Finishing Hops

[Shed]

Do many of you experiment with finishing hops? I have found this to be a really easy way to add a little bit of variation to the standard off the shelf kit.

I've been brewing on and off for about 2 years (about 30 kits) and this was probably the next step in altering the basic kit after playing with different sugars etc.

So far I have only tried 'Cluster' hops which produced a distinctly VB sort of finish. I would be interested to hear what others have tried?

 

[PMyers]

I use finishing hops in all my basic brews as they help to round the brew out a little more, especially if you are using any additional malts in your wort (including booster packs). Each hop variety adds their own distinct flavour/aroma quality depending on what it is you are trying to make. You can either drop the hop bag in straight (the dry method) to utilise the hops aroma, or you can steep the bag in a coffee mug with boiling hot water for about ten minutes (standard method) before pouring the mug - bag and all - into the fermenter to get the most out of the hops flavour characteristics. You can even boil the bag (quick boil method) with 2 litres of water and your booster pack to get the bitterness out of it. Either way they have the potential to add quite a lot to your brew. A quick web search for "hop varieties" will give you a host of links leading to more detailed information and hop comparison charts.

Cheers,
Pete

:chug:

 

[RegBadgery]

Couple of related articles on improving kits are available on the craftbrewers website - click on "Materials and methods"

* Shortcuts for Improving your kit beers by Ant Hayes
* Improving your kit beers by Scott Morgan


http://craftbrewer.org/

cheers
reg

 

[Tim]

Just thought i would bump this as it seems to be the oldest post i have come accross!
it seems the standard of the forum has come a long way.
keep it up guys

 

[Linz]

The standard of the forum was here from the start...the brewers here have developed quite a bit since though.

We can all help the new to the brewing too