Any comments on this first wort hop recipe

[msa8967]

I am wanting to try making an ale using first wort hops and found this modified recipe in beersmith and asked for input via a post in the beginning brewer section of the forum. I received some advice stating I might have too much of the initial hops in the first wort hops addition so I tried revising and rescaling the recipe from 5 gallon to 4 gallons.
Can anyone tell if I still have too much (or perhaps too little) of the hops going into the first wort process?

Original First Wort Hops Amber Ale (All grain, 5 Gallon size)
8.00 lb 2-Row
1.00 lb Crystal 60L
1.00 lb Munich malt

1.0 oz East Kent Goldings (60 min) First Wort Hops
0.75 oz Cascade (60 min) First Wort Hops
0.75 oz Cascade (5 min)
0.50 oz Cascade Dry Hops (final 7 days)

Wyeast American Ale yeast 1056

OG: 1.054 IBU: 40.4 IBU/SG: 0.75 11.3 SRM

Revised First Wort Hops Amber Ale (All grain, 4 Gallon size)

6.00 lb 2-Row
0.75 lb Crystal 60L
0.75 lb Munich malt

0.75 oz East Kent Goldings (60 min) First Wort Hops
0.33 oz Cascade (60 min) First Wort Hops
0.33 oz Cascade (5 min)
0.25 oz East Kent Goldings (5 min)
0.33 oz Cascade Dry Hops (final 7 days)

Wyeast American Ale yeast 1056

OG: 1.051 IBU: 31.8 IBU/SG: 0.63 9.2 SRM


Any comments or suggestions on this revised recipe? I should have thought to initially put this question into this section of the forum so sorry for having to post it twice. I decided to make this a 4 gallon batch size instead of 5 gallon due to having that size of brewing bucket now open.

Mick

 

[Bob]

I don't generally use late hops in the boil when I do FWH. I often dry hop, but seldom add anything to the kettle other than FWH. I get fine flavor/aroma that way. In fact, often I find I needn't dry-hop, presumably all due to the FWH.

So I don't really understand how you can have too much hops in the FWH addition, if you plan to add flavor/aroma hops later anyhow. With everything I've read about FWH and with all my experience with the technique, that doesn't make a lick of sense.



Cheers,

Bob

 

[Strave19]

First Wort Hops will give you a boost in IBU's (10%ish) and a very slightly less "harsh" bitterness (possibly the longer boil reduces some cohumulone?). As for increased flavor and aroma... I think this is a misunderstanding, at least in my experience and understanding. You'll still want to late hop/dry hop as you normally would. Do a search for FWH, there are a lot of threads on the subject that I'm sure will answer your questions.
I think either of your recipes and hop additions would make a good beer though! Though I would add a bit more caramel for an amber to darken it up. Just my .02, good luck!

 

[msa8967]

I tried doing a looking in some home brewing books and found several different descriptions of what fraction of the hops should be used in the the first wort runnings. Some referenced using at least 30%, while some said use no more than 30% in order to avoid too much extra bitter sensation. Some online references said you also need so late hop additions to complement the first wort hops while others said to omit any late hop additions as being redundant. I just became a bit confused with these contradictions.

I think I will try the revised recipe first and change the crystal 40 into crystal 60 to darken it up more and see how this goes.

thanks for the input.

mick

 

[dcp27]

So I don't really understand how you can have too much hops in the FWH addition, if you plan to add flavor/aroma hops later anyhow. With everything I've read about FWH and with all my experience with the technique, that doesn't make a lick of sense.

+1, if you're within a sensible IBU range, then there's not really such a thing as too much of a FWH. Personally, any time I do a hoppy brew i just FWH whatever I was going to use for a bittering add and keep the rest the same.

 

[msa8967]

I am now more confident with the idea of FWH and will try my revised recipe first to see how that turns out and then perhaps go for raising the hop level.

Thanks everyone for your input.

Mick

 

[electric_beer]

First Wort Hopping has been one of the best things to improve my brewing. I love the complexity of the hops it adds.