Hop Head Double IPA

Hey all, newb here. I just ordered a Hop Head IPA kit from Midwest. This will be my second kit ever!!! My first was a Weizenbier from Brewer's Best. This kit comes with specialty grains, which I have never used before. I'm sure there will be plenty of instructions. Anyone have any suggestions for me as far as how to approach steeping speciality grains or any good home brewer knowledge that they could pass along?
Thanks!

The specialty grains won't add much complexity to your brew day so don't really worry about it. I'm sure there will be instructions but if not:
1) Put the specialty grains in a grain bag and tie a knot in the bag
2) Throw the bag in the water as it's heating up (think of it as a tea bag)
3) Make sure it stays in there for at least 20 minutes but no hotter than 170 degrees.
4) After the 20 minutes throw the grains (or save to make bread)

Proceed with the normal process.

Steeping grains are not difficult. The recipe tells you a temperature to try to maintain and a recommended time(15 to 30) minutes. Don't worry if you go a little over or under on the temp it won't be a deal breaker. I made this recently and plan on bottling it on the 4th. Good luck and enjoy. How did the Weizenbier come out?

I did steeping for my first and second beer, it's not hard at all, just keep temp in check. I can't wait to do a DIPA. Good luck!

I just kegged the all grain version of the kit. What I tasted going into the keg was fine but not nearly as bitter as I expected. Normally, what I taste for my hoppy brews is very bitter but this was not. I'm actually concerned it won't be hoppy enough for me but will reserve judgement until I tap it in 2 weeks.
You'd think 4 oz's plus 2 oz dry hopped would have jumped out at me.

Do what Cold Country mentioned and you should be fine. I like to steep for 30 minutes myself and I give the bag a squeeze or two as it cools down to get as much out of it as I can. Some say not to do that but I've done if for more than a decade and its' never come out bad.
Have fun, you'll likely notice your beers improve the more time you spend with them and using grains is a great enhancer in my opinion.

my first DIPA I made with just a dry pack of Nottingham. It turned out really boozy and really not good at all.

make a yeast starter to hopefully avoid that, and use the right liquid yeast.

heckler73 said:

my first DIPA I made with just a dry pack of Nottingham. It turned out really boozy and really not good at all.

make a yeast starter to hopefully avoid that, and use the right liquid yeast.

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It was probably the recipe, not the yeast.

Thanks for the feedback everybody! That makes me feel a lot better about steeping grains! I bought a white labs vial of yeast and I have probably a pound and a half of extra pellet hops to choose from if I want an extra kick during dry hopping. My weizenbier turned out to be a pretty decent first beer, btw!

Looks like somebody is a fan of Troegs. I have 5 bottles of Nugget Nectar left in my fridge. As for you kit, just reiterate what they said, you'll get instructions with your kit and there are 2 ways I have been told to do it so far. With Austin Homebrew, they basically just have you add the grains to cold water and bring up to I think 160 degrees then remove grains. Other places have you wait until the water hits 155 degrees then remove from heat and add grains for 20 minutes. Both ways worked for me.

I actually work at Troegs! This is a midwest supply kit. Nugget Nectar is one of my favorite beers ever! So tasty!

troegaarden said:

I actually work at Troegs! This is a midwest supply kit. Nugget Nectar is one of my favorite beers ever! So tasty!

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For real? That is awesome!!! I live about 40 minutes from the brewery. I keep meaning to get there for the tour. I remember I was at the Bears hockey game back in March (I believe) and they had Nugget Nectar on tap! $8 though, but when you consider it was only 1 or 2 dollars more, it's not bad for a great beer at a sporting event.

Do you work in the brewery or another part? I'd love to get my feet in a brewery.

PA49erFan21 said:

For real? That is awesome!!! I live about 40 minutes from the brewery. I keep meaning to get there for the tour. I remember I was at the Bears hockey game back in March (I believe) and they had Nugget Nectar on tap! $8 though, but when you consider it was only 1 or 2 dollars more, it's not bad for a great beer at a sporting event.

Do you work in the brewery or another part? I'd love to get my feet in a brewery.

