Beginner Hop question

Did a Blond Ale PM for my first attempt at brewing. The recipe said to boil the hops for 60 min. I have been reading around and lookin at recipes, and from what I understand in the boiling process it goes bittering, flavoring and then aroma. What does this mean for the final product? Its only hop characteristics will be bitterness?

If that's all the recipe had was a 60 minute hop addition then yes, it will only provide bitterness that will offset the sweetness of the malt. Some styles (actually many) have only a bittering hop addition.

You need to boil to get bitterness from the hops. Yes, bitterness is good. You will learn to like more. The hop flower will not release its goodness if it is only steeped like a tea. You get different characteristics by entering the hops at different times. You will still have aroma, just not as much if your recipe includes a late hop addition.

I would be interested in the recipe you are using.

So long as you are using a recipe from a reliable source you will get beer

Follow the directions, try not to worry too much, and learn the process.

Keep reading, and enjoy.

The bittering acid (alpha acid) in hops is naturally insoluble. Boiling the hops isomerizes the alpha acid into a form that's soluble, and will therefore add bitterness to the beer. And of course it won't all isomerize at once, it takes some time. Hence the need to boil for 60 minutes. Though you'll get some more bittering from boils longer then 60 minutes, the peak of the utilization curve is at just about 60 minutes, so there's sort of a diminishing returns situation.

Hop bittering is non-volitile, meaning they do not evaporate during the course of the boil.

Flavor compounds are somewhat volatile. Most of them evaporate in a 60 minute boil. But many will remain in a 30 minute boil. Less boil time means more flavor compounds remain in the beer. Flavor additions are usually between 30 and 10 minutes.

Aroma compounds are the most volatile. Boiling for 15 minutes will cause almost all of the aroma compounds to evaporate. Aroma additions are generally 10-0 minutes or dry hopped.

There is some overlap between the three. Even a 60 minute boil will not remove all of the flavor compounds; and boiling your flavor addition for 20 minutes will isomerize some of the bittering compounds. And likewise, late aroma additions will add some flavor and bittering, with the exception of dry hopping which is done at storage temperature and therefore adds no bittering.

so, persay the directions said to boil half of the hops for 30 minutes, then during the last 2 minutes of the boil, ad the rest of the hops; I assume that last 2 minute addition is just for aroma??

Well I'm not sure I'd use the "just" modifier - makes it sound less important somehow. But yes, it means it's primarily an aroma addition. 2 minutes will also extract some flavor and just a little bit of bittering.

thanks Damage! i agree, "just" might not have been the correct terminology. Perhaps, "mostly" would have been a better term.

Thanks for the feed back.

The recipe is from More Beer,

.5lb Crystal 15L *Remove steeping grain at 170F and 30min

7lb Light Malt Extract

1oz Willamette *bittering hops boiled for 60min

3/4 Whirlfloc Tablet *last five min

Safale US-05 Dry Yeast


Its currently fermenting in a uninsalaeted room, the stick thermometer on the outside of the carboy says 61F, after the night. I read that the actual inside temp is anywhere from 5 - 10 degrees warmer during fermentation. Is this true?? If it is I assume I would be fine, correct?

The fermenter wall is more effective at transferring heat to the stick-on "Fermometer" than the air, so the fermometer will actually indicate the temperature inside the fermenter, not the air temperature. So right now the liquid inside is 61F if the "61" is green on the fermometer.

Cronik, I highly recommend doing a brew with multiple hop additions next time. It's a cool challenge and there's really no better way to appreciate the complexities of hops than sticking your nose in the glass. I hope you become a hop head!

Yeah I am definitely gunna brew the next batch with multiple hop additions. Hopefully if this one comes out nice and balanced it will act as a good base to gauge brewing a batch with more complex qualities.

@Frodo, thanks for the clarifying that, it says 60F now so maybe that area is a lil bit to cold for it..