Recipe Advice Thread

[denimglen]

Thought it might be handy to have a thread for some of the more advanced brewers to give some advice on recipes.

Let's see how it goes eh...

[JoKing]

I'm definately at the Malthouse on Friday night. I don;t know what time we'll arrive - but I'd hazard a guess and say 7.30 onwards. I'm looking forward to it... it's gonna be a beerxtravaganza... and a beer geextravaganza. I've met a good chunk of the Auckland geeks, and I have to admit I'm looking forward to meeting up with the Wellington geeks!

[Bambule]

Sounds like a fine plan. The malthouse is great, I get as giddy as a school girl every time I walk throught the door.

[Nick T]

Newbie question about 'post boil' hops - my first brew (hopefully this weekend) recipe calls for some post boil hops (a small amount of goldings in a bitter ale). From what I have read, these go in after wort has dropped below 80 degrees. However, when I did a trial (water only) boil and then immersion-chilled it last night to see how it all works, I noted that the temp drops through 80 and down to below 30deg very quickly. Will the hops then actually add anything? I assume you rack to the fermenter as soon as the temp is down to 20 - 25, and this will (?) leave behind the hops with the hot/cold break material. Or should I be adding the post-boil hops to the fermenter instead, so it is in the brew for longer? Or leave the wort for a set period of time before racking to the fermenter?

The recipie is from Wheelers "Brew Your Own Real British Ale", which seems to advocate a no-chill method, so I can imagine with an overnight slow cooling down of the wort there is plenty of time for the hops flavour/aroma to be extracted, but with a rapid chill (and with a small amount of hops) I am worried that this will be lost. Any thoughts?

[vdog]

I usually do a hop addition at flame out (ie as soon as you kill the heat) so they have about 20min while I'm chilling to add some hoppy goodness and then another hour while it settles before I transfer to the fermenter. You don't have to transfer to the fermenter straight away, letting it settle will allow you to avoid more of the trub and shouldn't be an issue as far as hygiene.

You could do a 'dry hop' addition too (add to the fermenter when primary fermentation is finished - about 4-5 days) and then leave it for another week, and this will add more hop aroma.

Basically, the later you add the hops, the more aroma and less bitterness you get from them. If you're using a no-chill recipe and chilling it, you may want to add more hops through the boil to make sure you hit your IBUs.

[Nick T]

So you are not worried about the high wort temperatures at flame-out driving off the hops essential oils above 80 degrees?

[vdog]

Not much. If you're using an immersion chiller, it doesn't really have time I don't think - it'll only take a few minutes to drop it the first 20 degrees. Those aroma compounds don't disappear instantly, you're just more likely to drive more of them off the earlier in the boil you add the hops. If you really want a big hop aroma then dry-hopping is the way anyhow - it doesn't get affected so much by fermentation.

[MrC]

I agree with vdog. Add them at flameout and don't worry about the temps. Hops added at flame out taste and smell great.

[denimglen]

Yup, and when you're drinking it, if it hasn't added enough for you - ADD MORE next time!

The benefits of fast chilling outweigh the benefits of the oil extraction rate IMO.

What's the amount of hops called for at the time/temperature listed in the recipe?

I'd add anywhere from 15 to 30g at flame out for a bitter, although technically to style they should have moderate to no hop aroma, so you'll be in style whatever you do (if that matters to you).

[Nick T]

Its only 8 grams of golding post boil in a 23 litre batch, (after a 90 minute boil with 41g of fuggles). I have 10g so will throw it all in. Not a lot of hops but its a reproduction of a bitter I had in a country pub in the UK about 15 yrs ago and really enjoyed - have always wanted to have it again, so that is what I chose for my first brew!.(Second one will be an attempt at some sort of really hoppy IPA as I really really like the local Twisted Hop IPA)

[denimglen]

Yeah, 10g at flameout will be sweet as bro.

By the way, a 90min addition of 40g of fuggles is a bit of a waste of a good aroma hop IMO, I'd save that for something else, and substitute something with a higher alpha, Northern Brewer would be a good sub in this situation I think.

In a beer like this, and especially with a 90min boil of the hops I reckon you wouldn't be able to tell the difference, especially if you're subbing similar types of hops, i.e. I wouldn't go and use something ultra-citrusy or pungent like Columbus or Simcoe.

[Nick T]

Oops, just threw in the bittering hops and then logged on here! Oh well they are in now and boiling away - everything went insantly green and gave off a really nice brew aroma for an instant, was great!

Thanks everyone for all the info, there are a lot of details to absorb when fist starting out! It is really helpful to have some old hands around to give advice.

[studio1]

I'm looking to brew a Belgian Pale Ale. I plan to use Jamil's grain bill:

Pilsener malt 90%
Caramunich 6%
Munich 4%

I have Wyeast Belgian Ardennes on the stir plate at the moment.

Not quite sure what to do re: hops. I have NZ Styrian, Pacific Hallertau & some Riwaka I could use. Any suggestions?