Idea for beer: low IBU, huge hop aroma/flavor?

DMacBrew said:

I've been wanting to try a batch of hoppy but low bitterness beer myself. I like what I'm seeing in this thread so far but I also heard a rumor that you can get a smoother bitterness by adding hops to your wort as it drains from your mashtun. I guess the theory is that the temperature of your mash dissolves the alpha acids and then the time it takes to bring the wort to a boil plus the 60 min. boil time breaks down the higher bitter notes of the hops.

Like I said, this is just a rumor I heard. Haven't had the time to test it myself but was wondering if anyone else has.

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Called first wort hop.

For those looking for a big malt backbone combined with huge hop flavor, try a combo of 50/50 marris otter/Vienna as your base (and a few diff. Lovibonds of crystal to boot). I have been experimenting with the 50/50 MO/Vienna split after reading about it in Gordon Strong's new book, and have been really impressed with the results. I'm getting big, TASTY malt profiles even in smaller beers that really come through even with huge hop flavor/aroma from hop bursting. I highly suggest this approach to anyone looking to make a session ale with big malt AND hop flavor. I just finished an APA with this approach and the malt is shining through with good hop flavor even being very young.

pickles said:

Anyone have a tried and true recipe for an low IBU HopBurst APA? Or can any recipe be done this way?

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Indeed!! Here is our Smiling Sky Summer Pale Ale recipe (6 gal AG batch)

Type: All Grain
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
Brewer: Bright Spot Brewing
Boil Size: 8.01 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 73.00 %

GRAIN BILL
6.25 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) 50.0 %
4.00 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) 32.0 %
1.25 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) 10.0 %
1.00 lbs Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) 08.0 %

HOP SCHEDULE
0.60 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 40.0 min 20.7 IBUs
0.40 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 30.0 min 12.1 IBUs
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min 1.7 IBUs
0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min 3.0 IBUs
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 3 Days 0.0 IBUs
0.50 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Dry Hop 3 Days 0.0 IBUs

YEAST
WLP001: California Ale (SafAle US-05 or Wyeast 1098 will work)
1.5 litre starter recommended

MASH PROFILE
Mash: 60 min single infusion with 4 gal water @ 152F
Sparge: 5.50 gal @ 168F

Ferment @ 67F for 4 days; add dry hops; let sit 3+ more days; keg/bottle
==================================

Pretty simple and delicious!! All these rumors about extended dry-hopping times bugs me... all you really need is about 3 days. If you don't trust me, brew this recipe and get back to me

Ah, I have just the suggestion, Three Floyd's Brian Boru. I think it is 18 IBUs but bursting with hop flavor and aroma. Used this beer in an an informal judging seminar about the affect of flavor and aroma on perceived hop bitterness. Several nationally ranked judges tasted Brian Boru and thought the IBUS were in the 75+ range.

Anita Johnson
Great Fermentations of IN
www.greatfermentations.com

pickles said:

What was the grain bill for this? The hop schedule seems in order with huge hop aroma goal of the OP.

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The grain bill for that beer was pretty simple. 5lb 2 row, 4 lb light munich, and 1lb crystal 60. Yeast was S-05. Mash at 154 for an hour and ferment a bit low at 62-64 degrees. The grain bill compliments the hops really well. You’d think, by reading, that the 40% munich is overdoing it, but it really isn’t. This is my standard IPA/APA grain bill.

EDIT: this is a 5gal batch

I've achieved Pliny-levels of aroma by running my secondary through an infuser (aka"randallizer") packed with 4 oz of whole hops prior to kegging. The beer was 9% ABV and I made the transfer ultra-slow to maximize extraction. As noted by several others on this site, hop aroma decreases exponentially, so this is definitely the kind of beer you want to keg and drink ASAP.

This may have been discussed already, but I very recently (still in the fermentors) brewed a split batch IPA. I mashed a simple grain bill and when ready boil split the batch into 2 pots. Both with 3 gallons each which boiled down to just about 2.5gallons. Both batches were hopped to right about 70IBU. The first had only 60 & 15min additions. The other had only 15, 10 & 5 min additions. I did this to really understand what the different additions really add. I too like the big hop aroma and taste, but don't like crazy bitter IIPA's. When done I plan on doing this same experiment again but this time I'll dryhop both and again see what the difference is.

