Can anyone clarify how "Steep" works on BeerSmith?

[FVillatoro]

I may have originally posted this in the wrong section...

Hello mates,

I am using BrewersFriend and never BeesSmith, and I came across this recipe: http://beersmithrecipes.com/viewreci.../blazing-world

Can anyone explain to me how these are read?
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.0%] - Steep 0 min Hops 9
0.80 oz Mosaic [11.5%] - Steep 0 min Hops 10
0.40 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.0%] - Steep 30 min Hops 11

Does "Steep 0 min" mean toss those hops at flame out, or at the end of the steep?
Same goes for "Steep 30 min" - steep for 30 mins, or steep at the end of 30 mins?

GRACIAS!!!!!!!!!

 

[Oginme]

A '30 min' steep generally means to add the hops into the whirlpool or stilled wort following the boil and then after 30 minutes chilling down to pitch temperature. Without further instructions, I think the hops would be added soon after flame out. Many people also allow the wort to naturally chill down to a lower temperature before adding whirlpool hops, but there is no specific directions in either the BeerSmith recipe or the link to the Mad Fermentationist recipe.

Reading the notes in the recipe, the '0 min' additions are added in a hop back following the 30 minute whirlpool/steep hops.

 

[cod3ck]

Don't you want to cold crash ASAP after flame out?

I've always done a whirlpool while old crashing and maybe let the whirlpool after I've reached pitching temps depending on how quickly the cool goes

 

[h22lude]

Don't you want to cold crash ASAP after flame out?

I've always done a whirlpool while old crashing and maybe let the whirlpool after I've reached pitching temps depending on how quickly the cool goes

It isn't bad to do but isn't necessary. Some people don't chill at all right away. They transfer to a bucket and let it chill overnight.

 

[TLaffey]

A '30 min' steep generally means to add the hops into the whirlpool or stilled wort following the boil and then after 30 minutes chilling down to pitch temperature. Without further instructions, I think the hops would be added soon after flame out. Many people also allow the wort to naturally chill down to a lower temperature before adding whirlpool hops, but there is no specific directions in either the BeerSmith recipe or the link to the Mad Fermentationist recipe.

Reading the notes in the recipe, the '0 min' additions are added in a hop back following the 30 minute whirlpool/steep hops.

I became interested in this recipe after buying a keg for a recent get together when short of my own brew.

What I decided is to treat the 0 minute additions as flameout additions, before any cooling. Some amount of time passes before the wort has cooled to about 175*F. I don't know what that time would be for Modern Times, but I'd cool over about 5 minutes to get some added bitterness without evaporating too many volatiles. Then at 175*F, stop cooling and add the 30 minute steep hops. Start your crash at the end of that time.

I use Nelson hops regularly and find that boiling them is a waste of money. So the above is pretty much my opinion of how to fit the recipe with my experience with Nelson. YMMV.

Based on my preference I will also reduce the pale chocolate malt in this recipe by about 1/3. That flavor is interesting and distinctively strong in the commercial product.

 

[makubex]

Don't you want to cold crash ASAP after flame out?

I've always done a whirlpool while old crashing and maybe let the whirlpool after I've reached pitching temps depending on how quickly the cool goes

I believe cold crashing typically refers to the process of refridgerating a keg or fermentor, post-fermentation, to cause a portion of the suspended yeast/trub to settle out of the wort for a clearer transfer.

That said, there has been a lot of recent experimentation regarding "hot side aeration" which was the main reason for the older rule of "always chill your wort as soon as possible after flame out." For the most part, I regard hot side aeration as a myth, though I still avoid splashing the hot wort around.

There's also some confusion about the word whirlpool. Commercial breweries perform a whirlpool with pumps prior to running wort through a heat exchanger which causes kettle sediment to form a cone at the bottom of the boil kettle. On the homebrew side, this has somehow come to mean both stirring your wort while chilling to obtain the same effect, and adding hops post flame out.

In regards to the latter, the current common process involves partially chilling your wort to reduced isomerization temperatures (~180°F), adding hops for ~30 minutes, and then chilling the rest of the way.

Regarding OP's question, I believe Beersmith treats "steeping" as hops that are added immediately after flameout and allowed to sit for a period of time while the wort naturally cools. There is an option in the settings to adjust this utilization to be more in line with the isomerization at a reduced temperature, but I don't believe there's been any difinitive instruction regarding which value of utilization corresponds to which steeping temperature. I think the best way to determine steeping additions, temperature, and time is still experimentation on an individual's system.