Need a big hoppy IPA without going broke

Suggestions? I really dig nice full bodied American IPAs, but with prices and availability of hops standing in my way, it's been lightly hopped beers for a while, and Im getting sick of it! Do you guys know any tricks to get a nicely bitter, very hoppy aroma and flavor from the least amount of hops? I heard something on Basic Brewing Radio about using a french press to make a tea, but Im not sure of the details, or if it even works.

Thoughts?

Use high alpha hops. magnum, Columbus, Simcoe, etc.

Usually do, for the bittering anyway. How are they on the aroma and stuff? I usually only use 5 to 7 AA hops for the late additions.

mike

The tea, while I haven't tried it YET, is getting rave reviews. What I've been doing as of late is finding a nice high AA hop with low cohumulone (summit at 19% has been working like a charm)--and adding the appropriate amount at the start of the boil to achieve the IBUs that you want. You'll need some homebrew software most likely, but for instance:
If I am making an IPA, and I want to bring it to 70 IBUs--I'll key in the appropriate amount of hops at 19% alpha that will take me to the 70IBU mark. THEN (and i'm sure I'll get some disagreements on this) I will hold off adding any other hops until the last 5-7 minutes of the boil. So, I'll pick another 2-3 hop varietals, mix them up in a bowl and do a 1oz. add at 7 minutes; 1oz. at 3 minutes; 1 oz. at flameout. The measurements are subjective, but I've noticed that in additions within the "10 min to Flameout" give explosive hop taste and aroma--but very little to no bittering. That's why it's important to hit your IBU range with the first addition.

While Simcoe, Amarillo, and Cascade are the magic Amerian IPA triplets, the first two are becoming more difficult to come by. So, I've been using Cascade with Glacier (new fave) and sometimes Challenger. Don't be afraid to use a high AA hop for a late addition, too. Very little acid will leak out within the time you adding them. Best test: Smell Them. Generally, the ones that smell the best to you--are the ones that will taste the best to you.
Of course dry hopping and/or "tea hopping" is up to you.


Good Luck!

If you're doing partial boils, then move to a full or larger boil to increase utilization from the same amount of hops.

Hop teas without malt doesn't cause isomerization of the hops so there is no bitterness(except that grassy flavor bitterness).
As for late additions, that's what I would do

Try my https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/fat-owl-pale-ale-55221/ And bump it up a bit if you want an IPA

Hop teas without malt doesn't cause isomerization of the hops

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Not true. Don't know how this rumor got started, but straight water works fine.

This thread should help:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/big-hop-flavor-1-3-hops-55721/

Just out of curiosity, what hops DO you have in stock? Might be able to maximize it if I know what's hangin' around. Or, if you're reliant upon the HBS for hops at this point, I can work with that too.

Just noticed that Midwest Supplies has Cascades for $2.50/oz. And you should check Freshops, they have the start of the 08' crop in, for $2/oz.

Worst case PM me and I might be able to hook you up with a couple oz of a couple different varieties to put you back into the clear.

david_42 said:

Not true. Don't know how this rumor got started, but straight water works fine.

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After doing some searching I'll have to agree with you, but I've never heard of someone boiling the tea for an hour which is what they need to do

from "How to Brew"

The main bittering agent is the alpha acid resin which is insoluble in water until isomerized by boiling. The longer the boil, the greater the percentage of isomerization and the more bitter the beer gets.

I wonder if a hop tincture would work any better than a hop tea? I've never tried it.

The hop teas main purpose is to simulate dry hopping. Every source I've read says to steep at 160F and allow the temp to drop giving you a full "flavor" without aa utilization. If you want bitter--add at the beginning of the boil and go for 60 min.

i made one recently that tasted pretty good, used 11lbs 2 row 4lbs american victory mashed at 155 F for 60 min . 1oz centennial for 60 min 1oz cascade for 30min 1oz cascade for 15min 1oz willamette for 5 min and dry hop with 1 oz centennial. wyeast 1056 left in primary for 3 weeks secondary with DH for 2 weeks.

You could make the hop tea then take the hops and add them as the bittering.

jrhammonds said:

The hop teas main purpose is to simulate dry hopping. Every source I've read says to steep at 160F and allow the temp to drop giving you a full "flavor" without aa utilization. If you want bitter--add at the beginning of the boil and go for 60 min.

