2 ounces of pellets (in a muslin bag or other device to keep things from going everywhere) has saved me in the past. It won’t add bitterness but it may just push the hop profile enough in one direction to make it great.

7

Thanks to all for the advice; much obliged! I have been considering dry hopping in a keg for a while but have yet to try it. My reservations have been from people who have stated the muslin bags have clogged their dip tube; however, people have mentioned using unflavored dental floss to hang the hop bag in the keg which also allows removal if the flavors get grassy.

Any recommendations for using a muslin bag, fine mesh hop bag, or a stainless tea ball to dry hop? I know the tea ball would not allow me to use as many ounces of hops as the bags but I would not have to worry about it clogging the dip tube.

Where can I get isomerized hop extract?

Cheers!

8

I seem to read only bad things about the hop balls. Once the hops are in they expand and clog, so you never get hop flavor. Also they are cheaply built and the hinges and latches rust.

9

Alright, thank you for informing me of the issue with using the tea ball for dryhopping.

Do people recommend using something, like unflavored dental floss, to allow for easy removal of hop bags if flavors start to get grassy? Or is it difficult for grassy flavors to occur if the temperature of the keg is around 40 degrees?

It will likely take me a month or more to finish the keg of the Double IPA.

Cheers!

10

Keg hop in a knee-high stocking. I always just drop it to the bottom myself, and I’ve never had a keg last long enough for any grassy flavor to develop.

I used to use the tea balls, but I recently had the clasp fall apart on me and clog up my dip tube. In fact, this was the incident that sparked my renewed participation on the forum. I was able to save the beer but it was a big pain.

11

+1 on the stockings. And if you are worried about it being in there two long and becoming grassy(which I have never actually had happen personally), use teflon tape to hang in only partial down the keg. After you drink passed that point it is no longer dry hopping.

12

The teflon tape trick…You just capture it in the lid gasket when you latch the lid?

13

Is that all you wear? :shock:

I use muslin bags dropped in. I’ve never had any problems with grass flavors for the life of the beer.
Different hops could possibly degrade faster.

14

The teflon tape trick…You just capture it in the lid gasket when you latch the lid?[/quote]

I actually tie it like string around the handle.

15

I do the floss trick. Anything wider/thicker will cause the lid to leak. You can tie it around a post. I make it long enough that the hops float around mid-level. Eventually the hops will dangle above the beer and you can avoid the dreaded grassy flavors caused by leaving hops in too long.

16

+1 (as the kids say)

17

[quote=“The Professor”]Get some isomerized hop extract…it will do exactly what you’re looking to do and will do it perfectly.
I’ve used the stuff on a few occasions where bitterness didn’t originally end upwhere I wanted it, and the iso extract allowed me to incrementally adjust the finished beer to exactly where I wanted it.[/quote]
Wow, IsoHop is very hard to find. Only place in the US that seems to even carry it is Morebeer, and they’re backordered. Bummer!