Hopping

I've been reading Pale Ales from the Classic Beer Style Series and I found a very interesting passage pertaining to hop aroma.

There was brief mention of an arcane German method of capturing hop aroma by adding hops before the boil.

Anyone ever try this?
Wouldn't the boil drive off most of the aroma?
Anyone got more info on this?

Thanks,
Scott

Two pre boil hop additions I have heard of is First Wort Hopping (FWH) and Mash Hopping (MH).
In FWH you add some flavor hops to the brew kettle as you begin draining the MLT. This seem to impart less bitterness and more flavor than adding the hops at the start of the boil. Several theories about why this is but I don't believe there is conclusive evidence. I often do this in addition to late hop additions in my IPAs and other hoppy beers. I can't say what it adds as I have not done enough experimenting but I figure the bitterness as a 20min addition when creating a recipe.
In MH you add hops to your mash as you would a specialty grain. Said to give similar results to FWH but without adding extra hop matter to the brew kettle. I havn't tried this technique yet but plan to at some point. Neither is probably an efficient use of hops but for home brewers making hop bombs they add a different way to use hops.
Craig

Interesting, thanks!