Hi guys,
I'm starting to venture into the great would of brewing a bit more and want to spice up a cascade pale ale can that i recieved as a birthday present.
i plan on using a tin of liquid malt and yeast to add to the kit and was thinking of adding some galaxy hops to try and achive a bit of a fruity flavour.
but as its my first time experimenting with hops and a more involved boil i am unsure of amounts and timing on when to add it.
is galaxy a good option? any feedback would be appreciated
cheers aaron
Galaxy is a good option. Given the Cascade is pre-hopped (therefore bitter enough), I'd recommend drawing out some made up wort (after you've put everything together, but before you yeasted it) - maybe 4-5L or whatever your saucepan will take. Boil 15g cascade in it for 10 minutes and add back to the wort.
This will be safe, without being OTT in taste or extra bitterness. I personally have chucked 20g in with Nelson Sauvin, Citra and Cascade (hops not kit) at 10 minutes just for a fruity ale, and that suits me, but might not suit you.
Get an idea of how that works (quantity) and adjust accordingly.
Us AG brewer (just to give you some background) have to hop for bitterness, flavour and aroma (meaning we have to add hops at multiple times during a boil), whereas your kit will give you the bitterness and some flavour and aroma. What the addition gives you depends on time boiled. It goes on a sliding scale - 60mins long is pretty much only bitterness, at 30min flavour starts to come in, peaking at 10-15mins and then reducing as the aroma is the dominant addition when you boil for 0-10 minutes (or dry hop - i.e. chucking it in the fermenter).
So I'll have an hour long boil start with the bitterness addition. 10-30 minutes from flameout (depending on recipe) I'll add the hops as I see fit (or the recipe says) for flavour. Then I may add some at flameout, or I may drop hop (all depending on recipe).
Sorry if I've overwhelmed, but I think any K&K brewer needs to understand the relationship between time boiled and what it adds - it will allow them to improve their beer by understanding how hops work on a better basis than "dunk teabag for 5 minutes, add to beer" type instructions.
Cheers
Goomba
