Starburst Hopping

Has anyone heard of or tried starburst hopping? One of the guys at my homebrew shop mentioned it to me, he said add a bunch of hops around 20mins. left of boil instead of 60 or 90mins.

We routinely add hops at times ranging from 90 mins to 0 mins, so you might have to be a bit more descriptive.

If I had to guess I'd say he might be referring to a strategy of foregoing the traditional bittering hop addition, while getting the same number of IBU's from more hops boiled for less time. That is a way of getting more hop flavor and aroma for the same bitterness.

As an example:

instead of 1oz cascade for 60 mins, using 2oz at 30 minutes.

I've never heard of "starburst" hopping, but hopbursting is done by quite a few brewers. The only drawback I can think of is that it would take a ton of hops to get to the same IBU level as a traditional brew, and this winter hops were over $3 an ounce. Now that the price is stabilized, and there are even some bargains on hops, it might be more easily done by homebrewers.

I've done brews with quite a few hops added after 20 minutes left in the boil, and been very happy with the "in your face" hoppiness. I've never done it without 60 minute bittering hops, though. That's on my list to try.

Yes, you could add hops at anytime, but he was talking about skipping the traditional bittering schedule and adding 3-4oz. of say simcoe and also adding a bit at the end for aroma.

Pikeman said:

Yes, you could add hops at anytime, but he was talking about skipping the traditional bittering schedule and adding 3-4oz. of say simcoe and also adding a bit at the end for aroma.

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Yes, that's exactly what "hopbursting" is. I just have hesitated because of the cost of hops.

I'm brewing a Bells two hearted clone next week, and I'll be using this technique.
Instead of:
2 oz @ 60
2 oz @ 15
2 oz @ 5
2 oz @ 1
2 oz DH

I'll be doing:

1 oz @ 60
3 oz @ 20
2 oz @ 15
2 oz @ 5
2 oz @ 1
2 oz DH.

It's only 2 extra ounces, yield the same IBUs, but should give me more flavor and aroma.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!, Centennial.

I was thinking/hoping someone was talking about putting candy in the fermenter, along the same lines as the famous Skittlebrau.

annasdadhockey said:

I'm brewing a Bells two hearted clone next week, and I'll be using this technique.
Instead of:
2 oz @ 60
2 oz @ 15
2 oz @ 5
2 oz @ 1
2 oz DH

I'll be doing:

1 oz @ 60
3 oz @ 20
2 oz @ 15
2 oz @ 5
2 oz @ 1
2 oz DH.

It's only 2 extra ounces, yield the same IBUs, but should give me more flavor and aroma.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!, Centennial.

Click to expand...

Or you could do use the actual technique and not add anything before 20 minutes.

ChemE said:

Or you could do use the actual technique and not add anything before 20 minutes.

Click to expand...

I like a good bitter "bite" to my IPA but I've hop bursted an APA and it turned out fabulous.

Or if it was just too expensive to get the IBUs purely from hopbursting you could FWH + hopburst. I just did an ESB that way and it is extremely delicious. I'm going to do another comparative ESB that strictly uses <20 minute additions.

I love this idea. But I would like to add some thoughts on the benefit of adding hops at 60 min. It is my understanding that early additions of hops aid in the formation of hot break and therefore aid in a brew's clarity.

I am growing crowns for the first year from Great Lake Hops. I am looking forward to having an abundance of hops to try this method. However, I will likely add a small amount of a noble variety at 60 min to aid in clarity and a minimal addition to IBU's. I'm thinking Mt Hood would go well with my Centennials.

if you just really want to increase the aroma and still get bitterness, BYO put out an article with a technique of using a french press to get the oils and aromas out, then using the "partially spent hops" in the boil at 60 minutes for bitterness, thereby getting the wonderful aromas and still maximizing bitterness. I'll find the article tomorrow (its somewhere in the hop lovers guide i think) and post the link to it. I am going to try it this summer, just not sure what beer yet.