Beginner's question about hop addition

[BarneyBrews]

Hi folks,

I'm about to add my hops to a Young's American Pale Ale extract tomorrow (my first home brew). I understand this is a method called Dry Hopping (adding the hops at a late stage in the fermentation, a couple of days before bottling)

What I want to know is, for ales and beers which are not dry hopped, when are the hops added in an extract kit? Do some kits require the hops to be added much earlier in the process? Can these hops still be in pellet form when they are added?

Sorry for the seemingly daft questions!

 

[Pyg]

Regardless of all grain or extract hops are added for bittering, flavor & aroma
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1470002887.739218.jpg
I have made extract, partial & all grain and always used pellets.
Adding the hops is dependent upon how much bitterness, flavor & aroma you want.
As of late I have begun doing a 60 min addition and then everything else under 20 mins & dry hop.

I am not sure if that answers your question!

 

[sfgoat]

Here is a link to a good starting point on hops.

http://howtobrew.com/book/section-1/hops/what-are-they

I recommend reading the whole book in this link if you are new to brewing.

 

[BarneyBrews]

Thanks Pyg & sfgoat, I get the method of a 'boil' for all grain brewing where the hops are added at that stage, but for extract brewing where there isn't a 60 min boil involved and the hops are not added until after or close to the end of fermentation, surely the 15 min additions and 30 min addition etc are not applicable? Maybe I am missing something obvious and should probably read the John Palmer book as suggested!

 

[sfgoat]

The length of the boil is almost entirely for hop utilization and doesn't really have anything to do with all grain or extract. The typical 60 minute boil is to achieve the desired bitterness level from the hops.

The book I link explains it all in a better way than I could.

 

[Sadu]

Some extract kits you need to boil for 60 mins and you add bittering hops at the start of the boil.

Other extract kits are called "hopped malt extract" and the extract already contains the buttering hops, so there is no need to boil the extract other than to dissolve it.

If your kit instructions don't mention boiling for 60 mins or adding hops to the boil then probably it already contains hops. The Brewers that made the extract added the hops for you. The dry hops that you will add later are for extra aroma, on top of what is already included. Most beer styles don't require dry hopping.

Pre-hopped kits are very easy and a good way to get started. But you may find yourself wanting more control once you have done a few brews especially if you like APAs and IPAs. Adding the hops to the boil at different times and combos is the highlight of brew day for many.

 

[unionrdr]

As previously stated, the length of the boil is solely dependent on what kind of hop additions need be done. If you have to do the bittering addition, then a 60 minute boil is required to get the bittering from the hops used @ the start of the boil. Flavor additions, I've found, are best between 20 minutes & about 8 1/2 minutes left in the boil. Aroma additions can be done in the boil, with about 3-5 minutes remaining.
That said, boil aroma additions are far more subtle than dry hopping. Dry hopping is done by many these days in primary when fermentation is done & the beer is settling out clear or slightly misty. Why? because the hop oils will coat the settling trub & yeast, going to the bottom with them. Dry hopping can still be done in secondary, if you prefer. So it doesn't matter if you're doing all grain, partial mash, or all extract. The boil is a separate entity that's more consistent through all the brewing styles. Separated only by what has or has not been added to the extracts, if any, that are used.
Case in point; Cooper's or Munton's "pre-hopped" extracts. Looking at the Cooper's Original Series, or " OS" cans as they're known, Have only the bittering addition done with Pride of Ringwood hops. So flavor & aroma hop additions can be added that compliment the over-all flavors of the malts used in the cans, better known as LME. I switched very early on from " brew enhancers" to DME ( Dried Malt Extract) for doing the boil in order to add hop additions. I've even changed the Cooper's Draught, for instance, into an IPA with more aggressive hop additions & using a 3lb bag of " plain" (unhoped) light DME. Using the DME instead of the brew enhancers gives a better, fuller body & flavor without being heavy. Besides the fact that DME won't darken in the boil as readily as LME. This darkening is what is known as a maillard reaction. Hope this clears things up a bit, or at least summarizes...

 

[BarneyBrews]

Thanks a million - that does clarify things a lot. I was assuming that some malt extract must already contain hops if no late hopping is required in an extract kit. I certainly do hope to eventually move to partial/all grain brewing when I get more practice and gather up the equipment. In the meantime I plan on an amber ale for Autumn and a stout for Xmas, for which I'll stick to the extract kit recipes until I get the hang of things. But the hop additions are more clear to me now - I look forward to doing my own hop additions and recipes in the future! [emoji481]

 

[unionrdr]

You're welcome! Some pre-hopped extracts have bittering only. Others already have the bittering & flavor hops done already. Maybe even a late-boil aroma addition might already be in there. You have to read up on that in a particular kit, can whatever. Then act accordingly.
Many of us did AE ( All Extract) in the beginning, in order to figure out a good process that suited us, our equipment & situation. I've done a lot of different things with recombining extracts, hops, etc. Spices can be added late in the boil, say 10-15 minutes left to add those flavors. They can also be dry hopped to get those aromas/flavors. This is a tricky thing, since our senses of smell & taste are linked.
I moved to partial mash, partial boil brew in a bag a couple years ago & found it to be a lot easier than most of us previously thought. The only things I added to my process were 2.5 & 5 gallon nylon bags, the smaller SS kettles from the nested set of 4 that I originally bought, floating thermometers, & a grain mill. That came after a lot of experimenting with extracts, more of which are available now then when I started brewing. So take your time learning & most of all, have fun!