Bitter late than never.

I'm going to try my hand at the massive late hop addition to try to get a bit more hop flavor out of my brew. Next batch I do will have the same ingredients, but I'm going to use first wort hopping, to see if we can get to the bottom of this debate. I present for your perusal:

Bitter late than never

A ProMash Recipe Report

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------

10-B American Ale, American Amber Ale

Min OG: 1.045 Max OG: 1.060
Min IBU: 25 Max IBU: 48
Min Clr: 10 Max Clr: 17 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.50 Wort Size (Gal): 5.50
Total Grain (Lbs): 10.19
Anticipated OG: 1.050 Plato: 12.31
Anticipated SRM: 13.1
Anticipated IBU: 33.7
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Pre-Boil Amounts
----------------

Evaporation Rate: 15.00 Percent Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 6.47 Gal
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.042 SG 10.53 Plato


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
88.3 9.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) America 1.036 2
1.8 0.19 lbs. Roasted Barley America 1.028 450
9.8 1.00 lbs. Crystal 30L America 1.035 30




Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.80 oz. Goldings - B.C. Whole 4.00 4.4 20 min.
0.50 oz. Chinook Whole 12.10 8.3 20 min.
2.00 oz. Northern Brewer Whole 7.00 19.2 20 min.
0.25 oz. Cascade Whole 5.50 1.9 20 min.


I'll mash at 153 and I'm going to use S-56. Comments?

A worthy experiment. But couldn't you bitter with the same amount in both recipes, say something like Chinook, and then do a sizeable FWH of Cascade followed by another batch with a 20m addition of Cascade? I guess it'll work either way.

Baron von BeeGee said:

A worthy experiment. But couldn't you bitter with the same amount in both recipes, say something like Chinook, and then do a sizeable FWH of Cascade followed by another batch with a 20m addition of Cascade? I guess it'll work either way.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's a better idea, but I'm brewing tonight and these are all the hops I have...

:cross:

Really? weather.com says it's 13F and going to snow...you're tough!

Baron von BeeGee said:

Really? weather.com says it's 13F and going to snow...you're tough!

Click to expand...

No, it's warmed up to to about 24F from -10 yesterday, so it feels like a spring day today!


I'm pretty tough though...

Makes it kind of hard to hang loose, doesn't it?? Nice weather for a fire.

So how's it going?

Just a question, do you always mash around 153ish? I'm contemplating mashing high one of these times I use safale 56--to see if it won't finish so dry. I'm trying to tweak my beers to a nice balance. I had been mashing at 148-150 and they are SO dry.

Dude said:

So how's it going?

Just a question, do you always mash around 153ish? I'm contemplating mashing high one of these times I use safale 56--to see if it won't finish so dry. I'm trying to tweak my beers to a nice balance. I had been mashing at 148-150 and they are SO dry.

Click to expand...

It's going, I just mashed in and hit 152, I can live with that, getting the hang of cold-weather brewing.

I generally shoot for 153 unless I'm doing a smaller beer then I'll go up to 156ish. I like the results I've been getting so far, and the beer does tend to be a bit 'fuller.' I did a mash at 148 once and found it way too dry.

I just a few minutes ago became interested in the same subject. Checked my rye PA and it's down to 1.008! My stout finished at 1.011. I mashed both around 150-151 but usually don't get quite this much attenuation (closer to 1.012-1.013). The only difference is that I've been using my digital thermometer on these batches instead of "Ol' Trusty" the glass thermometer, so I might have a miscalibration somewhere.

Baron, I've been using two thermos for the last few brew and have found that there is always a discrepancy. I don't really trust my digital - since the probe got wet, it's never been quite the same. Still works great for meat though. I need to shell out for a good digital.

With the mash schedules I've been using, I've been finishing around 1.012 no matter what the grain bill is.

Well, I calibrated the digital last weekend and it was spot on in boiling water and an ice bath. I remember doing the same with my glass thermo and it was off, but consistently. 2 degrees low at boiling, 2 degrees high in an ice bath. I'll probably try a 154F or so for my next single infusion.

However, I have the decoction itch so that's next...

I just kegged this and I have to say I'm very impressed with it so far. Excellent hop flavour and the bitterness is very smooth. In fact, it doesn't taste bitter at all until the very end of the sip, bordering on after-taste but still before you swallow. Definitely needs more research.

Research! I knew there was a good reason to drink more.