When to add bittering hops?

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Fudd

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This might seem a little silly, but I just noticed that the two books I have suggest different times to add bittering hops...I just want an opinion on which way most people think is better. Do you let the water come to a boil, add the LME and DME and then wait for the water to BOIL AGAIN before adding the bittering hops; or do you just add the bittering hops after you finish stirring in the malt extract. I don't know if it makes a difference, but just thought I'd check.
 
I think most people here wait until after the hot break to add their first hop addition.

In other words, heat your water, add your malt extract, bring the wort to a boil, watch for boilover and wait until the foam subsides, then add the first hop addition and start the timer.

fsm_ninja.gif
 
I always wait until after the hot break (foam from malt dies down, boilover danger passes). Adding the hops sometimes causes the wort to boil up again, but the danger is much diminished if you wait until after the hot break.

I should also add that I don't start my timer until after hot break, which usually results in another 10-15 minutes of boiling.
 
I'm actually making a batch right now so thanks for the quick response!
 
Adding bittering hops before the majority of the hot break happened will result in a poor and somewhat unpredictable hop utilization due to the fact that lots of the bitter resins will be bound to the coagulating protein.

I have been there ;)

Kai
 
With EP on this one. Adding hops before the break is begging for a boil-over. I use pellets most of the time for bittering and even after the break the first addition can be a rush.
 

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