IPA without bittering hops

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Lele

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Hi everyone and greeting from Italy :) (and sorry for my English :D)
I'd like to brew an IPA, but I've decided not to put hops at 90' or 60', but only at FWH and Late addition. I want to create a session IPA without a harsh taste and I'm curious to see the result with this method.
Did someone try this? What do you think about it?
 
A lot of people myself included now do this method of hopping during the boil. My FWH addition is only about .5 to 1 oz depending on how much bitterness I want and the rest is all flameout hops. It gives you a nice bitterness and lots of flavor and aroma. If you don't want an overly bitter beer just add enough FWH to give you 1/4 to 1/2 of the IBUs to O.G. Flameout and whirlpool/steep hops are for flavor and aroma but will extract some bitterness but not much and I don't add these into the total IBU contribution.

Example:
Your OG is going to be 1.040 add enough FWH to give you 10 - 20 IBU. No hops for the rest of the boil just flameout and whirlpool/steep hops.
 
Most of my IPA's are done now that way. Session, IPA, Double IPA - does not matter. First additions are now done at 20 minutes on most batches.

I love hops and do not always need the bitterness. IBU numbers do not always tell you what you need to know. The important thing is taste. My preferences are for full hop flavor and a more subtle bitterness.

My opinion - go for it.

Keep in mind, a a few bittering hops can be used very well as late addition or whirlpool. I love Columbus and Comet as a whirlpool and even dry hop additions. My wife hates how it smells when I do (especially Comet), but what a wonderful flavor.......
 
Put all you 90/60 minute hops at FWH, this will get you the bitterness you need for balancing but with a reduced perceived bitterness.
So the bitterness will be there but it will be much smother and less harsh.
 
There is a technique call "hop bursting" that I use with some of my hoppy IPAs and APAs. I start adding the hops at 20 minutes left in the boil, and hop heavily at 20/15/5/0/whirlpool. It gives a ton of hops flavor and aroma, plus the bitterness you need.

Some brewing software is helpful to estimate the IBUs (bittering) for this, because you want it to have enough bitterness to counteract the sweet malt but not be overly bitter.
 
Thank you very much for the answers :)
I'd like to make a sassion IPA with Columbus and Simcoe. In your opinion, what proportion between these two hops is good? Can I use both in FWH or only Columbus?
 
Technically FWH are bittering hops, are they not?

But beyond that, I've done mostly late hop additions a few times and it works great. I have yet to nail down the bitterness I really want (the beers have turned out less bitter than I imagined they would. I try to play it safe like that.) Big hop flavor and aroma, especially with some dry hopping added too.
 
Yes, but I think they give a less harsh bitter (and also a good aroma), don't they?
 
Yes, but I think they give a less harsh bitter (and also a good aroma), don't they?

I personally haven't ever tried using FWH. I know a few people who do and they say they like the effect, but I don't know that I could tell the difference unless they were served side-by-side. So many other things contribute to the flavor characteristics.

I encourage you to try it and see what you think. I know one of my friends does it because it's also supposed to help lower the amount of foaming during the run up to boiling. Something about the resins bind to the proteins or something.
 

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