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Why simulate dry-hopping when dry-hopping itself would be easier

niquejim said:

Why simulate dry-hopping when dry-hopping itself would be easier

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I think the argument here is more flavor, less hops used. Can we just agree that both methods are valid?

I don't think "to simulate dry-hopping" is exactly the right verbage, but both methods accomplish adding hop flavor and aroma. Just like a 60-minute boiled hop tea will give bitterness, as would using more bittering hops in the first place.

Figuring the IBUs wouldn't be tricky because the hop tea only takes the flavor out of the hops, the alpha acid would still be there.

niquejim said:

...but I've never heard of someone boiling the tea for an hour which is what they need to do.

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I've actually done this twice, being dim-witted enough to have forgotten to bring my hops to my brew site for 2 separate brews. Neither were IPAs or pale ales (actually a summer ale and a raspberry wheat), but they turned out nicely. So it is at least possible to get some bittering into your beer with an ounce of hop pellets and like 2-4 cups of water boiled down over an hour.

I thought that the point of the hop tea was to get two uses out of one ounce of hops. Say you were going to use centennial and simcoe as your bittering hops but you also wanted to use them for flavoring. You could make two hop teas then take the hops out of the tea and use them for bittering. You could then dump the hop tea into the fermenter or straight into the kettle, thus saving you 2 ounces of hops. I could be wrong but that was my understanding as to the benefit of using a hop tea.

thedude123 said:

I thought that the point of the hop tea was to get two uses out of one ounce of hops.

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The point of a hop tea is what you want the point to be.

1) You can do an infusion at 160*F (or 180F or whatever you choose) and let it cool off, and in doing so, get a tea that has great aroma + flavor properties, and use this tea in the secondary or keg.
2) You can take the sludge from #1, and use it for bittering a batch that you are actively brewing.
3) You can boil your tea for 60 minutes, and add it to your secondary, keg, etc., to make up for forgotten/lost bitterness.

You don't have to do one if you don't want to. You can use it just for bitterness. You can use it for the flavor/aroma only. You can do whatever the hell you want.

Fair enough. I just particularly like the idea of getting flavor/aroma out of hops and then using them for bittering afterwards.

Without the debate on hop teas, which I have done twice and works very well, and also helps to sanitize hops for dry hopping.
Right now the flow of hops seems to be open, so it you are not limited on hops at most LHBS. From my understanding the shortage is not over, but for now you can get hops.
Other than that an oz or two of Columbus 15% AAU at 60 minutes boil will give you a heck of a slap your momma IBU level, then you just have to mellow it out with flavor and aroma hops.
I use the tasty brew site for quick and dirty "what if" things. I don't know if you have tried it but it works well for me.
TastyBrew.com | Recipe Calculation
Hope this helps.

Thanks for the replies guys, I think I'll try using the tea for the "dry hopping" stage later on (although I think the name needs to be changed when using a tea. "wet hopping?" nah, already taken, "teabagging?" too suggestive... hmmm).

the tea idea really does make things a little more controlled and easier to handle. Stuffing two ounces of hops into my fermentor isn't a big deal, but I always worry about the utilization when those guys are just floating around in clumps. With the tea, I can hit it right before I transfer into a keg, carb it up for a week and have a hell of a aromatic beer. I've got a pale in the works right now with decent hopping, but I want more out of it. Perhaps I'll pick up a good aromatic type and make some tea. Ideas for a good aromatic variety? My recipe was all cascades, want something to add a little dimension.

mike

MLynchLtd said:

I've got a pale in the works right now with decent hopping, but I want more out of it. Perhaps I'll pick up a good aromatic type and make some tea. Ideas for a good aromatic variety? My recipe was all cascades, want something to add a little dimension.

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Good complements for Cascade are, to name a couple, Amarillo, Simcoe, Summit, Centennial, and the new NZ Riwaka that Austin Homebrew and a couple others have.

Summit is almost tangerine-like. Riwaka is supposed to be a super-duper grapefruit bomb. Amarillo is just delicious pineapple nectar of the gods.

Chriso said:

Amarillo is just delicious pineapple nectar of the gods.

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Oh yes, Amarillo is my fave. Perhaps I'll go with them. I use them all the time, but hey, if it aint broke...

mike