Mash Hop Utilisation

[Voosher]

How did yours turn out Voosher?


Cheers Ross

You tell me!
A couple of bottles should soon be winging their way north.

Mine spent about a month in conditioning while I waited for the opportunity/motivation to bottle it (yes I know... kegs, kegs, kegs). It will probably get a public outing at the Grumpy's Stammtisch this Friday so I may or may not feel inclined to publish wider opinions.
My impressions on bottling are best summed up in one word... Tame.
It tasted smooth enough... perhaps too smooth which renders it close to the quaffing class. It seemed okay for my tastes but I doubt I'm quite the hop addict you are so I can understand you being underwhelmed with your results.
I still think mash hopping has its place for certain beers. I've mash-hopped a few styles. The fave so far was a porter where subtle hopping is not out of place.
I still have a stack of Amarillo so I may well try an all mash-hopped monster just to check it out.
Thanks for your contribution to the exercise.
Cheers.

 

[Voosher]

Allright. I've had a bit of an APA tasting evening and I'm pretty happy with this brew.
It's pretty smooth so I can certainly up the hops a bit - maybe 40g mash hops next time (it's a half batch remember) - mash-hopping seems to take a lot of the "throat-rip" out of the Amarillo but I'm happy to make sure that's there when required with the bittering anyway.
The aroma particularly seems much deeper than with standard late additions - a big sniff of the lacework of the empty glass is still heavenly.
I'm certainly going to keep mash-hopping certain brews and I'm thinking that it'll probably work best at either end of the hop spectrum i.e. (1) where hopping should be evident but subtle and (2) where you want big hops but without the rawness that come sometimes comes through with a ton of late hops. The downside comes with the fact that you need more hops in the mash than you need as late additions. I've heard 1.5 times suggested as a guide... I'd suggest at least double the normal late hops if you're going to put them in the mash.
It's been suggested to me that mash-hopping would work best with oily hops (Why? I dunno!) so I may as well go mad and mash-hop with Chinook to test that theory!
As for utilisation, which was my original question, I'd figure the Promash default (-80%) is actually about right.
Cheers and (more) beers.

 

[Steve]

Is it ok to mash hop with pellets or are plugs/flowers the best option. Do you just chuck them on top of the grain before pouring in the water?
Cheers
Steve

P.S. Doing Ross's Nelson Sauvin Summer ale on Saturday.

 

[Voosher]

Is it ok to mash hop with pellets or are plugs/flowers the best option. Do you just chuck them on top of the grain before pouring in the water?
Cheers
Steve

P.S. Doing Ross's Nelson Sauvin Summer ale on Saturday.

Pellets are fine Steve. Plugs or flowers would probably yield the same sort of flavour advantages as they do in a normal boil but as the mash hopping tends to mute flavours a little I think you'd struggle to notice a significant difference.
I just chuck them in with the grain and mash as per usual.

How's that foot doing?

 

[Steve]

Is it ok to mash hop with pellets or are plugs/flowers the best option. Do you just chuck them on top of the grain before pouring in the water?
Cheers
Steve

P.S. Doing Ross's Nelson Sauvin Summer ale on Saturday.

Pellets are fine Steve. Plugs or flowers would probably yield the same sort of flavour advantages as they do in a normal boil but as the mash hopping tends to mute flavours a little I think you'd struggle to notice a significant difference.
I just chuck them in with the grain and mash as per usual.

How's that foot doing?

Cheers fella will give the pellets a go!
Foots getting better. Funnily enough the pain seems to ease as soon as I get home and crack a longneck or two. Strange!
Steve

 

[sluggerdog]

I have found that mash hopping is good for my lager/pilsners (german pilsner not bohemian) where I do not add in any flavour or aroma hops. It gives it a subtle flavour which I have trouble getting from adding flavour hops to the boil.

For a big hoppy beer like an APA I find it isn't necessary and just hop into the boil.