HI-
I have been reading through this and other sites and I seem to be getting more confused than ever in trying to figure out what the best way to improve hop flavor and aroma is in beers. Obviously, everyone says late hopping will increase this. Granted. But what about whirlpooling, hopbacks, etc? On the one hand is Jamil Z. ON his website www.mrmalty.com he has an article on whirlpool chilling, and he says that the best way to get the flavor is to chill the wort as fast as possible after flameout and then whirlpool it cold. This apparently locks in the flavors and aromas of the late boil hop additions, and stops the driving off of volatile hop oils. On the other hand, I have been reading Mike McDole's posts (Tasty McD). He seems to advocates, instead, that one should whirlpool for around 30 minutes hot, add whirlpool hop additions and THEN run things through a hopback before chilling!
Jamil's article pretty clearly says that people who switch from immersion chillers to counterflow or plate chillers usually notice a big decrease in hop aroma and flavor (but that you could avoid this by recirculating the cooled wort back to the kettle and thus cooling the entire volume of the kettle at once). But Tasty McD points out that most commercial breweries that get great hop flavor and aroma whirlpool hot and will frequently add whirlpool hop additions and only then do they chill after the wort sits hot for some time.
I tried the Jamil method on my last batch, added 2 ounces of zero minute cascade to a pale ale and had it to 100 degrees within 3 minutes. Not impressed by the hop flavor even though all additions were late (but I did the recirculation through a counterflow rather than an immersion chiller). And I most likely did it, as I do most things, incorrectly.
So my question is-- which method do you all use for your hoppy beers? Do you get something from whirlpool additions that you don't get from boiling additions? If you all whirlpool, then how exactly do you do it and for how long do you allow the hot wort to sit before chilling? If you let it sit more than a few minutes, then won't you drive off the volatile compounds like Jamil explains and then mute the hoppiness? In my attempts to make hoppy beers, I am going broke with massive additions of late hops!! My DIPA turned out very hoppy, but it had 17 ounces of hops in it! I would very much like to be more efficient than this in obtaining hoppy beers!
Thank you in advance for the help!
I have been reading through this and other sites and I seem to be getting more confused than ever in trying to figure out what the best way to improve hop flavor and aroma is in beers. Obviously, everyone says late hopping will increase this. Granted. But what about whirlpooling, hopbacks, etc? On the one hand is Jamil Z. ON his website www.mrmalty.com he has an article on whirlpool chilling, and he says that the best way to get the flavor is to chill the wort as fast as possible after flameout and then whirlpool it cold. This apparently locks in the flavors and aromas of the late boil hop additions, and stops the driving off of volatile hop oils. On the other hand, I have been reading Mike McDole's posts (Tasty McD). He seems to advocates, instead, that one should whirlpool for around 30 minutes hot, add whirlpool hop additions and THEN run things through a hopback before chilling!
Jamil's article pretty clearly says that people who switch from immersion chillers to counterflow or plate chillers usually notice a big decrease in hop aroma and flavor (but that you could avoid this by recirculating the cooled wort back to the kettle and thus cooling the entire volume of the kettle at once). But Tasty McD points out that most commercial breweries that get great hop flavor and aroma whirlpool hot and will frequently add whirlpool hop additions and only then do they chill after the wort sits hot for some time.
I tried the Jamil method on my last batch, added 2 ounces of zero minute cascade to a pale ale and had it to 100 degrees within 3 minutes. Not impressed by the hop flavor even though all additions were late (but I did the recirculation through a counterflow rather than an immersion chiller). And I most likely did it, as I do most things, incorrectly.
So my question is-- which method do you all use for your hoppy beers? Do you get something from whirlpool additions that you don't get from boiling additions? If you all whirlpool, then how exactly do you do it and for how long do you allow the hot wort to sit before chilling? If you let it sit more than a few minutes, then won't you drive off the volatile compounds like Jamil explains and then mute the hoppiness? In my attempts to make hoppy beers, I am going broke with massive additions of late hops!! My DIPA turned out very hoppy, but it had 17 ounces of hops in it! I would very much like to be more efficient than this in obtaining hoppy beers!
Thank you in advance for the help!