aroma hops, steeped flame out for 15 min

[jigidyjim]

My next recpipe says to turn off the heat at 60 min, add the aroma hops, and steep for 15 min. Then cool wort, pitch, etc.

Never seen this before (but it's only my 7th recipe), so thought I'd ask if this is normal, and what it does differently than, say, adding the aroma hops with 5 min left in the boil and cooling right at 0 min.

Thanks!

 

[JacobInIndy]

Adding hops at flameout(end of the boil) is going to increase the amount of aroma they impart.

When you boil hops, you boil away the wonderful aroma. The longer you boil them, the more aroma you lose and the more bitterness you gain.

So, steeping the aroma hops for 15 minutes in the hot wort will give you lots of hop aroma, but no bitterness.

 

[enderwig]

You're ok to go ahead with your instructions, more and more recipes are calling for this sort of addition to add the aroma hops, mainly for better aroma.

 

[Joos]

You really don't even have to bother steeping for 15 mins.You can just start cooling it right away.If you have a chiller that can get under 80 in 15 mins you'll have let me borrow it

 

[david_42]

so thought I'd ask if this is normal, and what it does differently than, say, adding the aroma hops with 5 min left in the boil and cooling right at 0 min.

Normal? No, but some recipes do it that way, so it's okay. Every combination of time and heat result in different flavor/aroma combinations.

Longer exposure to the hot wort increases the extraction of the flavor and aroma oils without adding much bitterness. Since it isn't boiling, less of the oils are driven off. The person who developed the recipe had a specific flavor/aroma profile in mind, so follow the instructions.