Hops "attenuation"...?

[olie]

TL;DR: My hops seems to spend more time stuck to the side of the pot than in the actual boil. Is that A Thing?


It's common to see recipes with something like:

• Start the boil, add 1/2 your bittering hops.
• After 20 min, add the rest of the bittering hops.
• After 40 min, add your finishing hops.
• Boil 60 min total.

I assume that the progressive-add is to get more/less of the hops flavor out of the leaves/pellets/what-have-you and into the wort. [Assumption check!]

Thing is, during the boil, my hops seems to mostly disintegrate (turn powdery), then stick to the side of the pot. Sure, I stir it back in, but I'm not stirring constantly for an hour, so my vague feeling is that the hops spends more time out of the boil than in it.

(I have not scientifically measured this; I'm just watching what's going on.)

Anyway...

Do I need to do anything about that? Stir more? Get ...uh... heavier hops?? Put the hops in a tea bag and tie it to a brick???

Or do I just need to chill-out and maybe drink more beer?

Thanks!

 

[Braufessor]

The duration of time in regard to hops extracts more bitterness. You will actually get more hop "flavor" by adding them right at the last second, or once you start cooling, or as dry hops.

If you have a rolling boil, I would think they would kind of keep moving a bit wouldn't they? If you are stirring them into the boil a few times over the course of the boil, you are fine - everything will be extracted that should be.

Oh, and you can drink beer and chill out too - That is what it is all about

 

[ReaperOnefour]

The duration of time in regard to hops extracts more bitterness. You will actually get more hop "flavor" by adding them right at the last second, or once you start cooling, or as dry hops.

If you have a rolling boil, I would think they would kind of keep moving a bit wouldn't they? If you are stirring them into the boil a few times over the course of the boil, you are fine - everything will be extracted that should be.

Oh, and you can drink beer and chill out too - That is what it is all about

Ok

 

[ReaperOnefour]

I agree with braufessor. If you want to minimize hop debris you can always use a hop spider, or you can put your hops in a muslin bag, then throw them in the kettle.

 

[dmtaylor]

I agree with braufessor. If you want to minimize hop debris you can always use a hop spider, or you can put your hops in a muslin bag, then throw them in the kettle.

+1. Hop spider or hop bag.

 

[olie]

Well, the debris has always settled out in the end, so isn't really a problem. I was mostly curious if I wasn't "getting full benefit" of my hops with it spending so much time on the edge of the pot.

...But the beer tastes good and appears properly bittered, so I suppose it's not really an issue.

Mostly, I have a tendency to over-think things when I'm learning, and this was today's thing.

 

[kh54s10]

Unless your hops are getting stuck to the side of the pot above the waterline, they are getting used. Remember there is a lot of other stuff in the brew that is going to stick to the side of the pot. I use a 5 gallon paint strainer bag clipped to the lip of the pot to contain my hops. There is still a healthy scum band around the pot when done. I never stir during the boil. I only stir when cooling. To move the wort around the coils of my immersion chiller.

 

[olie]

That's what I mean: stuck to the side above the water line.

What appears to happen is: the "powder" floats on the foam which, as it waxes & wanes, deposits them on the side of the pot (above the wort).

The only stirring I do during boil is to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom. And to spatula the hops off the waterline/rim to put them back into the boil.

But, again, things seem to turn out ok, so maybe it's not a big deal. It just looks, visually, like "not getting full hops-ification".

I might try a "tea" bag next time, to see if that changes anything.

 

[d3track]

How vigorously are you boiling? I have found that as I keep to just a rolling boil, there is less hop debris stuck to the side.

 

[BrewInspector]

A smooth rolling boil is all that is needed. Many homebrewers boil far more vigorously than needed.

I may get a bit of foam or more splashing just after adding hops to the boil causing the deposit you describe. That and just the result the boil splashing along over time. I will scrape the sides maybe once after an addition of hops or when I see a significant build up of material.

I too want to ensure that the hops are utilized and less baked on hop ring material is easier to clean at the end of the day.

 

[olie]

(We're diverging a bit now, but I think the original question has been answered and, well, it's the internet, so... )

A few things:

* My stovetop burner can barely keep 3 gallons of wort going. (Next batch, we'll be experimenting with the turkey-fryer burner.) In fact, if I keep the lid all the way off, it won't actually boil. So things stay partially covered. (Glass lid means I can watch, though

* While it's possible to gently boil with no foam (by adjusting the lid), I'm working on an hypothesis that more vigorous boiling & foaming (but not crazy over-boil!) gives a better hot-break. This may be false, but it's my current hypothesis, and I'm a "learn things the hard way" kind a guy. <G> (I love y'all's input, but that isn't going to stop me from having crazy ideas!)

* As such (with a rolling boil and some foaming), the build-up is pretty quick. I tend to scrape it back into the pot every 5-10 minutes or so.

* I haven't yet had to deal with baked-on hops. So far, it's still been the damp hop-paste by the time I get to it. The foam/steam (covered pot) might be helping me, there.

* My pot says it's 4 gallons, but I'm thinking that's "right to the brim, with surface tension, and barely even then". I typically boil 3 gallons water + ingredients, so close to 3.5 gal. I'm thinking I might cut the water back to 2.5 gal next time, to see if I can keep things less-close to the top. Or maybe just get a 5 gal stock pot; they're not that expensive...!


To summarize what I've got from this thread, so far:

* I'm not losing significant hops-factor in my beer.
* I can make boil adjustments (or scrape more often) if it bothers me.
* Long-boiling hops increases bitterness, whereas end-of-boil (or after-boil) is how you increase hops-flavor.

Sound about right?

And thanks to all to chimed in!