Affects of Time with Hops During the Boil

[Scott Kellen]

So I'm a new home brewer. I've made 2 different ales with recipe kits that turned out well above my expectations. My friends that I let sample were impressed and didn't believe I made them. My stout was not quite as successful mainly due to carbonation issues using primer sugar.

Crux of my question: my ales recipes have differing hops being added at various stages of the boil. Some boil for short periods and others (same hops variety) for longer periods.

Is there any reference or "rules of thumb" that assist new brewers in how to use hops during the boil?

I'd like to try my hand at following learned processes but experiment with my own grain and hops varieties.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Start by reading some brewing books - 'How to Brew' by John Palmer is probably the most read and is free online (1st edition) http://www.howtobrew.com/ . The latest version isn't free but is well worth the money.

To answer your question, hops have alpha acids and other oils/acids. The alpha acids change form slowly in the boil (isomerise). Isomerised alpha acids taste bitter. Therefor, the longer you boil the hops the more bitterness you get from them (it also depends on the amount of alpha acid in the hops to start with). As you boil though, you also lose oils and other acids that contribute flavour and aroma. So the rule is boil longer for bitterness, medium for flavour with some bitterness, and less for aroma with some flavour. Roughly, bittering addition is 60minutes, flavour 20 to 30 minutes, and aroma 0 to 15 minutes. But it's a bit more complicated (eg. you still get some flavour with 60 minute additions and some bitterness with 0 minute additions).
'

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Is there any reference or "rules of thumb" that assist new brewers in how to use hops during the boil?

Traditionally, pellet hops added at the start of the boil (let's assume 60 minutes) are intended to add bitterness; the oils that contribute to the aroma/flavor of the hop will be boiled off. Hops added closer to the end of the boil (let's assume within the last 15 minutes, often just before 'flame-out') will lose less of the oils that contribute to aromas/flavors.

Within the past couple of years, the idea of "whirlpool" or "hop steep" additions has become popular. The hops are added after flame-out, typically when the wort is around 170 - 180. This retains more of the hop oils than late boil additions.

There's also dry hopping: which is typically the addition of hops after fermentation has completed.

This web search will get you to one (of many) sources of additional reading.

hop additions site:beerandbrewing.com

 

[Scott Kellen]

Much appreciated and thanks for indulging my naivety.

 

[Scott Kellen]

How do fresh hops affect the boil? I've grown some Cascade and Nugget hops locally but I'm still trying to determine the best way to use?

 

[Scott Kellen]

I'll look for that book and thank you for the general ideas of hops.

 

[Saunassa]

Since I am not sure of how much alpha acid is in my grown nugget and Willamette I tend to use them sometime in the last 15 minutes of the boil. Most often @5 or flame out.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Is there any reference or "rules of thumb" that assist new brewers in how to use hops during the boil?

For many years I brewed with the general idea that 60 min = bitter, 15-20 min = flavor, 5-0 min/dry hop = aroma. The hopping strategy of NEIPA (and many modern IPA and Pale Ales) have shown that this is, at least partially, false. I brew single hop samplers with nothing longer than a 10 min boil addition, and they can be quite bitter. I recently brewed some NEIPA-ish beers with only 0 min and dry hop additions; while the bitterness is not as intense as 60 minute additions, there is a level of bitterness (as well as hop flavor) in those beers.

If you are brewing most styles of beers, the general bitter/flavor/aroma guidelines have a lot of merit...more bitterness at the start of boil, more flavor in the middle, more aroma and flavor at the end/whirlpool/dry hop. If you venture into hoppy IPAs, then you might see recipes that don't fit that mold.

 

[mongoose33]

Congrats on your first two brews!

A few suggestions for you:

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Everyone here knows the pull of wanting to make our own recipes. And you will. But very early, you're still learning the process. Case in point: the carbonation of your stout.

If your process is good, then most recipes will turn out. But no recipe can save a bad process. And if your process has holes in it, how do you tell if the resulting (poor) beer is a function of that recipe...or the process? You can't.

If I were you, I'd try to do maybe 6 or 8 brews from established recipes and ingredients before starting to do your own recipes. I'd even repeat one or two of them to make sure I had it down. Further, if I made up a recipe I'd post it here on HBT and get some feedback on it.

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There's a style of beer called a SMASH, which stands for Single Malt And Single Hop. It's a way of highlighting only a particular malt and a specific hop. That's not a bad way to get into designing your own recipes. If there's a hop you want to try, pair it with a good base malt and see if you like it. I do a SMASH with Maris Otter malt and Styrian Celeia hops, and I think you'd have a hard time telling it from a nice lager if I didn't tell you it was an ale.

As you think of recipes, try to avoid including a ton of different ingredients. The more different ingredients you have, the more you move toward a mishmash of muddled flavors that don't work well together. Oh, 4 or 5 ingredients in the malt are probably ok; 9 ingredients is nuts. But the key is to know why you have them in there. Same with hops. I have several recipes with only a bittering hop, and a flavor/aroma hop, and a couple that have only a single hop. I have a hazy IPA that has, IIRC, 5 different hop varieties.

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Anyway, enjoy the journey, the joy of discovery, and the pleasure of drinking something you created.

 

[Aggie10]

Check out links in thread below. Plenty of recent research into hop utilization and time and temperature....and more.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/20-min-boil-hops-vs-hopstand.671364/