FWH? should I?

[Baldy_Beer_Brewery]

I've been FWHing my IPAs for a year or two and love it. I'd definitely FWH the Magnum and Cascade.

 

[dukes7779]

Sorry........FWH??

 

[sheeshomatic]

First Wort Hops

It means to add your first addition of bittering hops at the start of your lauter, prior to the boil.

The First Wort Hop: Beer Brewing Techniques | Home Brewing Beer Blog by BeerSmith

 

[solbes]

I've been trying this with most of my beers this fall/winter. Not a lot has been consumed yet, but early indications are a thumbs up. Just a little harder to dial in the exact bitterness using FWH.

 

[PattyC]

I brewed a Simcoe/Amarillo IPA last weekend, and intended use Simcoe for bittering and a combo for late additions. Instead I opted to decrease the 60 min. Simcoe addition and substitute it with some Amarillo as FWH. Granted, I have pretty much no experience comparing the two techniques, but I hear FWH rounds out the bitterness nicely.

 

[solbes]

I FWH'd both my recent pale ale and IPA. Basically treated them as 20 minute additions to calculate bitterness, backed off the 60 minute additions by 30-50%. No hard data on this that I can find, but that's what has been suggested. This means I needed a little more hops to begin with (maybe an ounce).

Both of these were smooth, and I thought the bitterness was about right.

 

[H-ost]

I do No-Chill so dialing in any of my hop additions are difficult whether it be aroma or bittering hops.

The last 2 brews I used FWH solely because I heard it adds flavoring as well as bitterness. I would say that it has worked perfectly as far as aroma and flavoring additions but I think I need to start using some later additions to hit the IBU's I want without overshooting it too much. Even with the extended time of the wort at high temperatures it has yet to satisfy my hopheaded tongue.

 

[Piratwolf]

The only time I do NOT FWH is when I'm trying to clone something. Every other beer is FWH for me... I absolutely LOVE the smoother bitterness and higher hop utilization!

In my experience, the 20-min flavor/bitterness doesn't hold up. But that IS the general advice. I think it provides closer to a 90-min bittering level for IBUs, but the bitterness to my palate tends to creep up on you (like some Asian hot peppers in some dishes) rather than being in-your-face.

Just my experience. YMMV.

 

[DannPM]

Yes, you should

 

[FarmerTed]

I think the mystery behind first wort hopping is that the extractions of the hop oils into the wort are more efficient at sub-boiling temperatures. During the boil, there is probably a steam distillation effect going on that is carrying away a large portion of the more aromatic compounds out of the pot. Most of these compounds have much higher boiling points than water (even Myrcene, a relatively low weight compound boils much higher than water). When myrcene is dissolved in water, I doubt that much is lost once boiling starts. But when it's being extracted, more will be lost due to the steam distillation effect.

I don't think isomerization has much to do with it. The alpha and iso-alpha acids are all really non-volatile, and I doubt there's much change in their vapor pressure after the isomerization anyway.

 

[cram]

I have to say that FWH has made a huge difference in my IPA and DIPA brews, especially. The hop flavor comes through in a much more pronounced way. Whole hops seem preferable but I have had good luck with pellets, too. I generally throw in two ounces when the hop Alpha Acid (AA) is between 6-9% and 1-1.5 oz. when AA is above 9%. After I collect my first runnings I throw in the hops and get the wort moving up toward boil. Then I'll batch sparge and add these second runnings to the boil kettle with the FWHs and keep it cranking toward boil.

 

[Piratwolf]

I have to say that FWH has made a huge difference in my IPA and DIPA brews, especially. The hop flavor comes through in a much more pronounced way. Whole hops seem preferable but I have had good luck with pellets, too. I generally throw in two ounces when the hop Alpha Acid (AA) is between 6-9% and 1-1.5 oz. when AA is above 9%. After I collect my first runnings I throw in the hops and get the wort moving up toward boil. Then I'll batch sparge and add these second runnings to the boil kettle with the FWHs and keep it cranking toward boil.

This is exactly what I do, too! Love it!

 

[Dan]

I have to say that FWH has made a huge difference in my IPA and DIPA brews, especially. The hop flavor comes through in a much more pronounced way. Whole hops seem preferable but I have had good luck with pellets, too. I generally throw in two ounces when the hop Alpha Acid (AA) is between 6-9% and 1-1.5 oz. when AA is above 9%. After I collect my first runnings I throw in the hops and get the wort moving up toward boil. Then I'll batch sparge and add these second runnings to the boil kettle with the FWHs and keep it cranking toward boil.

So with FWH you collect all of your first running's and then throw in the hops and light the fire? Also, are the proportions for a 5 gallon or 10 gallon batch?