hopping schedule

[JLem]

I'm getting ready to brew my 3rd beer - a Special Bitter - and had a few hop-related questions.

1) Is there a minimum amount of time required to bring out the hop flavor? I usually strain my wort as it goes into the primary, so the beer doesn't sit on the hops during fermentation. Is 5 minutes enough to get good flavor (not bitterness)?

2) How big a difference does a few minutes one way or the other make? I've seen some recipes with crazy hop schedules - 45 minutes, 30, 15, 10, 5, 2 - is this really that different than a more simple schedule? (with amounts adjusted of course to hit the right bitterness)

These questions stem from the fact that I have 1oz of Willamette and 1oz of Challenger hops and after playing around in BeerSmith, I can add them in so many different combinations of amount and timing I'm no longer sure what to do or even if it matters.

 

[nutcase]

I am by no means an expert. But if I understand correctly, the most amount of flavor is coming out between 5 and 15 minutes of boiling, and anything less is going to lean more towards aroma, whereas anything more is going to lean more towards bittering. Its a sliding scale though. 5 minutes is going to have less flavor and more aroma whereas 15 minutes is going to have more flavor, less (or close to no) aroma, etc.

 

[944play]

There's no minimum. You can even add hops AFTER flameout and still get some extraction.

In my opinion, the most efficient way to get hop flavor is a hop tea added after fermentation. Bonus, if you use wort to steep the hops, that can be your priming solution. Realistically, though, I would probably use the Challenger at 60min and the Willamette split between 10min and 1min (assuming that would meet your IBU target).

 

[JLem]

There's no minimum. You can even add hops AFTER flameout and still get some extraction.

In my opinion, the most efficient way to get hop flavor is a hop tea added after fermentation. Bonus, if you use wort to steep the hops, that can be your priming solution. Realistically, though, I would probably use the Challenger at 60min and the Willamette split between 10min and 1min (assuming that would meet your IBU target).

Thanks. I'll run the numbers and see if that schedule hits my IBU target.

1 minute hop addition will really achieve a noticeable change?