# Cube Hop Question?



## The Village Idiot (26/6/14)

Looking at an doing APA Smash but I have been struggling in previous brews to achieve a reasonable hop flavour/aroma with flame out additions(no chill) so the plan is to try cube hopping, yes I could dry hop but so far that has been less than successful(grassy).
I read somewhere that if cube hopping you should pitch the next day??? True/false? 
Does a prolonged cube life on hops create issues??
Is it better to add a small amount of hops as a bittering addition(read this somewhere as well) Really should stop reading.


Maybe??
Ashburne Mild Malt
Citra to 35-40 IBU in the cube. 1272


----------



## Lord Raja Goomba I (26/6/14)

That sounds like a decent brew (never used that mild malt). 1272 and Citra at 40IBu will be fantastic.

I find that when I cube hop - the hops go in first and then pour the liquor on - boiling. If/when I transfer the cube to a fermenter, the hops stay in the cube.

I pontificated a while ago as to whether you could chuck the liquor into the fermenter and measure when the wort gets to, say 90 degrees, and then chuck in - isomerisation has less of a window and would replicate a very late addition a little truer?

Another method I've seen espouses is that at pitching time, instead of cube hopping, take a couple of litres of wort, boil it on the stove, chuck the hops in and boil for 10 minutes and then tip the lot into the fermenter.

I'm happy with cube hopping though - it's made chilling a disappearing art in my brauhaus. I get the punchy American hoppiness without the faffing around. If I'm doing an American Pale - no other additions other than cube hopping.


----------



## sponge (26/6/14)

I have been getting decent results with 1/4-1/3 of the bitterness from FWH/60min and the rest in the cube, treated as a 20min addition (YMMV so some experimenting will need to take place to get numbers right for perceived bitterness). I've brewed a fair few brews with only a cube addition which also work out quite nice. Just depends what you're after really. I often go back to adding a real small FWH addition though, just seems to smooth it out a little better.

I've had cubes stored for >6 months full of hops and haven't noticed any reduction in flavour/aroma/stability.

As LRG said, there's also the argon method (doing a small boil for the late hops prior to adding yeast) floating around on AHB but I have not attempted this.


----------



## The Village Idiot (26/6/14)

Love no chill and an easy brew day so might run with this, thanks gents.

LRG the Ashburne Mild is very nice. Did a APA with NS at flame out and was very nice. Had a bit of Caramunich II.

Yanky Doodle Dandy
American Pale Ale
Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 20.0
Total Grain (kg): 4.700
Total Hops (g): 55.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.052 (°P): 12.9
Final Gravity (FG): 1.014 (°P): 3.6
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 5.04 %
Colour (SRM): 7.3 (EBC): 14.4
Bitterness (IBU): 35.9 (Average - No Chill Adjusted)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 60
Grain Bill
----------------
4.500 kg Ashburne Mild (95.74%)
0.200 kg Wheat Malt (4.26%)
Hop Bill
----------------
5.0 g Magnum Pellet (10.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (0.2 g/L)
50.0 g Citra Pellet (11.1% Alpha) @ (Cube) (2.5 g/L)
Misc Bill
----------------
Single step Infusion at 65°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 18°C with Wyeast 1272 - American Ale II


----------



## Lord Raja Goomba I (26/6/14)

Nelson Sauvin as a single hop is fantastic. Like what it brings to the table. Goes really well with Cascade as well. Not so much with Citra - not because it's bad, but they do compete.

I'm working through a bag of JW Pale, though I might crack open the Bairds Pale when I start brewing for comp beers.

I'm finding my cube hops are about a 15-20 minute addition and I'm getting good bitterness from them. I have done FWH on IPA - and it works very well in conjunction.


----------



## The Village Idiot (26/6/14)

Was planning citra only but sponge suggested a small bittering addition would be worth while so put the magnum in, you're saying NS and Citra together is not so great?


----------



## Yob (28/6/14)

The Village Idiot said:


> Was planning citra only but sponge suggested a small bittering addition would be worth while so put the magnum in, you're saying NS and Citra together is not so great?


too much competing flavors, when mixing hops its always a good idea for hops to bring something different,

Example, Chinook for a pine note and mosaic/citra/galaxy/NS for the fruit, that way they tend to compliment rather than fight.


----------



## manticle (28/6/14)

No difference in pitching time between cube hopping and not.


----------



## time01 (9/7/14)

im doing a BIAB no chill brew on the weekend, and this is my first attempt that has a 10min hop addition. my usual process is I stick with 60 min additions and any flame out additions I dry hop, but have not come across a 10 min addition. there seems to be a thousand different views, is perhaps cube hopping as detailed above the answer?


----------

