G'day everyone. I have been brewing for about a year now, although I had a little stint in the 90's which is irrelevant. I have been brewing as per instructions and adding hops to my brews in 2 stages, the first is around day 12 (25g) when fermentation is around 90% complete in the form of a 500ml hoped tea, then take the bag out around 5-7 days later, then add finishing hops (25g) for 3 days before bottling. This method yields great results for me so I have kept at it so far. But I see that people on the youtube boil their LDM and brew enhancers AND hops in stages at the start then chuck it in the fermenter mix in the can of extract. My question is, what is the advantage of doing that this way, and wouldn't the hops flavour be lessened by the yeast due to fermentation? Thanks in advance.
Hops in a boil at the start vs Hop tea after fermentation
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Marina Breeze
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Hi mate - I steep crystal grains for 30mins at 70c and then boil the resultant wort for another 30mins and do my hops editions into that (as opposed to boiling the LDME. By steeping a few hundred grams of specialty grains you add freshness and can alter the colour of your brew a bit as well - plus it's a good way to knock a few back as you're brewing.
To make an attempt to answer your question i believe the predominant reason for boiling hops rather than dry hopping is to extract bitterness to offset any sweetness from the malts. The longer you boil the hops the more bitter it'll turn out and is of course relative to the alpha acid percentage of the hops you're using. By what you've described; you're dry hopping which is all about trying to extract flavour and aroma from the volatile oils in the hops (again relative to the AA% (the lower the better in this regard)).
Don't do what I did once and boil 25g of Magnum for 45mins followed by 3 more editions and then wonder why my brew tastes more bitter than a mother-in-laws xmas morning hug.
Have a read of some of the different types of hops and their uses (aroma, dual use, or bittering) and you can fine tune your brews from their to suit your taste. If you don't like bitterness and would rather than punch you in the face type hoppy aroma like I do go for the hops like Galaxy, Citra, Cascade, or East Kent Goldings for just a start.
Hope this helps a bit..
To make an attempt to answer your question i believe the predominant reason for boiling hops rather than dry hopping is to extract bitterness to offset any sweetness from the malts. The longer you boil the hops the more bitter it'll turn out and is of course relative to the alpha acid percentage of the hops you're using. By what you've described; you're dry hopping which is all about trying to extract flavour and aroma from the volatile oils in the hops (again relative to the AA% (the lower the better in this regard)).
Don't do what I did once and boil 25g of Magnum for 45mins followed by 3 more editions and then wonder why my brew tastes more bitter than a mother-in-laws xmas morning hug.
Have a read of some of the different types of hops and their uses (aroma, dual use, or bittering) and you can fine tune your brews from their to suit your taste. If you don't like bitterness and would rather than punch you in the face type hoppy aroma like I do go for the hops like Galaxy, Citra, Cascade, or East Kent Goldings for just a start.
Hope this helps a bit..
Gday Marina Breeze, thanks for the clear answer mate [emoji1360].
So most people boil hops in the wort before pitching the yeast to just extract bitterness and take out sweetness, and a hoped tea on day 12 and a dry hop 3 days or so before bottling is for taste and aroma - gotchya.
Ok, sounds like I'll keep doing what I'm doing then with the hops....... maybe with the addition of some crystal grains as per your style, was wanting to step it up a bit with some grains etc, might just follow your style next brew.
Thanks mate.
So most people boil hops in the wort before pitching the yeast to just extract bitterness and take out sweetness, and a hoped tea on day 12 and a dry hop 3 days or so before bottling is for taste and aroma - gotchya.
Ok, sounds like I'll keep doing what I'm doing then with the hops....... maybe with the addition of some crystal grains as per your style, was wanting to step it up a bit with some grains etc, might just follow your style next brew.
Thanks mate.
