Adding Hops To Kit Based Recipes

[pdfarrell]

Looking to improve my beers somewhat, by adding more malt instead of sugars, dextrose, maltodextrin etc to the can of goo.
By using the extra malt I'm assuming to avoid throwing things out of balance, one needs to add more hops.

Can someone give me some pointers, or direct me to some further reading ?

I assume from reading posts on this forum that I need to add the hops to boiling wort. I have also read that there is no need or one shouldn't boil the can of goo.

Do I just boil the extra malt extract and some water and make hop additions to this... or boil the whole kit and kaboodle?

Do I need software like beersmith to work out how much / timing etc ?

 

[manticle]

If you're adding malt extract, do your boil with that. Aim for a gravity between 1030 and 1050 (gravity will increase with boil so starting lower is better) as high sugar levels will reduce your hop utilisation.

No real need to boil the kit.

You will need to work out the bitterness of your kit and take that into account. You need to compare this with your own palate. It will help if you get an idea of what bitterness level comparable commercial styles are that you enjoy.

Read up about BU/GU balance.

Hops boiled for longer add more bitterness, hops boiled for less time add more flavour and aroma. There is crossover so bittering hops can still add some flavour, aroma hops and dry hops still add some flavour etc.

Software will help. There are formulae and spreadsheets for working this stuff out - if you're really interested in how it is worked out, buy a copy of Ray Daniels 'Designing great beers'. If not interested, buy it anyway.

 

[Punkal]

If you are looking for software BrewMate is a grate free application that will be able to help you out when formulating recipes, you will also be able to use it to find out how different boil times affect the hop utilization. Its a great application and not overly complicated.

As manticle said there is no need to boil the goo.

On another note as you are experimenting/broadening your horizons have you considered steeping grains to add additional flavor/goodness? If you a doing up a hop tea already it will only take a little additional effort to steep the grains before bringing it to the boil and adding the hops.