Question about hops at flameout

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.

GroosBrewz

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
Sep 28, 2008
Messages
823
Reaction score
12
Location
Kennewick, WA
Hey guys,

I have made several recipes that call for hops at flameout.. I have always been curious about something.. See, when I turn the flame off, I immediately use a sanitized hand strainer and manually scoop the hops out before I proceed to chill and rack.. I know some guys just chill and dump the wort, hops and all, into the fermenter, but I don't.. So my question is, if I am adding aroma hops at flameout, and them immediately straining, am I really getting any benefit from those additions? Should I add the hops at flameout and then wait a little while before I strain? What do you guys think?

thanks:mug:
 
Typically when you add hops at flameout, you let the wort sit for 10-15 before starting to chill or anything else. So yes, if you want to strain the hops out, wiat 10-15 minutes before doing so. Personally, I am from the camp that doesn't use hop bags for the most part and just dumps everything right into the fermenter.
 
I asked the same question a while back and got quite a range of responses as to what people on the forum are doing. I think the best answer depends a lot on what equipment you are using.

I have an IC cooler and use a hop bag with pellets usually. What I've settled on is dropping the temp to 180-170ish, add the 0 minute hops, and let it set for a 20-30 minutes. Seems to add some good aroma this way and works well in my process.
 
I rack from the brew pot to the carboy. No need to sanitize, strain, or dump. I keep the racking hose near the top of the carboy and get splash aeration.
 
when I turn the flame off, I immediately use a sanitized hand strainer and manually scoop the hops out before I proceed to chill and rack..

Straining out hops is fine, but why not wait until after chilling? As long as you sanitize the strainer you should be fine.

Typically when you add hops at flameout, you let the wort sit for 10-15 before starting to chill or anything else.

Really? Everything I've read has always indicated that you should cool as fast as possible. You minimize the amount of DMS formed, precipitate cold break and minimize the amount of time that the beer is vulnerable to infections this way.

My impression was also that the point of the flameout hop addition is to avoid boiling off the aroma compounds in the hops, leaving them sitting in near boiling wort would seem to preclude this. Can some of the more experienced brewers weigh in here? Am I off base?
 
I turn off the flame and add the aroma hops. Let them steep in there for 5-15minutes, depending on the recipe, then remove the hops (I use whole hops and a hop bag or muslin bag), and proceed with chilling. If you don't steep the hops a little bit, you aren't going to get much aroma out of them.
 
I like to put in the hops at flameout, chill the wort, and then use a strainer or collander to catch the hops as I pour the wort into the carboy.
 
I like to stir the wort into a whirlpool while adding the flameout hops. Then I wait until the whirlpool has slowed (5-10 min) and begin pumping into my chiller at that point. By waiting for the whirlpool to slow, I am confidant that the hops and trub have formed a good pile in the middle of the pot.
 
Straining out hops is fine, but why not wait until after chilling? As long as you sanitize the strainer you should be fine.



Really? Everything I've read has always indicated that you should cool as fast as possible. You minimize the amount of DMS formed, precipitate cold break and minimize the amount of time that the beer is vulnerable to infections this way.

My impression was also that the point of the flameout hop addition is to avoid boiling off the aroma compounds in the hops, leaving them sitting in near boiling wort would seem to preclude this. Can some of the more experienced brewers weigh in here? Am I off base?


The wort will still be very hot after 5-10 minutes (too hot for bacteria or wild yeast to survive) and once you start chilling you should still do it as fast as possible to precipitate cold break. Many, many, many people do the whirlpool method, particularly if you have one of those side pickup tubes in your BK that avoids the debris field (cone) in the middle.
 
Back
Top