Hop Impact of First Wort Hopping

[Aubie Stout]

I FWH every beer I make. In Beersmith, I set the FWH value to 20min. That's my "perceived" bitterness from that addition.

 

[chefchris]

What do you set the FWH bitterness adjustment to in BeerSmith? Mine is set to the default, 10%.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Hrm...how do they measure it?

Analytical methods & equipment such as GCMS. Still, I agree - what's in a number? BU value are somewhat arbitrary (with relation to FWH) as it's the perception that matters.

 

[SpanishCastleAle]

I mean, I need to clarify... it is your beer, you can replace the bittering hops with a FWH if you like.

I am pretty much referring to some complaints I have heard from people that claim thier FWH beers are not as bitter, when in fact they have replaced the bittering hops with a FWH. That is the reason for the lack of bittering perception. IBUs dont equal bitterness with a FWH as they do with a typical bittering addition.

It appears it may be a case where if you move the bittering hops to FWH...then the difference is more subtle (as indicated by Denny's experiment) but if you move the late additions to FWH then the difference may be more dramatic. The fact that there is a more dramatic difference seems intuitive but what that actual difference is...is not intuitive.

I haven't done controlled experiments but I just don't seem to get much aroma from FWH. So a typ hop schedule for me is FWH, bittering hops, and then aroma hops (say, 7 min. or less, often all @ flameout or later). For me, it's a real challenge to get sufficient hop aroma without 'over-extracting' hop flavor. So I'm always trying to get good hop aroma without a ton of hop flavor tagging along.

 

[Denny]

Who says that it creates as many IBUs anyway?

The lab that analyzed my beers.....

 

[The Pol]

The lab that analyzed my beers.....

There you go proving things with science! Here at HBT we prefer wild speculation and regurgitating information that we read in a paperback book a few years back! Thanks Denny.

 

[chefchris]

I work at a chemical manufactoring company and I'm good friends with the guy over the QC Lab. Might see if he could do some tests for me. What exactly does he look for when determining the IBUs?

 

[Denny]

If anyone is interested in having beers tested, contact Scott Bruslind at Analysis Laboratory in Lebanon, OR. He does analysis for several large breweries, but is dedicated to helping homebrewers. He especially likes to do analyses for club experiments. All he usually asks for is a contribution to the HBD server fund.

 

[DeathBrewer]

If anyone is interested in having beers tested, contact Scott Bruslind at Analysis Laboratory in Lebanon, OR. He does analysis for several large breweries, but is dedicated to helping homebrewers. He especially likes to do analyses for club experiments. All he usually asks for is a contribution to the HBD server fund.

Can he analyze alpha acid content in hops??? Cuz I have 11 plants this year.

 

[Denny]

Can he analyze alpha acid content in hops??? Cuz I have 11 plants this year.

I don't know if he can or not.....you should contact him.

 

[DeathBrewer]

I will do that. Danke!

 

[DaBills]

I did an experiment splitting 10 gal. of wort. Half got only a Cascade FWH addition and the other half got the same amount of the same hops as only a 60 min. addition. A blind tasting was held. Results are at http://www.beertown.org/events/hbc/presentations/2008/DennyConn.pdf starting on pg. 29.

I'm interested in this but the link is broken. Probably because it's from 2009

 

[Denny]

My apologies....try this one...

http://www.ahaconference.org/wp-content/uploads/presentations/2008/DennyConn.pdf

 

[DaBills]

You know what I found it on another thread and read it. Also read about decoction. Very nice write up, thanks.