A couple of questions about hops

[ShartAttack]

I have a Midwest Amarillo pale Ale kit in front of me right now and I'm thinking of brewing it this afternoon (it's my third brew).

2 questions about hops:
1. The instructions say to add half an ounce of Columbus bittering hops during the boil. Whether by mistake or not I don't know, but they supplied two ounces of Columbus hops with the kit. Should I follow the instructions or should I play with the recipe and add more?

2. Track instructions say to add one ounce of Amarillo with 20 minutes left and then another ounce as you are removing it from the burner. I'm confused about that second ounce - am I supposed to leave it in there as I cool the wort? Or is it supposed to be in the wort only momentarily? Help!

 

[Brewnoob1]

DId they supply the proper amount of Amarillo then? If not, they screwed up. If it's extra, play around with it if you want.

Add the 2nd at flameout, cool the wort and strain as you transfer to your primary. That's what I would do.

 

[Schol-R-LEA]

On the first, I would stick to the directions; Columbus is a high %AA hop, around 14%, and too much would make the bitterness overpowering. It would depend on the wort's gravity, to some extent, but for a pale ale in the 1.040-1.050 range, I would say half an ounce of 14% AA hops is about right. Perhaps you can find another use for the extra hops, somewhere down the road.

On the second, I would only leave it in for a relatively short while, though it shouldn't hurt if you leave it in longer. This is an aroma addition, and you should get enough aroma from it after only a few seconds at heat. If you are cooling the wort with, say, an immersion chiller, it shouldn't make a difference, but if you are using the water bath method, I would take it out after only a few minutes just to get it out of the way and not have it sitting in the cooling wort (and with a counter-flow or plate chiller you'd want to remove them first, anyway, to avoid getting them inside the chiller).

 

[ShartAttack]

Thanks guys! Good to know about the Columbus hops, otherwise I might have added all of them. I'll stick the spare one in the fridge I guess.

Looks like I should be set now, thanks again!

 

[thood6]

Thanks guys! Good to know about the Columbus hops, otherwise I might have added all of them. I'll stick the spare one in the fridge I guess.

Looks like I should be set now, thanks again!

**freezer