If you had to get the most hop character out of 4 oz, how would you do it?

[Horseflesh]

I have a couple of 4 oz packs of hops that I would like to use in 1.050 OG SMaSH-ish ales. I said SMaSH-ish because I am bittering with Magnum to save flavor and aroma hops.

I've done this once already with Maris Otter & El Dorado, and it worked out OK; the beer was good and I feel like I got to know El Dorado somewhat.

But 4 oz isn't a lot for a 5 gal batch, and I wanted to see if anyone had ideas on the optimum hop schedule to get the most pronounced hop character.

The 4 oz hop packs on my list are Sorachi Ace (12.7%) and Azacca (10.4%). I also have 6 oz of Huell Melon (6.2%) and a pound of Lemon Drop (5.4%), but I was hoping to stick to 4 oz to be consistent... but the goal is to get the best hop expression with what I have, not just to use 4 oz.

Below is the hop schedule I used for the El Dorado brew. Would you make any changes for any of the other hops under consideration? Thanks for any ideas you may have.

0.50 oz Magnum + [13.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min 22.7 IBUs
0.50 oz El Dorado + [14.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min 8.5 IBUs
0.50 oz El Dorado + [14.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min 4.7 IBUs
1.50 oz El Dorado + [14.00 %] - Whirlpool 130F 45 min 1.6 IBUs
1.50 oz El Dorado + [14.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days 0.0 IBUs

 

[Jayjay1976]

I'm no expert but that 1.5oz 45 minute whirlpool addition @130 and the 1.5oz dry hopping looks like a great way to maximize hop flavor. I've not used them together but hull melon + lemon drop sounds really good.

 

[Horseflesh]

Over the last year I have switched to lower temp whirlpool steps and it has seemed to work out pretty well, giving me good flavor without too much extra bittering. According to the material I found, at 130F utilization should be just ~2.5% and my mouth can believe that.

Since I have an electric system, if I set a whirlpool temperature, it stays at that temperature, which I like because it makes the IBU calculations more consistent. (And I guess we know our calculations are all kinds of wrong, but batch-to-batch consistency is still worth striving for.)

 

[Jayjay1976]

Over the last year I have switched to lower temp whirlpool steps and it has seemed to work out pretty well, giving me good flavor without too much extra bittering. According to the material I found, at 130F utilization should be just ~2.5% and my mouth can believe that.

Since I have an electric system, if I set a whirlpool temperature, it stays at that temperature, which I like because it makes the IBU calculations more consistent. (And I guess we know our calculations are all kinds of wrong, but batch-to-batch consistency is still worth striving for.)

I too brew with an electric system, and stumbled onto lower temp whirlpooling when I accidentally cooled past my 150 target and ended up at 130, shut off the chiller and let it steep for half an hour. Turned out really good so I'm going to stick with it.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I have a couple of 4 oz packs of hops that I would like to use in 1.050 OG SMaSH-ish ales. I said SMaSH-ish because I am bittering with Magnum to save flavor and aroma hops...

But 4 oz isn't a lot for a 5 gal batch, and I wanted to see if anyone had ideas on the optimum hop schedule to get the most pronounced hop character.

I do something very similar, although being in the UK our standard hop pack size is 100g (3.5oz). A lot depends on what you define by hop "character" - I get the appeal of trying to be completely standard about things but on the other hand there's probably not too much point in eg having fermenter additions of a hop that you know isn't a great dry hop. So although it's not strictly comparable, I tend to tweak things a bit depending on the hop. In particular I tend to do 13 litre batches for more subtle hops (ie most European ones) and 17 litre batchs for New World ones - there's nothing magic about 5 gallons. It also means I can split them into 3 or 4 (Imperial) gallon buckets for yeast trials, different yeasts can really change how a hop presents.

In general I'd bring a bit of your cold-side addition into the copper - maybe aim for 40% of the pack in the copper? I tend to do a bit more than that, but my current testing is more Old World hops.

 

[Smellyglove]

I'd just use bittering and dryhop. You might lack som "depth" but you'll get lots of taste and aroma. If you don't ferment under pressure some of the hops added in your kettle will dissapear out the airlock.

 

[couchsending]

Personally I’d go for a smaller beer than 1.050. The lower the ABV the more 4oz will stand out, IMHO.

 

[Boomer]

I wouldn’t use the hops you’re trying to highlight in the boil, at all.

If you really want to showcase those particular hops, I’d just change your 1.5oz whirlpool and 1.5oz dry hop to 2.0oz each.

I also might (either) start my whirlpool at 170 OR do a 1oz 170 and a 1oz 130.

 

[Horseflesh]

Thank, everyone.

 

[SanPancho]

Ill second what northern brewer says about size. Half batches. No subtlety about 4oz in 2.5gals, they’ll be plenty front and center. Go easy on ibus, but otherwise go big.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I'd just use bittering and dryhop. You might lack som "depth" but you'll get lots of taste and aroma. If you don't ferment under pressure some of the hops added in your kettle will dissapear out the airlock.

No. There's a whole bunch of important flavour compounds that are only extracted efficiently at high temperatures, and which are part of the character of the hop. It's not all about the super-volatile aroma compounds. Not putting hops in the boil is like tapeing up Beyoncé's mouth - she still looks beautiful but her voice is a big part of the essence of Beyoncé-ness.

On brewlength - personally I find 100g (3.5oz) hops in 17 litres (4.5 US gallons) of ~1.047 Otter wort with ~25IBU of bittering works just fine for New World hops - it's not far off the Boddingtons I grew up on, and it means you end up with a beer that you want to drink rather than something that is just an experiment.