First wort hopping w/ Columbus??

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Grantman1

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I built a mash tun last weekend and plan on dialing it in this weekend, so I went to my lhbs to get the ingredients for a smash ale. Turns out there was a failed crop on simcoe (wanted to do maris otter / simcoe) and they were out of maris otter, so now it's gonna be 2-row / columbus.

I've never used columbus hops although I understand they're a good dual-purpose. I'm thinking about first-wort hopping with them after reading that this can lead to less boilovers - I'm boiling on the stove and didn't feel like dropping $20 on a huge bottle of ferm cap.

If I FWH with the columbus, i plan on skipping the flavoring additions and just doing some aroma at the end, for fear of overdoing it with such a powerful hop.

Question is, is columbus too high alpha to first wort hop with?
 
I FWH Columbus all the time. I only FWH and whirlpool hop and I think it turns out fantastic with the hops I use, Columbus being among them.

However, I have not done a sigle hop batch with columbus.
 
Yeah I decided to just go with it and FWH - glad it's worked out well for you. I was trying to be careful not to overdo it, but ended up doing an addition at 20 min....I'm bad with having hops sitting in front of me; i always use more than planned. i'll be dry hopping with it as well. One thing i noticed is that the FWH did nothing in terms of preventing a boilover, which totally happened. I've heard others saying that it's helped them.
 
I love Columbus! It should make a great smash beer! Keep a spray bottle handy (if you don't already) when bringing your wort to a boil. You can fight back the foam with the spray until you reach the hot break. It works like a charm.
 
Columbus is a great variety and fine for FWH. There is no such thing as too high alpha for FWH, just adjust your quantities as appropriate like you would for any other addition.
 
I havent had a boil over in a long time. I FWH and add a dropper full of anti foam to a 14gal boil. I love the simplicity of FWH & whirlpool only hop additions. I can run the boil longer or shorter to hit my gravity and no worries about the hop schedule.
 
I'm gonna give that a shot on my next batch just to see what it's all about. I've seen some debate on whether you get a lot of hop flavor from FWH but I guess there's only one way to find out!
 
I did a single hop CA common all Columbus with FWH of the boiling hops. Turned out quite nice. A very underrated hop IMHO.
 
:off:

November would you mind sharing your recipe(quantities) for your Vienna/Columbus SMaSH? I have been thinking of doing a SMaSH with Columbus and dry hopping. I like the idea of keeping the hop additions simple. I just love the aroma of Columbus. Also seeing as I live in Columbus...gotta go with the home town hop.
 
I am curious to see some of your recipes as well, I tried FWH a couple times and saw no improvement over a beer that gets a bittering plus a 15 min and flame out addition.
 
Here it is. It is pretty well balanced, if you wanted it more bitter just bump that first addition.

Vienna/Columbus SMaSH

Efficiency: 85%
OG: 1.053
FG: ~1.011
Color: 6.36
IBU: ~40
ABV: ~5.5

10lbs Vienna
0.8oz Columbus(14.5%) @ FWH
0.5oz Columbus(14.5%) @ Flameout
1.0oz Columbus(14.5%) @ Secondary
1 Pack Fermentis US-05

I generally keep Vienna and Columbus on hand, so this makes regular appearances. I like it, good luck.
 
Just had my first brew from the single hop columbus batch. I can't call it a smash bc I found some victory malt in my bin and couldn't help but add some. Turned out fantastic though - I really enjoyed the flavor and aroma from the columbus.
 
Here it is. It is pretty well balanced, if you wanted it more bitter just bump that first addition.

Vienna/Columbus SMaSH

Efficiency: 85%
OG: 1.053
FG: ~1.011
Color: 6.36
IBU: ~40
ABV: ~5.5

10lbs Vienna
0.8oz Columbus(14.5%) @ FWH
0.5oz Columbus(14.5%) @ Flameout
1.0oz Columbus(14.5%) @ Secondary
1 Pack Fermentis US-05

I generally keep Vienna and Columbus on hand, so this makes regular appearances. I like it, good luck.

Hey November,

I just did a very similar brew. I ended up splitting the wort into two carboys and pitched s-04 in one, and s-05 in the other. The 04 smells awesome and tastes good from the sample i took when transferring to secondary. The 05 kinda smells apple juicey. That happened last time i pitched with 05. What temerature do you ferment your 05 at?

also. has anyone else had this issue? it was pretty steady temp at 70...is that too high for 05? any help is greatly appreciated. thanks yall!

p.s. ive heard that apple juiceish smell (diacetyl?) is sometime in young beers, but my first batch that seemed like that has been in bottles for like 4 weeks
 
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