Hop bursting all over the floor

[markcurling]

Hey guys,

I’m planning a brew for the weekend that needs a massive hop aroma but not many IBUs (probably 30-35ish). I’ve decided this seems like a good chance to try out hop bursting, so I’ll get all IBUs from additions from 20-0 minutes.

Question is, I know from experience of making DME starters that unhopped wort will boil over everywhere, what can I do to prevent this happening during the first 40 minutes of the boil? It’s an all grain 5G batch. Is stirring vigorously while it reaches boil enough? I thought about adding just a pinch of hops, but will an amount small enough not to affect the IBUs be enough to prevent boil-over?

I’d be glad to hear from anyone who has done this!

 

[Vance71975]

Hey guys,

I’m planning a brew for the weekend that needs a massive hop aroma but not many IBUs (probably 30-35ish). I’ve decided this seems like a good chance to try out hop bursting, so I’ll get all IBUs from additions from 20-0 minutes.

Question is, I know from experience of making DME starters that unhopped wort will boil over everywhere, what can I do to prevent this happening during the first 40 minutes of the boil? It’s an all grain 5G batch. Is stirring vigorously while it reaches boil enough? I thought about adding just a pinch of hops, but will an amount small enough not to affect the IBUs be enough to prevent boil-over?

I’d be glad to hear from anyone who has done this!

Spray bottle with good old water in it does wonders to prevent a boil over.

 

[Mysticmead]

adjust the temps to control the boil over.. as the foam rises, lower the heat. You can also use a spray bottle of cold water to spray the foam to keep it under control. Others use foam control drops, but I don't want to add any chemicals to my beer.

 

[SethMasterFlex]

Are you sure this just isn't because you're making a starter in a much smaller vessel on the stovetop and that's why you get a boil over? Correct me if I'm wrong but hops actually provide nucleation points for oxygen, meaning that they can cause boil overs, not prevent them. Unless you're working with a pot that's way too small for a 5 gallon batch, all I would do as a precaution is watch it and stir if it starts to boil up.

 

[markcurling]

Hm I thought that malt extract was prone to foaming but hop oils reduce the foam stability so it doesn't foam up as much. That seems to agree with my experience (I now hop my starters so save cleaning the stove!)

Unfortunately my boiler only does on/off so it's vigorous or nothing! The spray bottle sounds like a good tip though, thanks.

Here is the recipe in progress if anyone is interested/has comments...

21 litres 70% efficiency

Maris Otter 4500g
DME 500g
Crystal 45 230g
Amber 460g
Carafa III or Chocolate 57g

Mash 1 hour @ 158
OG 63
ABV ~6%
Yeast WLP002

Hops (~34 IBUs)
EKG 50g 20mins
EKG 25g 10mins
EKG 34g 5mins
EKG 65g 0mins
EKG 60g dry 10 days

 

[jgourd]

I do 90 min boils regularly and don't usually add hops until 60 min. I get the hot break but very little boil over from the unhopped beer for 30 mins. Actually, when I add my first hop addition, I typically start to see it boiling over.

 

[markcurling]

Ah thanks jgourd, that's exactly what I wanted to hear!

 

[Boleslaus]

Once you get past the hot break you should be fine.

 

[markcurling]

I'm a bit unsure about the hop schedule for this one because I haven't done hop burst before.

I want the beer around 35 IBUs, and I've calculated it as follows (see picture). I use an immersion chiller which takes 15 minutes to get from boiling to pitch temperature, so do those 10 IBUs from the flameout hop sound reasonable? If I don't get any IBUs from them then I'll be looking at 24IBUs instead of 34 IBUs! Does this schedule look reasonable for 34 IBUs?

 

[ILBMF]

I've been doing this hop bursting for about 15 batches or so now. Throw a couple of low alpha hop pellets in the boil early for some help. The spray bottle of water sounds like a winner...will try.

As far as the hop bursting goes, I've been making some IPA's with huge flavor/aroma this way lately and I'm using 5.5 oz all in the last 8-10 minutes including flame out. (2.5 oz more in secondary and keg combined) Be very careful not to rely too much on brew software too much as I've had to adjust my hop additions down from 12 to 8-10 minutes in order to correct the software's incorrect schedule. Just 2 minutes makes a huge difference in bitterness when using so much hops this late.

If you are trying a huge aroma IPA get some hops in at flame out and let it sit with the lid on the kettle for 10-20 minutes before chilling if you don't have a hopback contraption.