My bittering addition is always JUST to balance, perhaps even to the malty side if I'm using a crap-ton of hops at the end. I don't really like bitterness in general, and you will get some perceived bitterness from late additions, so I always shoot low in the IBUs, even for my IPAs.

I know of a certain local commercial beer that is made this way, with lower bitterness, hopped to hell, and it weighs in at only 4.5% ABV. It packs all the punch of a true IPA

Just added 1.5 oz. of Amarillo to a partial-mash Gumball Head clone I brewed on Saturday. Gravity is 1.010 right now and the ABV is around 4.7%. The hydrometer sample tonight smelled and tasted awesome. Gravity is 1.010 right now and the ABV is around 4.7%. Can't wait to get this thing in bottles.

didnt mean to post

use a very low alpha acid hop variety and do not add it until boiling is done. This is because boiling converts alpha acids to bitter compounds. Also cover it right away with a lid that will keep all the steam in. Carried in the steam will be the essential oils of hops that give the good flavor and aroma you want to trap that in the wort. When it is cold the condensate should be carefully dripped back into the pot. When the wort is cool dry hop with another low alpha acid hop variety. Two different hop varieties will insure a complex bouquet great flavor and a wicked awesome less bitter IPA or IIPA.

Other than that you could try doing the above without the dry hop addition and with the addition of hop essential oil extract. I am not even sure if anyone sells that. but i bet it would be da bomb in home brew.

I have been dry hopping 2 ounce for a week with my American wheat and pale ale. Might start going 3 ounce even. 2 ounce is far from too much. I like the idea of a session IPA. That was kinda my intention with the pale ale I just did but I got 82% eff and used notti. I might have a 7% beer. Oops. Not sure how a session IPA doesn't become a pale ale tho.

10 Barrel's ISA fits this pretty well. VERY tasty!

http://www.10barrel.com/brewery/our-beers.html
India Session Ale... A brand new style from the twisted minds of 10 Barrel's brew crew. Deep gold with orange highlights. Big Citrusy aroma full of grapefruit and tangerine thanks to the massive dry hop! Clean, crisp malitness with a hint of sweetness. Pleasant, balanced bitterness as a reslult of the loaded late-kettle hop addition.

Malts: 2-row Pale, Honey malt, Wheat
Hops: Summit, Cascade, Centennial

ABV: 5.5
IBU’s: 51

DeathBrewer said:

My bittering addition is always JUST to balance, perhaps even to the malty side if I'm using a crap-ton of hops at the end. I don't really like bitterness in general, and you will get some perceived bitterness from late additions, so I always shoot low in the IBUs, even for my IPAs.

I know of a certain local commercial beer that is made this way, with lower bitterness, hopped to hell, and it weighs in at only 4.5% ABV. It packs all the punch of a true IPA

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Wanted to thank you for your instructions on your stove top BIAB system. I live in a condo and don't have the means to brew outside with a burner. After my first 3 all extract kits, I moved to partial mash using your system. I then brewed 9 partial mash batches that all came out well. I've now moved on to all grain. People are amazed that I can brew all grain batches on my electric stove top while using a BIAB system. I'm getting excellent efficiencies. Usually between 75%-85%. I've had to adjust my recipes to account for higher than normal eff rates. Thanks again!

lanceearlhaines said:

use a very low alpha acid hop variety and do not add it until boiling is done. This is because boiling converts alpha acids to bitter compounds. Also cover it right away with a lid that will keep all the steam in. Carried in the steam will be the essential oils of hops that give the good flavor and aroma you want to trap that in the wort. When it is cold the condensate should be carefully dripped back into the pot. When the wort is cool dry hop with another low alpha acid hop variety. Two different hop varieties will insure a complex bouquet great flavor and a wicked awesome less bitter IPA or IIPA.

Other than that you could try doing the above without the dry hop addition and with the addition of hop essential oil extract. I am not even sure if anyone sells that. but i bet it would be da bomb in home brew.

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Hmm... I can't say I'd recommend covering your kettle at any point during the process, even if to preserve hop aroma, as this will increase your chances of developing DMS (dimethyl sulfide), which will had a creamed corn flavor to your beer. Rather, just consider using a bit more hops in the end. This is what we do... and we get great results.

Cheers!