Hi all, i'd like to get your opinion/experiences on the effect of reduced hop utilisation when used in small wort volumes. To give you some background, i was planning on making a german pilsner on the weekend, however the hops needed for flavour and aroma additions didn't arrive in the mail in time. I followed the original recipe without any of the late hop additions, pitched yeast and began ferment. Two days later the hops arrived, so i drew off around 4L of fermenting wort, heated to boiling temp and made the 20min, 10min 0min additions. Quickly chilled back down to fermentation temp and added back to main fermenting batch.
I've read in a few different places that utilisation of hop alpha acids is reduced if the hops are used in a concentrated wort that is then diluted out (beersmith even has a calculator to estimate this), however what i'm not sure of is the effect of hop utilisation in terms of flavour and aroma compounds? Would these also be reduced along with the bitterness or are the essential oils still extracted regardless of the volume they are boiled in?
Hope this makes sense?
I've read in a few different places that utilisation of hop alpha acids is reduced if the hops are used in a concentrated wort that is then diluted out (beersmith even has a calculator to estimate this), however what i'm not sure of is the effect of hop utilisation in terms of flavour and aroma compounds? Would these also be reduced along with the bitterness or are the essential oils still extracted regardless of the volume they are boiled in?
Hope this makes sense?