So I brewed a double IPA two weeks ago and I think I lost a whole lot of hop bitterness due to boil over. It was a big batch and I’m thinking much of the hoppiness went into the fires during boil. Anyway, I tasted it today and get very little bitterness. Gravity is still at 1.008 and hoping it will dry out a little more. Just wondering if hop extract is an option at this point, as everything else about the beer is fine. If so, how does one go about “back-bittering” a beer?
I’ve never tried it, but you need to use an isomerized hop extract to add bitterness to a beer. Something like a Hop Shot still needs to be boiled to isomerize the AA’s. The only product I’m aware of that is available to homebrewers is pretty damn expensive and only good for 2-3 months when opened, so I’m not sure if it is worth your $ to go that route. (link)
I suppose you could boil some Hop Shot in water for an hour or so to isomerize it. Not sure how that will turn out, but it’s an option.