The best thing to do for flavor/aroma hops, got any tips?

[Gustatorian]

I've toyed around with the best ways to extract as much oil as I can from hops in an attempt to get the most aroma/flavor I can get from my hops, but I'm curious if anyone has any input on their own personal technique.

I found that in-keg dry-hopping at room temp does a good job. I've been curious about whirlpooling. Does anyone care to share their whirlpooling technique in order to get the most out of their hops?

Any tricks, big or small, please share!

 

[m00ps]

look up hopstand/whirlpool additions around this forum. I typically use more than 10oz after flameout. It gives a hop character more potent than most commercial brew I can find without the associated bitterness

I hopstand for 1 hour with all my IPAs. i divide them into a flameout addition and another addition once the wort naturally cools below 180F

 

[mrdauber64]

I do one whirlpool addition at 180 and one at 145, both for 30 minutes. Read this article from BYO for more information: http://byo.com/stories/issue/item/2808-hop-stands

 

[2005STi]

look up hopstand/whirlpool additions around this forum. I typically use more than 10oz after flameout. It gives a hop character more potent than most commercial brew I can find without the associated bitterness

I hopstand for 1 hour with all my IPAs. i divide them into a flameout addition and another addition once the wort naturally cools below 180F

Do you find that alpha acid % (high vs low) for the hops you use in the stand has a noticeable difference in bitterness from a hopstand of that size and length?

 

[clickondan]

I've found hop stands to be the key to impressive hop aroma & flavor. Sometimes I do a 170F hop stand, sometimes a 150F, or both depending on what I'm trying to accomplish. 170 gives me some isomerization and bitterness contribution that is fairly time-stable. I've made several batches where I get all my IBUs from a 170 stand. 150 will also give you some bitterness contribution (less, seems like about 10% utilization), but that bitterness actually degrades with time. I've brewed a batch getting all my IBUs from a 150 hop stand, and the IBUs noticeably faded over several weeks. For all these reasons, if I were going for maximum hop character overload madness, I would probably do 20 min, 5 min, and a huge stand at 150 for 45 minutes. I almost always use pellet hops for all of this.

 

[beernutz]

Adding hops to the mash and first wort hopping are a couple of techniques I've had luck with.

 

[Neptune]

At what temperature do the hops stop contributing bitterness?

 

[clickondan]

At what temperature do the hops stop contributing bitterness?

In my experience, it's not a hard stop, it's a slope. All the way down through at least 150F which is the lowest I've gone. 150F seems a bit like 10% utilization to me, with pellets. BUT also... at least from what I've experienced, there's another slope at play, which is the stability/persistence of the bitterness. Lower temps seem to provide a bitterness that fades over time.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

I've been thinking of doing a "continuous hopstand" with my next batch of my ESB. 1 ounce magnum for bittering and then a pound of glacier hops starting at flameout until I'm done chilling the wart. This is for a ~15 gallon batch of 6 or 7 abv. Usually I dump all my trub in the fermentor, but I am thinking with this much hops I might try to whirlpool off the majority of the hop matter for once.

 

[m00ps]

Do you find that alpha acid % (high vs low) for the hops you use in the stand has a noticeable difference in bitterness from a hopstand of that size and length?

the alpha% has very little effect IME. For instance, I did a hopstand with 8oz Eldorado and 2 oz summer on my last IPA. One before that was a combo of belma citra and huell melon but about the same size. Going by alpha%, that eldorado IPA should be much more bitter since its like 18%aa but I dont really get any bitter finish from either beer

 

[Gustatorian]

All solid info!

I think I'm going to try an immersion chill to 170 F quickly, add the hops in my hop filter (photo below), and start whirlpool with this guy (photo below, amazing for aerating wort too). I guess I'll open the lid every 5 minutes and spin for 20-30 seconds until I've done 6 intervals over 30 minutes.

My choice for temp (and I know this is debatable): It seems like the consensus for DMS conversion is anything over 160 F (I've read the stopping point for conversion from SMM to DMS is anywhere below 160-180 depending on the source. However, I've read that multiple people don't have an issue with with DMS at 170 F. Additionally, I want to stay above 160F due to my worry of wort-spoiling bacteria. Once I'm done with this 30 minute hopback, I'll cool quickly, transfer to conical, and pitch. I've read that cold break is around 140 F, so hopefully I won't lose too much heat during my hopback so that I get a solid coldbreak with a quick immersion chill.

Question: will I lose too many oils by opening the lid every 5 minutes to do a 30-second spin? Also, do I need to worry about HSA(I know this is debatable). Any criticism with my logic is welcomed!

 

[zwiller]

I was worried about losing oils opening the lid but in fact I found the opposite! Stirring/whirlpooling makes a remarkable difference. I have confirmed this with a pro brewer. No one really has explained how this works but it does.

Gusta, while I do think HSA is mostly myth I would not go ape and get it frothy with the drill just to be on safe side.

There's no substitute trying different stand for yourself. I've done it many ways (low/high/60m/15m), but prefer a large hop stands at high temp for 30m stirring as often as I can for IPA. I have even done a pound hop stand only IPA no other additions and it was tasty but less "in your face".

 

[Calder]

Ask 10 people and you will get 10 answers. You need to take their input and figure out what you think might work, and try it.

I use my IC to get the wort down to 175, then add hops and stir, maybe every 5 minutes. I leave them in for an hour. I've done 20 minutes, and 30 minutes, but there seems to be a huge difference by leaving it for 60 minutes. You would think it was a case of diminishing returns with time in the wort, but I really think the added benefit from the extra 30 minutes is huge and way more than you would expect ........ that's my experience.

 

[zwiller]

Ask 10 people and you will get 10 answers. You need to take their input and figure out what you think might work, and try it.

+1

I did 30m <185F and it was all aroma. Basically a dry hop to me. I go for max flavor and think >185F is the way to go for that IMO. That said, only thing I haven't done is 2 stands: 30m hot and 30m cold. Dang brew day is long enough!

 

[Natdavis777]

Hopbursting/whirlpooling.... You use a lot more hops but well worth it in my opinion.