Hectic Hop Situation

[AboutTheStout]

Ugh, where to start. Sorry to just jump right in but this is concerning a Brown Ale recipe and whether or not this "kit" seems to be short a pack of hops.

Now, with this kit comes a list of things to make sure you received, I did this before and put the hops into the freezer and the yeast in the fridge. Now, the sheet said some recipes only require the use of "bittering hops" which is the pack I have. Now the recipe itself is all typed out and laid out for the user. Now, in the steps, which I noticed before but just figured it wasn't necessary it has two steps for the hops. At first I guess I just thought the process for adding the "finishing hops" wasn't necessary but now I wonder why it would even be included in the steps as these steps seem to be clearly for the specific beer - not just some general step.

But this morning as I think about it, it also appears as if they only gave us one Muslin Bag. No problem I guess as I've heard of other people using other things and I can just as easily go an extra. But now I'm thinking that if they forgot the second muslin bag maybe they forgot the "finishing" hops.

And now it occurs to me that maybe this disclaimer of some recipes only requiring bittering hops is just a general disclaimer which I figured was blatantly on there for me to instantly say "ok this is why I only have one even tho the recipe calls for both stages" if that makes sense to anyone.

Anyone have any suggestions? It's early, it's Sunday - I'm sure you all know what that means. Sorry if this post seems a little chaotic and rushed, but that's exactly how things have been this morning. >.<

Thanks.

 

[llazy_llama]

Not all recipies will use finishing hops. It's quite possible that your recipe doesn't. If you want to post a link to the recipe, maybe we can help more.

If you're using pellet hops, a muslin bag isn't really required. I usually just dump the hops straight into the boil. Some people will strain them out afterwords, but I don't bother. They'll just rise to the top of your fermenter, making it look like you've got a permanent krausen. It's easy enough to avoid sucking too much of the hop gunk up when you siphon.

It could also be that the recipe uses the same type of hops for both bittering and finishing, meaning that you'll add a certain portion of the hops at 60 minutes and a certain portion at 5 minutes.

 

[AboutTheStout]

Well they're regular hops, not the pellets which I'm familiar with and have seen just being dumped right in. Since these aren't pellets I'm evidently having to use an additional Muslin Bag. Now, would it be too crazy to take the one Muslin Bag that held the specialty grains and reuse it when time comes for the hops to be used?

I don't want to reuse it if I shouldn't, you know?

As for the recipe, I can try and look it up online - I'm looking at a hard copy for the recipe. I'm sure it's posted around online so I'll take a look.

And what I'm saying about the finishing hops, this list specifically says that some recipes do not require Finishing Hops. That's fine, but then my recipe has a step for both bittering and finishing hops. At first I was thinking that the finishing hops step wasn't necessary, but then I got to thinking why it would be listed in the specific recipe if the step wasn't needed...seems like it would just be confusing. Now, maybe I'm confusing myself here too.


edit: and in terms of splitting the actual hops, it doesn't say anything about using half/or even a measured ammount, it literally says add the hops labeled "finishing hops" and implies that I'd be adding all of it. hmmmm

 

[llazy_llama]

Well they're regular hops, not the pellets which I'm familiar with and have seen just being dumped right in. Since these aren't pellets I'm evidently having to use an additional Muslin Bag. Now, would it be too crazy to take the one Muslin Bag that held the specialty grains and reuse it when time comes for the hops to be used?

I don't want to reuse it if I shouldn't, you know?

As for the recipe, I can try and look it up online - I'm looking at a hard copy for the recipe. I'm sure it's posted around online so I'll take a look.

And what I'm saying about the finishing hops, this list specifically says that some recipes do not require Finishing Hops. That's fine, but then my recipe has a step for both bittering and finishing hops. At first I was thinking that the finishing hops step wasn't necessary, but then I got to thinking why it would be listed in the specific recipe if the step wasn't needed...seems like it would just be confusing. Now, maybe I'm confusing myself here too.

Clean something out and reuse it?!? You, sir, are mad. After brew day, I always throw away my brew pot, stove, spoon, carboy, funnel, strainer, etc... Don't you? Yeah, rinse out the bag and reuse it.

I do remember some of my Midwest kits coming with a sort of catch-all instruction sheet. It would say to steep grains (if applicable), add in LME and DME (if applicable), add hops at 60 minutes, add hops at 30 minutes (if applicable), 15 minutes (if applicable)... you get the idea.

Have you tried calling the people who sold you the kit? They should be able to tell you for sure whether or not your kit should have more hops.

 

[AboutTheStout]

hah yeah I just tried calling, need to give it an hour before people will be taking calls evidently.

honestly the people I've been brewing with for the last few times, I don't recall them reusing the Muslin Bags. That's the only reason I asked. =p I know the majority of their 'equipment' is reused, obviously. But I thought I'd just ask, doesn't seem like a crazy idea but I'd still consider myself a novice so go easy!

And when I was looking through the recipe, it appears as if it's a specific recipe for this brew. Doesn't seem to have any steps that aren't necessary, like what you're saying. That's why I question this step being "unnecessary" as it doesn't give any indication that it is. If it said, "as noted on previous page, some recipes do not require "finishing hops" so this step may not be needed." It doesn't give that impression which is where I find myself in this situation.

Appreciate the responses, will definitely give these people a call when they're open in a bit. Was going to try and start the brew process today but I sort of had a crazy week and didn't have the time to go through all this stuff a second time - the first time it all seemed ready to go and so now I question it, hah, what timing. Thanks again man.

 

[kryolla]

muslin bag are for steeping grains. Hops added first during the 60 min boil called bittering needs the vigorous action of the boil for the chemical change the resins goes through so no bag. WHen the wort is cooled use a strainer to get the whole hops. Hop scheduling is for 3 reason bittering, flavor, and aroma depending on when you add them during the boil.

 

[the_bird]

A brown ale could very easily just have a bittering hop addition. If the recipe is supposed to be very malty, maybe a little roasty, I wouldn't expect any late additions. Something like a Newcastle clone isn't going to have any late additions. Some brown ales DO have late additions, but those are more of your Texas Browns. English-style brown ales are usually bittering-only.

No need to use the bag for the hops, use it for the steeping grains. You can put your hops in a bag, but it's not 100% necessary. I used to run my (cooled) wort through a mesh filter to get most of the hops, but if a few make their way into the fermenter it's NBD.