Shawn Hargreaves
Well-Known Member
The other day I was discussing first wort hopping with a friend who is a new brewer, currently doing extract with steeping grains, and is a big time hophead.
I repeated what I've read elsewhere, that first wort hopping is obviously only possible for partial mash or AG brews, since you need a wort runoff to add the hops during, right?
But then I got to thinking, is that really the case?
My understanding is that first wort hopping works like it does because the hop acids react with the wort sugars at sparge temp, producing a more stable form that will not boil off so easily.
In which case, wouldn't steeping grains be able to achieve the same effect? You have wort with some grain sugars at a similar temperature, so it seems to me that the same kind of reaction would occur if you added hops during the steep.
Anyone ever tried this, or got any reasons why it wouldn't work?
I repeated what I've read elsewhere, that first wort hopping is obviously only possible for partial mash or AG brews, since you need a wort runoff to add the hops during, right?
But then I got to thinking, is that really the case?
My understanding is that first wort hopping works like it does because the hop acids react with the wort sugars at sparge temp, producing a more stable form that will not boil off so easily.
In which case, wouldn't steeping grains be able to achieve the same effect? You have wort with some grain sugars at a similar temperature, so it seems to me that the same kind of reaction would occur if you added hops during the steep.
Anyone ever tried this, or got any reasons why it wouldn't work?