Fwh k.i.s.s.

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ronjonacron

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2012
Messages
479
Reaction score
39
Location
Pensacola
So, I'm a smart guy, but sometimes with new ideas i need the whole picture put out in front of me.

From what I've read so far about the FW hopping technique, you move some of your 20-0 min additions to the pot while draining the mash tun. a 30% is mentioned, which seems like a lot. Does this replace any of your bittering additions, or is it really as simple as moving your 20-0 minutes additions to before the boil, and use bittering as you would normally?

For example:

typical method
60 min - 1 oz bittering hop
20 min - 1 oz aroma/finishing hop
5 min - 1 oz aroma/finishing hop

FWH hopping method.

FWH - 1 OZ aroma/finishing hop
60 min - 1 oz bittering hop
5 min - 1 oz aroma/finishing hop

Am i grasping this correctly?
 
I think the 20 minute thing is just a guesstimate of IBU's you will get if you replace your 60 minute boil with a FWH.

I FWH most of my beers, mostly APA's or IPA's then do a heavy flame out addition instead of late boil additions.
 
So, I'm a smart guy, but sometimes with new ideas i need the whole picture put out in front of me.

From what I've read so far about the FW hopping technique, you move some of your 20-0 min additions to the pot while draining the mash tun. a 30% is mentioned, which seems like a lot. Does this replace any of your bittering additions, or is it really as simple as moving your 20-0 minutes additions to before the boil, and use bittering as you would normally?

For example:

typical method
60 min - 1 oz bittering hop
20 min - 1 oz aroma/finishing hop
5 min - 1 oz aroma/finishing hop

FWH hopping method.

FWH - 1 OZ aroma/finishing hop
60 min - 1 oz bittering hop
5 min - 1 oz aroma/finishing hop

Am i grasping this correctly?

Yes, you're grasping it correctly. FWIW, FWH is a way of making a smoother, more complex bitterness. It also lowers the pH of your runnings which can also help slightly with saccrification and hops utilization.
 
Yes, you're grasping it correctly. FWIW, FWH is a way of making a smoother, more complex bitterness. It also lowers the pH of your runnings which can also help slightly with saccrification and hops utilization.

Are you referring to "mash hopping" or "first wort hopping"??
 
I rework my FWH until it is almost similar to my 60min. The FWH gives a much smoother and more flavorful add. I only add at most a .25 at 60min just to give a small bite of bittering.
 
For example:

typical method
60 min - 1 oz bittering hop
20 min - 1 oz aroma/finishing hop
5 min - 1 oz aroma/finishing hop

FWH hopping method.

FWH - 1 OZ aroma/finishing hop
60 min - 1 oz bittering hop
5 min - 1 oz aroma/finishing hop

Am i grasping this correctly?

I think below is what a lot of us do.

FWH - 1 oz bittering hop
20 min - 1 oz aroma/finishing hop
5 min - 1 oz aroma/finishing hop

After you brew a bunch of batches you get a feel for how much bittering you are getting. Don't stress too much about the actual IBU numbers. Pick one IBU calculating formula and stick to that. Now brew yourself some beers and learn what YOUR 30 IBU beer tastes like compared to another of YOUR beers at 50 IBUs. Based on these (and other of your beers) you eventually will be able to dial in your ability to correctly figure out how much hops to use (and when) to get the bitterness you desire
 
I use my 60 min bittering hop as my FWH. All of my late addition hops remain unchanged.

Ditto.

Was linked to this from Probrewer. Has some actual data which seems to be rare when discussing FWH.

http://kotmf.com/articles/fwh.php

"...But we recommend that first wort hopping be carried out with at least 30% of the total hop addition, using the later aroma additions. [New paragraph] As far as the use of hops is concerned, the alpha-acid quantity should not be reduced even in the case of an improved bitterness utilisation. The results of the tastings showed that the bitterness of the beers is regarded as very good and also as very mild. A reduction of the hop quantity added [to compensate for the presence of more hops early in the boil--this note added by Dave, it is clear from the context of the preceding paragraphs] could result in the bitterness being excessively weakened, and the good "hop flavor impression" could be totally lost."
 
Back
Top