Recipe for senior thesis

[KayleeJane]

Hello! I've been lurking here for months, and finally decided to post. I wanted to reach out to you all for recommendations for my senior thesis. I'm a culinary science student with a passion for beer who is interested in observing the sensory attributes of a first wort hopped beer, which I will compare to a more conventionally hopped beer.

I'm interested in what styles and recipes you all recommend, keeping in mind that I want to control my variables as much as possible, so simpler in this case is better. Any help is appreciated!

 

[TheCADJockey]

You'd probably be well suited to just do a SMaSH recipe if you want to keep things simple with as little variables as possible. Just do 2-Row and hops of your choice.

 

[BigMack]

Agreed on the SMaSH. If you're trying to keep things as similar and as simple as possible thats the way to go.

 

[McKnuckle]

In addition, if you really want to test the effects of FWH, consider that as your only hops addition. Don't even bother with flavor or aroma hops. And use the cleanest yeast you can find. A lager would be a good choice.

My hunch is that the difference between FWH and a 60 minute bittering addition will be very subtle. To isolate that variable, eliminate just about everything else, even if it makes for a boring beer.

 

[mrdauber64]

From what I've heard, a FWH is similar to a 20 minute addition. To test this you could brew two SMaSH beers. First one would be FWH, 60 min and a 5 min. The other would be 60 min. 20 min and a 5 min.

I would use a hop like Centennial since it is a good all around hop for bittering and flavor/aroma. Then use 100% Golden Promise. I live Golden Promise as a single malt. Brew two 5 gallon beers and keep the hops at 1 oz per addition. That should control all your variables and let you compare the traditional method with the FWH method assuming a FWH is comparable to a 20 min. addition.

 

[m00ps]

FWH is definitely not similar to a 20min addition.
You may want to check this out before you go too far down the road

 

[BigMack]

http://brulosophy.com/2015/07/06/the-first-wort-hop-effect-exbeeriment-results/

A ton of people have done similar experiments. I for one agree that if you are really trying to nail down FWH vs traditional 60 min bittering addition then that is all you should do. That will give the clearest indication of the subtle differences of the hop additions without extra variables (flavor/aroma additions) getting in the way.

 

[mrdauber64]

FWH is definitely not similar to a 20min addition.
You may want to check this out before you go too far down the road

It may not give the same IBU level on a calculator as a 20 minute addition, but I have read a lot of post on this forum and other forums from people who claim the perception of a FWH is similar to that of a 20 minute addition. I myself do both a FWH and 60 minute addition in my IPA's and I don't feel like I double my IBU's if I were to take my FWH and 60 min. and combine them all into a 60 min. addition. I get a more rounded flavor/bitterness(my perception of course).

 

[slym2none]

FWH go in before the boil. Then they are boiled for the full amount of time, let's say 60 minutes arbitrarily.

I can't see how FWH is not at least the same as a 60 minute addition.

*shrug*

For me to think differently, I am gonna need more science.

 

[Juno_Malone]

+1 to the SMaSH idea. I'd go with a base grain of either 2-row, golden promise, or maris otter.

I'd go with US05 as the yeast. Average attenuation of 81%, it's a nice clean yeast that'll let the hops do the talking, and no need to bother with a starter. Shoot for enough base grain to hit 1.052 OG or so. This should give you a nice 5.5% ale with US05.

For hops, I'd pick a classic well known American strain like Centennial, Cascade or Chinook. I would standardize your later additions to something like 15 minutes, 5 minutes, and 0 minutes. And then let the focus of your experiment be how FWH affects sensory attributes of a beer as opposed to classic 60 minute bittering.

Keep everything simple and controlled except for what you are testing.

 

[KayleeJane]

Thank you for your suggestions! I agree a SMaSH is the best way to go, and I appreciate the recommendations regarding hop and malt varieties.

 

[agrazela]

...I'm a culinary science student...

CIA? Say hi to Dean Russin for me. Old co-worker and pal of mine.

 

[radwizard]

my fwh's are boiled for 60 min. how does that give the effect of 20? do you take them out during the boil?

 

[slym2none]

my fwh's are boiled for 60 min. how does that give the effect of 20? do you take them out during the boil?

That's about the only way this makes sense.

 

[BGBC]

For me to think differently, I am gonna need more science.

Oh, if only someone would do an experiment to test this


...

 

[KayleeJane]

Nice catch, and of course I will! hopefully I'll see him later this week.

 

[BGBC]

By definition first wort hops are left in for the whole boil. You could remove them as a third variation maybe

 

[mrdauber64]

What would you expect out of a 20 minute addition? For me the effect would be less bittering and more flavor. That is the effect I would describe I get when I use First wort hopping. All the aroma is gone(as it should be), but the bitterness is cleaner. I have no idea what the science is, or how it works, but maybe the flavors get "locked in" from a 30 minute(or more) steep in 155-170 degree wort. Logically it doesn't make sense, but FWH is used by German brewers who claim it gives a cleaner bitterness which would be important for a clean lager. Do a search on google and homebrewtalk. There are a lot of people, including Denny Conn, who describe the effect of FWH as being similar to a 20 minute hop addition.

That would be the beauty of the experiment I guess, test to see what the effect is. Brulosophy compared FWH to the 60 minute addition, maybe this experiment can compare it to the 20 minute addition.

 

[signpost]

I think the simplest way to compare the impact of fwh versus a 60 min addition (or 20 min for that matter) is to do SMaSH batches with only one hop addition each. You could easily do a 5 gallon batch and split it into small 1 gallon batches. Boil each batch separately.

1) only a fwh addition
2) only 60 min addition
3) only 20 min addition
4) fwh and 20 min addition
5) 60 and 20 min addition

Then setup some 'triangle tests' for comparing the different batches.

 

[m00ps]

That's about the only way this makes sense.

Friendly tactical strike
20min addition does not, in any way, produce similar results to a fwh addition. I will bet my entire pipeline on it

I think some people are confusing some terminology or something. Like maybe a 20min mash addition or something? I dunno, never bought into mash additions either. But somethings being lost in translation