Help! I Added Too Much Hops To My Beer Brew

Hops (female plant Humulus lupulus) play an important role in the brewing of beer. These oily plants provide a certain level of bitterness to help balance the sweetness of freshly brewed beer. Without hops, beet would taste overly sweet and wouldn’t exhibit the same “full” qualities which are commonly associated with a good brew.

Historians believe hops were first used to brew beer back in the early 800s. Ever since then, the technique became more and more popular as its benefits were apparent. Before hops, a combination of herbs, spices and flowers were added to help balance the beer’s sweetness. Hops, however, proved to be far more effective at achieving this goal; thus, it became the new “norm” for beer brewing.

Hops brewing on the stove: photo by JoePhoto.

Whether you’re a newcomer to the hobby, or if you’ve been brewing beer for years, you may find yourself in a position where you accidentally added too much hops. Hops are great for balancing the sweetness of beer while improving its texture and fullness, but using too much can have a negative effect on its qualities.

Beer that’s brewed with too much hops may possess an overly bitter flavor that’s hard to drink. From the moment you take a sip, your taste buds will be hit with av overwhelming sensation of bitterness. While everyone has their own personal preference when it comes to beer flavors, most people dislike overly bitter flavors.

Note: unfortunately, fixing a batch of over-hopped beer isn’t always an easy task. In some cases, you can add more sugar to negate the bitter flavors. The only sure-fire way to solve this problem is to avoid it in the first place. Double check your measurements to ensure that the right amount of hops are used.

Another solution for overly hopped homebrewed beer is to wait it out. Some brewers naturally pour out their beer when they notice an overwhelmingly bitter taste from an excess amount of hops. Before you take such brash action, however, you should first attempt to wait it out. Go ahead and bottle the beer and let it sit for a couple of weeks. Once this amount of time has passed, pop the cap and test it out. Hopefully, the bitterness of the hops has settled down some, allowing the normal beer flavors to show.

What’s your solution to an overly hopped beer? Let us know in the comments section below!