Hop Question

[KirkD]

I am getting ready to make a batch of EdWort's Haus Ale and it calls for 2oz of Cascade hops @ Alpha 6.6. The hops I got at my LHBS were Cascade (leaf) but it says on the package Alpha 8.6. Does this seem right? Are there different Alphas for Cascade or are they wrong? I have read around and found a hop/alpha calc and entered the numbers and came up with using 43 grams rather than 56. If I do less as I think I should what part of the boil should I short?

Just looking for advice on what to do here......

 

[Yooper]

Each crop of hops is different, most have a range they fall in but they do vary from year to year. For example I have some chinooks that are 13% and some that are 11% AAU.

It's not a problem at all, just change the amounts as you did so that you equal the same amount of bittering.

The only hops to change are the bittering hops- those added to the boil at 60 minutes up until about 20 minutes. Any hops added after 15 minutes left in the boil don't need to be adjusted, because you're using them for flavor and/or aroma and not bittering. You also don't adjust the amount of the dryhops.

I don't have that recipe right in front of me, so I'll trust your math on the bittering hops!

 

[KirkD]

Each crop of hops is different, most have a range they fall in but they do vary from year to year. For example I have some chinooks that are 13% and some that are 11% AAU.

It's not a problem at all, just change the amounts as you did so that you equal the same amount of bittering.

The only hops to change are the bittering hops- those added to the boil at 60 minutes up until about 20 minutes. Any hops added after 15 minutes left in the boil don't need to be adjusted, because you're using them for flavor and/or aroma and not bittering. You also don't adjust the amount of the dryhops.

I don't have that recipe right in front of me, so I'll trust your math on the bittering hops!

Thanks for the quick response. This is what the hop schedule is for it. I just did the calculation on the total 2 oz for the recipie. Where would you subtract/calculate at?

Boil & Hops
1.0 oz Cascade 6.6% at 60 min.
0.5 oz. Cascade 6.6% at 30 min.
0.25 oz. Cascade 6.6% at 15 min.
0.25 oz. Cascade 6.6% at 5 min.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for the quick response. This is what the hop schedule is for it. I just did the calculation on the total 2 oz for the recipie. Where would you subtract/calculate at?

Boil & Hops
1.0 oz Cascade 6.6% at 60 min.
0.5 oz. Cascade 6.6% at 30 min.
0.25 oz. Cascade 6.6% at 15 min.
0.25 oz. Cascade 6.6% at 5 min.

I'd do the math for the 60 min and 30 minute hops. You want the .25 ounce at 15 and 5, for the flavor and aroma. You won't get more than negligible amounts of bittering anyway at those times with those amounts.

 

[Yooper]

My rough math gives me:

.75 ounce 8.6% at 60 minutes
and
.50 ounce 8.6 at 30 minutes (a difference of about 2 IBUs but really, close enough!)

 

[frazier]

Then take that 1/4 ounce you saved at the bittering addition, and toss it in at flameout. No sense letting it go to waste!

 

[KirkD]

My rough math gives me:

.75 ounce 8.6% at 60 minutes
and
.50 ounce 8.6 at 30 minutes (a difference of about 2 IBUs but really, close enough!)

Thank you........