Brewing With Hops

[bluejed]

Hi,
I have just put down a brew using Coopers Real ale, 750gms LDME, 500gms dex. I was concerned about the sweetness of the final brew so I had some hersbruker pellets which I boiled for 15min.

I have just started cold conditioning and thought I would taste test, found it to be still sweet however there is a strong bitter backend to the beer. I enjoy a bitter beer but I brewed this for my wife and think it will be to bitter for her, is there something I can do or will this bitterness disipate on botteling and storing??? :blink:

The procedure I used was boil 2 litres of water add the dex and LDME and disolve. add the hops for 15min, cool the mixture and strain into the fermenter, add the coopers kit, topup to 23 litres and add the yeast.

I understand that there are 2 types of hops Bittering and flavour, and due to the low Alpha acid of Hersbruker this is a flavour hop.

My question is when using a bittering beer after the boil, should you remove the hops or add the entire mix to the wort?? :blink:

Thanks in advance. :icon_cheers:

 

[bum]

You can only extract the bittering bits from hops during a long boil (60 min or so, generally). Many people include the hops in the wort (I'm one of them) and report no negative effects. You can make just as good a beer if you do remove them.

The bittering/flavouring distinction for hops is more of a guideline than a rule. Some hops might be better for hopping than for flavouring but that doesn't mean you can't use it for flavouring if you want to. Many hops are great for both.

 

[Bribie G]

The Real Ale is a bitter brew in its own right. Last year I did a bog standard Real Ale plus a kilo of Brew Enhancer 2 as a demo for a mate who was getting into brewing, and I wouldn't have wanted it any more bitter. Aroma hops are best just added straight into the fermenter (pellets that is) a couple of days after fermentation has started.
For a less sweet and dryer finishing beer you could ditch the kit yeast and use a higher attenuating yeast like Nottingham Ale yeast.

 

[rackemup]

The Real Ale is a bitter brew in its own right. Last year I did a bog standard Real Ale plus a kilo of Brew Enhancer 2 as a demo for a mate who was getting into brewing, and I wouldn't have wanted it any more bitter. Aroma hops are best just added straight into the fermenter (pellets that is) a couple of days after fermentation has started.

Hey BribieG, arent aroma hops best added toward the end of fermentation so as not to have their beautiful aromas carried away by the CO2?

 

[bluejed]

Thanks for that, I had no idea that Real Ale was so bitter, I have just picked up some Saaz hops and looking at steeping for 10 min in 500mls water and adding to the brew. as I am cold conditioning for another 6 days and then bottleing will this reduce the bitterness, do very little or possibly ruin the brew??

I obviously dont wish to do the latter, thanks for your assistance

 

[manticle]

Steeping the saaz will add mainly aroma and no perceptible bitterness. Bitterness will also round out with age or can be balanced with sweetness.

You could try adding in some dried malt or steeping some cracked crystal grains and adding the resulting liquid after you've boiled it. The malt addition will up the alcohol level so be aware. The crystal will add very little to ABV.

 

[bum]

You'll get bugger all to no bitterness out of the hops with that method so continue as planned. Or change to a method where you can get even more flavour (but no bitterness) out of the hops - by doing a short boil in a small amount of wort (1040 or so). But the steeping will work well and you should do that as a first step if you're more comfortable. Lots of info about hop boiling around the place if you're interested.

[EDIT: Curses!]

 

[bluejed]

Well lets see how we go.... I have just boiled some Saaz hops and they are now cooling to match my fermenter temp, I will add tomorrow and let you know how it went.

Thanks for the feedback

 

[big78sam]

I love this graph. I'm not sure who posted it first but I stole it from here. Depending on how long you boil for you will get aroma, then flavour, then bitterness. Some hops will give greater bitterness, the higher the AA rating, the more bitterness. The AA rating should be on the hop packet.

 

[bluejed]

Thanks Big78sam,
that graph is a great visual guide, it helps explain boil durations and approximated outcomes.

Awnsered a lot of unknown questions

 

[rackemup]

if your concerned about sweetness the last thing you want to do is add crystal, it has the tendency to be overly sweet and thickening and will need further addition of hops to counteract this effect.

 

[manticle]

[quote name='Rack'EmUp' post='550272' date='Nov 10 2009, 12:27 AM']if your concerned about sweetness the last thing you want to do is add crystal, it has the tendency to be overly sweet and thickening and will need further addition of hops to counteract this effect.[/quote]

OP was concerned about bitterness if I read everything correctly (hence the suggestion for adding a touch of sweetness).

 

[rackemup]

Hi,
I have just put down a brew using Coopers Real ale, 750gms LDME, 500gms dex. I was concerned about the sweetness of the final brew so I had some hersbruker pellets which I boiled for 15min.

I recently had a bad experience with crystal, hence my reluctance to add any to future brews (especially kits)
im sure they have their place, but i feel they can easily spoil a brew if used in excess, personally i would rather a beer thats been overhopped than one thats had too much crystal added

 

[.DJ.]

dont forget the bitterness will mellow in the bottle/keg...

 

[manticle]

crystal.......... has the tendency to be overly sweet and thickening and will need further addition of hops to counteract this effect.

Obviously adding too much of anything is a bad idea. The aim is for balance and purely having a touch of crystal in a brew will not automatically necessitate throwing hops at it. Just use the right amount of crystal. There's also quite a few types (which I'm sure you know) which all have different results in a brew.

 

[rackemup]

as far as KITS go, crystal isnt always a great idea. good for darkening, adding sweetness and body if your beer needs it.
most kits finish high anyways, if you want to darken a(kit) beer a simple boil would suffice and a touch of wheat malt is more effective at head retention than crystal imo (without the risk of adding sweetness and increasing body)
too sweet, too bitter....ahhh what to do?