Help With Hops

[B_Bear]

Could anyone out there help me with my hops confusion.

I'm a KK brewer and i have read a number of ways to combine the hops to the brew:

1. The 60 minute boil
2. Chuck the hops bag in with the brew to ferment
3. Boil your hops and a little out of your can together

Is there much difference in theses methods to the end product?

Is one method more hoppier than the other?

Which is the best way to go about the business?

Help would be greatly appriciated.

Cheers

 

[Crazy]

Bear

The extraction of all the good stuff in hops is largely dependant on the length of the boil.

If you are chasing Bitterness then a long boil (60 min) in wort is normal.

If you are trying to add a bit of flavor and aroma to your kits try boiling the hops for 5-10 Min in some of your wort.

If you just want that nice fresh hops aroma in your glass than add your hops to the fermenter when it is almost done and let it sit for a few days.

Hope this helps

Derrick

 

[B_Bear]

Thanx for that.

I think i am going to go for a 15 min boil. That should get me a lil bitterness and flavour/aroma right?

And what does boiling it with some of the can do for the hops and brew?

Cheers

 

[Adamt]

Boil with all of your dry ingredients. There are hop oil in the cans that will be boiled off. Add the contents of your can at the end of your boil after flameout, this dissolves the liquid malt easily and retains all of the kit flavours.

It is preferrable to boil hops with some malt as the density of the boil aids in extraction from the hops (not exactly sure what causes this, on my list of things to research).

 

[Tyred]

Bear,

A 15 minute boil won't give bitterness. That requires at least 45 - 60 minutes of boil.

15 minutes will give flavour and maybe a little aroma.

At least, from memory, that's the way it works.

 

[Adamt]

Yep, only flavour and a bit of aroma, there should be enough bitterness in the can (depending on the style) provided you dont boil it.

 

[Mr Bond]

This chapter of "how to brew" is well worth the the read