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Yep!!! I'm a college student so it's the perfect job for me as a new homebrewer! I work in the kitchen as a counter person for the new Snack Bar. However, I have done the brewery tour and I had one of the brewers show me the computer system for the BrauKon system that Troegs uses. Pretty cool stuff! Yeah the Giant Center overcharges, but you should check out the Tasting Room. Pints for approximately 5 bucks (depending on what you get) plus scratch beers! It's a great place to be!

I'd love to try the MadElf Scratch. Honestly I haven't had any of the scratch beers. But Nugget Nectar is my favorite with JavaHead right behind. I know we are getting on another subject, I just love Troegs so much.

troegaarden said:

Thanks for the feedback everybody! That makes me feel a lot better about steeping grains! I bought a white labs vial of yeast and I have probably a pound and a half of extra pellet hops to choose from if I want an extra kick during dry hopping. My weizenbier turned out to be a pretty decent first beer, btw!

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Be sure to make a good starter :cross:

Mad Elf is awesome every year. A little bit too much alcohol warmth for my taste, but nonetheless a great holiday beer! Naked Elf (mad elf with the cherries and honey) is apparently really good. And thanks for the yeast starter advice!

Ok, so I am going to brew this kit on Sunday! I was looking at the procedure list, and the hop adding schedule reaaaaally confused me. Can anyone tell me how long each stage is? Here is the boil schedule from the pdf of recipe on midwestsupplies.com:

With the kettle removed from the burner, add the malt extract (some kits contain liquid
(LME), dry (DME) or both). Make sure to stir the water so the malt extract does not scorch on the
bottom of your pot. When the extract is fully dissolved, return the kettle to the burner. As soon as
you see a boiling bubble, add 1 oz Chinook bittering hops and boil 60 minutes for optimal hop
utilization and bittering. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR POT UNATTENDED! Boil-overs are messy and
should be cleaned up immediately. After 15 minutes add ½ oz Cascade hops (45 min). Wait 15 more
minutes and add ½ oz Centennial hops (30 min). After 10 more minutes add the other ½ oz
Cascade hops (20 min.) Wait 10 minutes then add the other ½ oz Centennial hops (10 min). After 5
minutes add 1 oz Crystal (5 min) aroma hops for the last five minutes and remove the pot from the
burner.

I am really confused about how to interpret each time stamp next to the hop additions. Do they mean 60 minutes total for all of the hops with each of the additions and printed time stamps being added with that amount of time left in the boil (the numbers in the parentheses)?

Thanks

Okay. Here's what you want to do.

Bring your malt extract and water to a boil. After the foam dies down (about 5 minutes) set a timer for 60 minutes (total boil time) and add your bittering hops (Chinook). When 15 minutes have passed, add the Cascade (this will be your 45 minute hop addition). After 15 more minutes, add the Centennial (this is your 30 minute hop addition).... so on and so on.

The numbers in parenthesis on the instruction sheet is the amount of time you will be boiling that particular hop addition.

Great! Thank you!

Hit my legged Hop Head and it's pretty good. Think it will improve a bit more. Nice body and flavor though I'd like it hoppier myself. I'd brew it again. This was the all grain kit.

Update: Brew Day was successful! The wort smells awesome, but I have one HUGE concern. I used a White Labs Cali Ale Yeast vial and poured it into the primary fermenter at around 530 last night. There are currently no signs of fermentation. Should I worry or should I expect the fermentation to initiate soon. I am definitely going to do a yeast starter next time of course, but I was wondering if the fermentation process should take a lot more time to start because of how heavy the wort is from all of that malt extract!

No need to be worried yet, it can take up to 3 days. I do think White Labs say to make a starter, but I would not worry about what is already done.

Ok thank you! That makes me feel better for sure. I just hope it's not too early to rack to secondary before I leave for vacation on Saturday

Don't worry about the secondary. there's no need for one at all, but if you do, don't rush it. It will be just fine for 2 or 3 weeks in the primary. One more thing, if you didn't shake the crap out of your wort, go ahead and do it now... Unless you have signs of fermentation, then just leave it. Relax, have a...

And keep those temps below 70.

I aerated the wort with my paddle a lot (after I poured the wort into my primary fermenter) until there was plenty of foam on the top before I added the yeast. There is dry hopping involved so I'm hoping the fermentation will start soon so that I can put the finished product into bottles before I go back to school.