There’s no doubt that Beersmith software allied to the Grainfather brewing system allows the home brewer huge freedom to experiment. I’ve been moving to hoppier and hoppier brews recently, including the use of particularly highly flavoured American hops.
Be careful what you wish for. This time I think that I’ve overdone it. Even the iconic Ben Truman wouldn’t want that many hops in his beer!
My calculation was for around 60 IBUs (units of bitterness), where 40 or 50 would be more typical of a bitter beer. But what with the American Citra hops plus generous dry hopping with Fuggles, it’s come out much more bitter than that.
Although it’s perfectly well-made, to be honest the formulation isn’t that pleasant to drink by itself. So I’ve taken to adding Picon, or (hangs head in shame) lemonade. It does make a very decent shandy, though. The sweetness of the lemonade and the bitterness of the beer complement each other rather well.
Ah well. If you never make mistakes, you never learn anything.
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