Adding bitterness

[Scrattajack]

Last week's brew (a sort of Old Ale) went pretty well but for 2 things. I used a bag of hops of lower AA than in the recipe, then the efficiency exceeded expectations. This meant that the BU:BG was 0.48 rather than the 0.60 ish target.

So, what's the best way to add a bit more bitterness? There are the little bottles of hop oil but they're 15 quid a pop, expensive for a few drops. Maybe boil up some hops and use the liquor?

 

[soupdragon]

Last week's brew (a sort of Old Ale) went pretty well but for 2 things. I used a bag of hops of lower AA than in the recipe, then the efficiency exceeded expectations. This meant that the BU:BG was 0.48 rather than the 0.60 ish target.

So, what's the best way to add a bit more bitterness? There are the little bottles of hop oil but they're 15 quid a pop, expensive for a few drops. Maybe boil up some hops and use the liquor?

Is this any use to you?

https://www.geterbrewed.com/isomerised-hop-extract-30-15ml-home-brew?search=Iso hop
Cheers Tom

 

[Agentgonzo]

Maybe boil up some hops and use the liquor?

I think you've answered your own question here. You could draw of a litre of fermenting beer and boil the hops in that to prevent watering down your beer

 

[JockyBrewer]

I would leave it as it is until you’ve tasted it. You don’t know yet how much it might actually dry out.

The hop age might not be an issue. Hop age doesn’t seem to matter all that much these days thanks to improvements in packing and storage.

Plus Old Ales can be pretty sweet, but I appreciate that might not be to your taste.

Either wait until it’s fermented and then use some isomerised hop extract if it’s not bitter enough. Or make another Old Ale with extra bitterness and blend the two.

 

[foxy]

Last week's brew (a sort of Old Ale) went pretty well but for 2 things. I used a bag of hops of lower AA than in the recipe, then the efficiency exceeded expectations. This meant that the BU:BG was 0.48 rather than the 0.60 ish target.

So, what's the best way to add a bit more bitterness? There are the little bottles of hop oil but they're 15 quid a pop, expensive for a few drops. Maybe boil up some hops and use the liquor?

Depends on whose calculator you are using to measure the bitterness, as has been suggested wait and see after fermentation has finished. If you want more bitterness draw off some liquor and boil up some hops, pouring back into the fermenter use a funnel and tube with the tube against the side of the fermenter just above the level of the beer.
All calculators are notoriously out, at the end of the day the Goldy Locks method is the best.