More Hop/Bitterness Please

Yakima 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
tshinefield

tshinefield

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2012
Messages
73
Reaction score
18
Location
THORNTON
Extract Brewing Topic - I like a good smooth balanced beer. Not crazy about double or triple IPA's and all a heavy bitterness. But I have notices I am struggling to get any real bitterness in batches for the last year. I am thinking it may have to do with the fact I have been doing smaller 2-3 gallon boils (5 gallon batch) or my nylon hop bag is not letting out the hop love (60 min boil with 4 hop additions). I have done several each brown ales, Irish Red and american reds that are good but have little or no bitterness. Either way I think my next batch I will do more water and not use a hop bag at all and strain the wort as it goes into the carboy.

Thoughts or recommendations?
 
I think your on the right path with your next batch. The only time I use hop bags now are for dry hopping, I'll also toss some marbles in the bag to kind of weigh them down.

Boil volume will effect your hop efficiency. 3 gallons is towards to smaller size of a boil that you'd want to do. If you have a big enough kettle do a 5.5 or 6 G boil. Skip the hop bags use a strainer as planned. Make sure you strainer can sit on your bucket or fermenter on its own or have a 3rd hand around. Mine fits in my funnel and I put it on top of my carboy. I still have to stop pouring halfway through and use a spoon to stir up the hops on the strainer to get more through. It takes a little time but if your careful you wont have any accidents.
 
edb said:
I think your on the right path with your next batch. The only time I use hop bags now are for dry hopping, I'll also toss some marbles in the bag to kind of weigh them down.

Boil volume will effect your hop efficiency. 3 gallons is towards to smaller size of a boil that you'd want to do. If you have a big enough kettle do a 5.5 or 6 G boil. Skip the hop bags use a strainer as planned. Make sure you strainer can sit on your bucket or fermenter on its own or have a 3rd hand around. Mine fits in my funnel and I put it on top of my carboy. I still have to stop pouring halfway through and use a spoon to stir up the hops on the strainer to get more through. It takes a little time but if your careful you wont have any accidents.
Click to expand...

Marbles! Fantastic. I am a fan of nylon bags for steeping grains and for hops - the floating hops issue drives me nuts. Why did I not think of marbles? Thanks!
 

Similar threads

oakbarn
  • Poll
Maximum Different Hops During Boil Poll
Replies
6
Views
433
oakbarn
oakbarn
Gadjobrinus
Strong Bitter - "Fuller's Hopping" with First Gold
Replies
0
Views
419
Gadjobrinus
Gadjobrinus
Lazer_Lad
Apartment Brewing with Mediocre Stove Top
Replies
29
Views
1K
z-bob
z-bob
Gadjobrinus
N. England - late hopping guidance, IBU's?
Replies
24
Views
1K
day_trippr
day_trippr
F
help with my hop choice for my next lager
Replies
4
Views
614
AlexKay
A

Latest posts

Back
Top