Hop boil times

[mrchicken]

Not sure how to phrase this but here goes.

I don't like bitter super hoppy beer. But I like a variety of beer styles as long as they aren't too hoppy.


Can I jack with the boil times or put less hops in early and go heavier late in the boil to control the level of bitterness ?

ex. Original recipe calls for 1 oz hops ( I made this profile up so don't worry about accuracy)
1/2 oz 60 min
1/4 oz at 30 min
1/4 oz at 10 min.


What kind of results would I expect if I changed the boil profile to....
1/4 oz at 60 min
1/4 oz at 30 min
1/2 oz at 10 min.

Same amount of hops, just less at the beginning (bittering) and more at the end (aroma). Will this change anything but the flavor of the beer?

What if I simply cut the amount of hops in half but kept the original boil profile ?

Thanks!

 

[Redlantern]

your premise is valid. Late boil means less bitterness. granted, with the quantities you are talking about, the beer will not be very hoppy regardless.

If you really are not a fan of hop bitterness, keep additions to the boil under 20 min. I personally like an edge in there somewhere, just a little "snap" if you will, so a 60-min addition of something will always show up.

Get beersmith, enter your recipe and manipulate the timing of hops in the boil and watch as the bitterness moves quite dramatically.

 

[Sadu]

Yeah I agree with you. I don't like bitterness but do like hop flavour.

Depends on the recipe, but I try to bring the additions forward so that it's not just the 60 minute addition driving the bitterness. In a pale ale I would try to have most of the IBUs coming from the 30/20 min additions rather than 60 min. Just seems to be smoother bitterness and you get more flavour.

For pale ales and IPAs I really think it's a matter of experimenting. I have been tweaking my pale ales with the latest one being 20/15/10/5/0 for the additions. Other beers that aren't hoppy, like wheatbeers or porters, I would just use less hops. The main point of bringing them forward is to get the hop flavour without the harsh bitterness, but if you don't care about the flavour or it's not part of the style then just use less hops at 60 mins.

 

[Redlantern]

I like having multiple additions just because it is fun, but most the time it is only for manipulation of the IBU's in beersmith with no real knowledge of how it is actually coming out.

When I plan an IPA or APA, I do 60 min, 20 min, and 2 min additions.

I often do IPA's with 12+ oz hops and I do a .75oz at 60, .5 to .75 oz at 20, and about 2 oz at 2 min. the rest come in as whirlpool and dry hop.

As stated before, the 2-min addition may be changed. Instead of having a 2 oz addition at 2, I might shift one ounce to 5 or 10 minutes just to boost IBU a little, but I do not know if it is that important.

30 and 02 minute additions are jsut bittering anyway with flavor starting to come to the fore at 20. Either move all hops to the 20 min, or reduce hop quantity in the 30 and move it to 60. 30 is kind of no-man's land

 

[applescrap]

Not sure how to phrase this but here goes.

I don't like bitter super hoppy beer. But I like a variety of beer styles as long as they aren't too hoppy.


Can I jack with the boil times or put less hops in early and go heavier late in the boil to control the level of bitterness ?

ex. Original recipe calls for 1 oz hops ( I made this profile up so don't worry about accuracy)
1/2 oz 60 min
1/4 oz at 30 min
1/4 oz at 10 min.


What kind of results would I expect if I changed the boil profile to....
1/4 oz at 60 min
1/4 oz at 30 min
1/2 oz at 10 min.

Same amount of hops, just less at the beginning (bittering) and more at the end (aroma). Will this change anything but the flavor of the beer?

What if I simply cut the amount of hops in half but kept the original boil profile ?

Thanks!

I understand you dont want to bitter but what else are you looking for in taste and style? One idea is to find a recipe of a beer you like and work from it. Even a basic lager that has low ibus will have an oz. @ 60. The Alpha acid percent of the Hop has a big factor too. An ounce of one hop will give you 18 ibus. An ounce of another will be 30 or 40 ibus. The strength of the beer determines some of the isomerisation as well if I am correct. What you have laid out will work but someone here could only help you if they know the strength of your beer and the strength of the hop. Generally speaking when I make a beer like you have laid out I am making it to flavor it in some way. I am looking for a blank slate to add raspberries or blueberries etc.

 

[mrchicken]

Cool. thanks for the replies. I do want some hop flavor in the beer but not the harsh bitterness.

I know hops act like somewhat of a preservative and was worried that if I changed a boil profile it would make the beer more likely to go funky.

I really like malty chocolatey beers like porters. Love stouts without the harsh burnt taste. and am a huge fan of German Wheat beers that are smooth with banana and clove hints.

With the super hopped IPA's being all the craze it seems like most beer recipes and kits have a stronger hop flavor. OR it might be my taste buds getting old. ;-)