First full boil - reduce amount of hops?

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MaxPower49

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OK, got a turkey fryer for Christmas and I'm attempting my first full boil tomorrow (5 gallon). Here is the kit I am brewing:
http://ebrew.com/amber_ales/90_minute_double_pale_ale.htm

It says "Notice the different bittering level based on a partial boil (88 IBU's) and a full boil (134 IBU's)." Does that mean that by doing a full boil, my beer will be more bitter than it should be? Do I need to reduce the amount of hops I add in? I've seen conflicting information on this. The guy at the LHBS said to use them all, but it didn't sound like he really knew what he was talking about.

The recipe calls for about 10 separate hop additions 3 different kinds of hops. A couple of them are plug hops... do I just cut part of them off?

Also, do you guys use muslin bags for all hop additions? All of my hop additions are packaged separately (some pellet and some plug) but only the plug came with muslin bags.

Thanks.
 
You don't NEED to reduce or change anything. It just depends on how much of a hophead you are. If you really like bitterness than go for it, but be prepared for some insane beer.
Personally I would rather it stay in the 80s. If you want it lower, just reduce the amount of your 60 minute boil.
Can you tell us the hop schedule?
 
A full boil has several benefits- and one of them is better hops utilization. If you have some brewing software (Beersmith has a free trial), you can run the numbers and see the difference in hops utilization. Otherwise, if you post the recipe, one of us would be happy to do it for you.

When I first did it, I used my "Dead Guy" clone recipe. I remember saying, "Wow- this is about twice as bitter!" When I later ran the numbers, sure enough, the recipe changed from about 18 IBUs to 30 IBUs!

As a general rule, you could try reducing the bittering hops by 25%, but I'd rather look at the recipe and adjust the hopping based on the approximate IBUs I'd get.
 
Hop additions are as follows... all at 10 minute intervals.

1) 1/2 oz. chinook
2) 1/2 oz. columbus
3) 1/2 oz. cascade
4) 1/2 oz. chinook
5) 1/2 oz. columbus
6) 1/2 oz. cascade
7) 1/2 oz. chinook
8) 1/2 oz. columbus
9) 1/2 oz. cascade
10) 1/2 oz. cascade (5 minutes)

Calls for a 90 minute boil. If someone could run the numbers, I would appreciate it. It is a Dogfish Head 90 min clone, and I'd like to keep it as close to that as possible.

Kit also includes 11 lbs Light DME (5 lb bag and 6 lb bag) and specialty malt grains (aromatic, crystal, and honey). Should I save 1 of the DME bags for a late addition?
 
The AAU % of the hops will also be necessary.

I just downloaded the BeerSmith software tonight, and I feel I'm pretty capable with it already. You should check it out, it's very intuitive.

Or post the AAUs here, and I'll run the numbers for you, and someone with more experience can correct me:D

Jay
 
oops... are these the numbers you need?

columbus pellet - 14.2 alpha
chinook pellet - 11.4 alpha
cascade plug - 8.7 alpha
 
Ok, someone might indeed have to correct me, this was a tough one, perhaps because I don't have all the ingredients, or the SG of malt.

Using this hop schedule, and 11lbs of Light DME (1.044 SG) I was able to get it to 83 IBUs with a 4 gallon boil. So i doubt that's right. And I didn't even include the grains to steep.

How much water did they tell you to use in your boil?
 
They don't say... the instructions are pretty vague. I was planning to start with about 6.5 gallons and boil down to about 5 over 90 minutes. I just don't want to do anything to screw up this kit as it was a pretty expensive one. You think if I reduce all of the hop hops by 20% or so, I will be ok? I was thinking of doing a late extract addition, but that would complicate things more. I've tried playing with the beersmith program a bit but it is kind if confusing.
 
Ok, I got it. I missed the total boil time when first calculating.

With a partial 2.55 gal, it's 76.7 IBU.

With a full 6.02 gal boil, 149.9 IBU

The 6.02gal is what it says given a 9% per hour evaporation rate.

Good luck with it, I love the 90 minute. I might have to try this kit myself!

Jay
 
thanks whoneedsabeer, so if this was your beer... would you reduce the hop additions a bit for a full boil? I'm trying to get as close as possible to the Dogfish Head I am cloning.
 
I wouldn't like any beer with 149. I would think closer to 80-90 IBUs would be more on target.


Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
11.00 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 100.00 %
0.30 oz Chinook [11.40 %] (90 min) Hops 12.1 IBU
0.30 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.20 %] (80 min) Hops 14.8 IBU
0.30 oz Cascade [8.70 %] (70 min) Hops 8.9 IBU
0.30 oz Chinook [11.40 %] (60 min) Hops 11.3 IBU
0.30 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.20 %] (50 min) Hops 13.4 IBU
0.30 oz Cascade [8.70 %] (40 min) Hops 7.6 IBU
0.30 oz Chinook [11.40 %] (30 min) Hops 8.7 IBU
0.30 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.20 %] (20 min) Hops 8.5 IBU
0.30 oz Cascade [8.70 %] (10 min) Hops 3.1 IBU
0.30 oz Cascade [8.70 %] (5 min) Hops 1.7 IBU



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.066 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.017 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.40 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.65 %
Bitterness: 90.0 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 10.7 SRM Color: Color

I would think now you need a pretty good scale to get all these .3 oz sizes.
 
thanks whoneedsabeer. I think I can eyeball the 1/2 oz packets close enough down to 0.3 oz. My only concern is your recipe results in 6.4%ABV where my recipe specifies 8.8%. Guss at this this point I'll just try and see what happens, right? I should put all 11 lb of DME in up front?
 
The reason for the difference is because I don't have all the ingredients in beersmith. I don't have the type of yeast or amount. Also, didn't put your steeping grains in either, so this recipe is incomplete at best.

As far as your question as to adding DME late in boil, let me preface this by saying I'm a total n00b at this, and in fact, just recently learned the benefits of this technique. But from what I understand, adding DME late will only increase hop utilization. I "believe" that beersmith assumes you have your wort to it's final consistency before hopping starts. So if you did add DME late, the IBU would only increase, but by how much I can't begin to guess.

Maybe someone else can give their opinion here. I guess if i were doing this one, I'd not do the late edition. If beersmith is correct with this abbreviated recipe list, 90 IBUs is really up there. I wouldn't want to go past that, personally.

Jay
 
My yeast is the White Labs (1 tube) California Ale Yeast WLP001.

Unless someone suggests otherwise, I will just do the full boil... add all extract in the beginning, and only use about 70% of the hops for each of the additions.

I downloaded the Beersmith trial, but it is a little bit confusing. I guess it will take a little time to get used to it.
 
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