Received very low AA hops - what to do?

[grizzly2378]

So, I ordered an all-grain La Petite Orange kit from Northern Brewer. The kit comes with one hop addition, an ounce of Styrian Goldings at 60 minutes. These hops are generally supposed to be around 5% AA, which would give you around 20 IBUs for this beer. But, the hops I got are only 2.7% AA, which will get me only 10 IBUs. What's the best way to make up those IBUs?

Here are the two options I've come up with. First, all along I was planning on altering this recipe to make an orange saison (pitching Belle Saison dry yeast). My original plan was to add orange zest and some Citra hops at flameout to give it that citrusy aroma. In that scenario, the Citra wouldn't add any IBUs, but what if I moved the Citra addition to, say, 5 or 10 minutes to make up for the "lost" IBUs?

My second option is to leave the Citra at flameout and supplement the 60 minute Styrian Goldings addition with some leftover Magnum or Nugget hops I have on hand.

Or I could ***** to NB and ask them to send me another ounce of the low AA Styrian Goldings, but I'd kinda like to brew this today or tomorrow if possible.

Thoughts? Pluses or minuses to either plan?

 

[botigol]

I was in the same situation about a month ago. I called and they shipped me an extra ounce of hops, but since I wanted to brew before they would arrive, I left my late hops additions alone and added some Mt Hood for bittering.

Flameout hops do add IBUs, it's just a matter of how many due to how quickly the wort cools. So your planned addition may be sufficient since the AA% on the Citra should be in the 12-14% range.

 

[m00ps]

Blah screw IBUs. There's so much else that goes into your tongues perception of the actual bitterness of the brew. Syrian Goldings are aroma hops anyways so just add them at flameout or close to it. Add anything else at 60min if you do want some bitterness. Citra would be good in any citrus based beer IMO

 

[grizzly2378]

Flameout hops do add IBUs, it's just a matter of how many due to how quickly the wort cools. So your planned addition may be sufficient since the AA% on the Citra should be in the 12-14% range.

True. I wasn't planning on doing an extended hopstand. Just throw the Citra in and fire up the worth chiller. But I would still get a few "bonus" IBUs. My Citra is 13.7.

 

[thegreatmaibockaddict]

For an addition with 60 minutes left in the boil? or after boiling 60 minutes?

Late addition hops are mainly for extracting hop oils and bitterness is negligible. I am assuming if it is a kit that there are bittering hops already included as such a low alpha will give you too little bitternes for a 60 minute boil to make a beer drinkable. Even at 5% it is kinda low for bittering.

Low alpha works fine for flavor/aroma, though it is very subtle. If it is an addition after 60 minutes I wouldn't sweat it. If you want more hop character you would need more hops anyway regardless of if you have 2% or 5%.

 

[m00ps]

yeah anything you add above roughly 180F will net you some IBUs but not enough to really make it too perceptible

 

[kh54s10]

Northern Brewer does not specify what the AA is supposed to be. The beer has a lot of other flavors going on with the orange, sweet malt bill and Trappist Yeast, so I don't think much bitterness was intended for this recipe.

Personally I would not sweat it. I have done their kits as supplied and they were all good.

If you want to make up for it I would use a small amount of the Magnum. How much and when IDK. You could put it in a calculator to determine the resulting IBU.

 

[Rootski]

Sounds like a good saison. I had a similar issue with Styrian Goldings a couple of months ago. Mine were WAY low, like 1.4% or something. Use some other hops that you have laying around and skip the styrian. Save it for a different beer flavor addition since it has so little bittering power.