late extract addition-less bittering hops?

[Paulasaurus]

I'll be brewing a Belgian Wit kit from Midwest(went with Wyeast Activator). Belgian Witbier w/ Safbrew T-58 dry yeast :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies

I'd like to do a late extract addition in hopes of keeping the color lighter so i'd like to do half at the beginning and the other half at flameout. The more i've been reading about late extract additions I keep seeing mention of adjusting the amount of bittering hops.

Do I need to figure out this calculation and reduce the amount of bittering hops? If so can someone help me out with the corrected amount? Or should I do my late extract addition and follow the directions as is?

I'll be doing a partial boil, around 3.5 gallons.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Yooper]

Some brewing software really helps with this! If you post the recipe, including the AA % of the hops, I can run it through Beersmith for you.

As a general guideline, you can reduce the bittering hops by 25% or so, and leave the flavor and aroma hops the same. So, if the recipe calls for 1 ounce at 60 minutes, a good guestimate would be .75 ounce at 60 minutes.

 

[ajf]

If you add all the extract at the start of the boil, you will end up with about 13 IBU's (assuming the AA % for those hops advertised by Midwest).
If you add 2 lbs extract at the start of the boil, and the remaining 4 lb with 15 minutes to go, you would get about 23 IBU's

-a.

 

[mahilly]

I searched several threads about late extract and they all seem to discuss LME, but not DME. Do the same rules apply for DME when doing a late extract?

 

[Paulasaurus]

Thanks for the quick replys.

I like the idea of saving a bit of hops and freezing it away for assembling my own recipe later on.

Now being that the difference of IBUs ends up being 10 how would this affect the final taste of the beer if I were to add the entire 1oz of bittering hops? Would it turn out noticeably hoppy for a belgian wit?

I also assume that adding the exrtract at flameout is ok as long as I hold off on cooling the wort until the extract has had some time to be sterilized?

 

[Yooper]

I searched several threads about late extract and they all seem to discuss LME, but not DME. Do the same rules apply for DME when doing a late extract?

Yes, DME and LME are interchangeable.

Thanks for the quick replys.

I like the idea of saving a bit of hops and freezing it away for assembling my own recipe later on.

Now being that the difference of IBUs ends up being 10 how would this affect the final taste of the beer if I were to add the entire 1oz of bittering hops? Would it turn out noticeably hoppy for a belgian wit?

I also assume that adding the exrtract at flameout is ok as long as I hold off on cooling the wort until the extract has had some time to be sterilized?

10 IBUs may not be noticeable in a "bigger" beer, but the difference between 20 and 30 IBUs is pretty noticeable.

The first time I did late extract addition was in my Dead Guy clone a few years ago. I didn't have any software at the time, but my notes say "seems like twice as bitter!". Sure enough, when I bought the software and ran the numbers, it was about twice as bitter. The IBUs went from about 15 to 30! It was still good, but definitely more bitter.

I'd suggest downloading some free brewing software (Beersmith has a free trial, and there are others) to play with the numbers so you can see exactly the effect of time and amount of hops.

I assume adding extract at flame out would be fine- I mean, it's sterilized when they package it. Unless you were using an opened can, I think adding it at flame out and stirring it up well would be fine.