Hops Questions for BYO's Mr. Wizard?

I host a local craft beer radio show in Springfield Missouri, which also happens to be where BYO Magazine's Mr. Wizard is a brewmaster for Springfield Brewing Company.

He's a monthly guest on my show and this week, our topic of discussion is hops. If you could ask Mr. Wizard any question you wanted about hops, what would it be?

I can't promise to ask all of the questions, as the show is only an hour long, but I'll ask as many as I can in the course of our conversation.

If you're interested in tuning in, it will stream live on tagsgf.com and on Ustream (under TAGsgf). It is 4pm Sunday Central time. There will also be a podcast available next week on Tagsgf.com and on iTunes under tagsgf's podcast subscription.

Ask away.

No takers? I expected at least a few people would be interested.

SGFBeerBuzz said:

No takers? I expected at least a few people would be interested.

Click to expand...

Anything on El Dorado Hops would be great. They were covered in a talk by Stan Hieronymous at NHC. Brewing up an IPA with them shortly. Not a whole lot of info on them out there. Cheers

Here's one I have been wondering all summer: If isomerized hop acids skunk in sunlight, why can I boil a 90 minute hoppped wort in my backyard on a sunny day without skunking the beer? If temperature plays a role, should I be covering the wort when it is chilling with my immersion chiller hooked up to a garden hose?

I would like to see more discussion of how hops are scaled when changing recipe size. I know the standard answer is "divide by x" or multiply but I have heard that hops do not scale exactly linear like that and from my experience, I find they do not scale so simply either.

First Wort Hopping would make an interesting discussion

Also, flavor profiles (& etc) of newer hop varieties coming to market, especially some popular ones coming from New Zealand such as Nelson Sauvin

NuclearRich said:

First Wort Hopping would make an interesting discussion

Click to expand...

I also would like to know more about this.

I would like to know his thoughts on optimal times and temps for whirlpool hop additions

I'm curious about Topaz hops, looking for more info on those!

Dry hopping at different points in fermentation and bottling.

Dry hopping temperature.

Dry hopping multiple times.

Suggestions when dry hopping with non-American/citrus style hops (I feel like I know some about trying cascade/Amarillo/Citra but what about Saaz/northern brewer/etc.).

Tips to keep IPA hop aroma longer as the beer ages. Where does it all go?

I'm digging this. Keep it up, guys! The show's only an hour, but this is fun.

Is there actually a perceptible flavor difference between 60, 30,20,10,5,0 min flavor additions when accounting for bitterness? Is there a point in doing any hop additions beside 60min and flameout (and of course dry hopping)? If there is, why and when should I do different once. Are 30 minute hop additions a waste? Are 20 min?

I would like to know if there's any benefit to mash hopping and it effect on flavor/aroma

I'd ask if the "official" flavor/aroma profiles of hops (like the ones listed on various ingredient guides and from distributors) come from subjective ratings of tasters or from the different levels of various oils within the hops which tend to be associated with different flavors and aromas.

What's the deal with all the new High-Alpha hops coming out of Germany? They've not had any history of High-Alpha until just recently, what has changed?

Show went really well. I'll Post the podcast as soon as it's available online!

Podcast!

http://tagsgf.com/2012/09/19/beer-buzz-916-talkin-hops-with-ashton-lewis/

It's also on iTunes under TAGsgf.com's feed.

Great show. I love all the beer-geekery! Thanks for letting us know about another beer podcast.

You're welcome! Glad you like it!