Mash Hopping

[itsbarleytime]

Anyone tried mash hopping lately?

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

I did it with Magnum in my Maibock. Honestly... I couldnt tell the difference between the original recipe I did and the one that I mash hopped... Perhaps it would be more dependent on style.

 

[GHBWNY]

Mash hopping is reported to give a overall balance and character to the beer and supposedly give almost no bitterness.

Saw the same quote from Beersmith. They go on to say,

"Mash hopping is seldom used today because it requires a fairly large amount of hops and adds very little in direct flavor. Since the hops are never boiled, no bitterness is released and most of the flavorful oils from the hop flower are lost in the boil that follows."

I guess tossing a few extra hops in at mash can't hurt and may add a different essence, but personally, it sounds like a waste of hops. Don't know of a style that recommends hop-mashing over hop-boiling.

 

[itsbarleytime]

I was really curious about this because it seems that the oils wouldn't boil off, the oils would do what they do in the boil... get bitter! But if you all have done it, tried it and got nothing from it, then I will have to accept the majority wins. I don't want to waste money or precious hops. I wanted to explore the possibilities ya know! :rockin:

 

[GHBWNY]

I was really curious about this because it seems that the oils wouldn't boil off, the oils would do what they do in the boil... get bitter!

Hop oils don't "boil off". At 212F for 60 min., the oils are extracted from the hops and go into solution and bitter the beer. At ~152-154F, the oils stay in the hops and therefore do nothing for bittering, and little if anything for flavor or aroma.

 

[BobBailey]

What are you looking to gain from mash hopping? Between boiling, FWH, knockout additions, steeping/whirlpooling and dry hopping you can get almost any effect I can imagine from hops. I tried mash hopping once with a couple of ounces above and beyond my normal recipe and found no discernible difference.

I have read about breweries using hops in the mash and am sure they have good reason, but I haven't seen anything on what the reason is. Very possibly they use this in conjunction with another hopping process to gain a desired result.