What happens if...

[duskb]

...you dump your first hops addition into the wort before you have given the extract the 10 minute boil required to do it's protein chain thing I read about once?

I ended up hitting the full boil and in a moment of sheer brain fartness dumped in the hops instead of starting the kitchen timer. First time for this. Made a huge mess too...

What can I expect?

 

[Hammy71]

Beer. I always add my first hops as soon as the water starts boiling. Doesn't matter if it's extract or all grain. You did nothing detrimental

 

[Yooper]

I have no idea what you mean by putting in the hops before the protein chain thing. The hops go into the wort, they boil, you're good. The extract doesn't matter in the least. The point of the boil is to isomerize the hops, and the extract may not ever get a hot break. You don't need ANY extract, as a matter of fact, so whether it has a hot break or not is not important at all.

 

[Clann]

You can expect beer

 

[passedpawn]

I think the OP means before the hot break.

No problem. I don't think that extract even has a hot break (don't use it) - it's already been boiled when it was created.

But in all-grain brewing, it's called FWH (first wort hopping). Makes a minor improvement in hop utilization (they say, anyway, haven't been able to discern a diff myself).

 

[heferly]

Only thing extract has to do with hops is utilization...but many of us (read: me) do late extract additions and dont account for the increase in utilization...in short, its fine, your beer isnt compromised!

 

[duskb]

I think the OP means before the hot break.

No problem. I don't think that extract even has a hot break (don't use it) - it's already been boiled when it was created.

But in all-grain brewing, it's called FWH (first wort hopping). Makes a minor improvement in hop utilization (they say, anyway, haven't been able to discern a diff myself).

Yes, before the hotbreak. My original manual from my LHBS states:

"Once a vigorous rolling boil has been reached note the time. You should maintain this for at least 10 minutes before adding hops...When the 10 minutes are up you should then add the bittering hops".

I have been doing this ever since I've started (except tonight) but I must confess this is not fully explained in the manual. The "coagulated protien chains" I was mistakenly referring to had to do with the rapid cool down not the hot break. My memory distorted this.

So, yes, you are probably explaining what this manual was referencing but since they can't seem to explain why and the consensus here is saying "fogedabout it", I'll thank you all for saving 10 minutes off my brew sessions.

I was a tad worried at the time but as experience has taught me, every brew that I've screwed up still ended up being drinkable and in most cases I forgot about once I kegged it.

 

[Yooper]

Yes, before the hotbreak. My original manual from my LHBS states:

"Once a vigorous rolling boil has been reached note the time. You should maintain this for at least 10 minutes before adding hops...When the 10 minutes are up you should then add the bittering hops".

I have been doing this ever since I've started (except tonight) but I must confess this is not fully explained in the manual. The "coagulated protien chains" I was mistakenly referring to had to do with the rapid cool down not the hot break. My memory distorted this.

So, yes, you are probably explaining what this manual was referencing but since they can't seem to explain why and the consensus here is saying "fogedabout it", I'll thank you all for saving 10 minutes off my brew sessions.

I was a tad worried at the time but as experience has taught me, every brew that I've screwed up still ended up being drinkable and in most cases I forgot about once I kegged it.

Meh, throw way that "manual" from your LHBS. It's silly. For even better beer, add only 1/2 the extract at the beginning and add the other 1/2 at flame out.

 

[duskb]

Meh, throw way that "manual" from your LHBS. It's silly. For even better beer, add only 1/2 the extract at the beginning and add the other 1/2 at flame out.

You can do this? This bends my (weak minded) understanding of extract brew. What about all that talk about hop integration, attenuation and boiling the compounds together? This sounds insane on the surface but I'm not afraid to try new stuff if it works.

Anywhere to read up on this?

 

[BainbridgeBrewer]

Search the fields in this forum for late extract additions. There are a ton of threads already about that subject. I use to do it all the time when I used extract.

 

[duskb]

Search the fields in this forum for late extract additions. There are a ton of threads already about that subject. I use to do it all the time when I used extract.

Thanks, knowing the proper nomeclature is half the battle when looking for something in a forum. I'll read up on it and try it on the next brew.

(Unsure why the brew "manual" didn't reference this...)

 

[passedpawn]

For brew manuals, you should start with John Palmer's How to Brew. Or, just keep browsing this forum

 

[ellisonsj]

Yes, before the hotbreak. My original manual from my LHBS states:

"Once a vigorous rolling boil has been reached note the time. You should maintain this for at least 10 minutes before adding hops...When the 10 minutes are up you should then add the bittering hops".

I am guessing this is to help reduce the chance of a boil-over. Before the hot break it's pretty easy to do and adding the hops can make it worse of you're not paying attention. Regardless, as others have said it won't hurt the beer to add them before the break.

 

[passedpawn]

I am guessing this is to help reduce the chance of a boil-over. Before the hot break it's pretty easy to do and adding the hops can make it worse of you're not paying attention. Regardless, as others have said it won't hurt the beer to add them before the break.

Good point. I add my hops after the hot break for this exact reason.

 

[duskb]

Good point. I add my hops after the hot break for this exact reason.

It's funny I learned this lesson again tonight (and a few times before) since I've never added hops until 10 minutes out I've rarely boiled over like this....boy did this one catch me off guard too. It was so bad I had to move the kettle to the other burner for 10 minutes while I cleaned up the mess. : )

FWIW, I have looked over this forum alot and read up on bits and pieces here there, which is why I post here to begin with. Alot of times it's just knowing the language and relating it to the problem at hand. Other times it's the brain. The mind is like a dry sponge and knowledge is like water, you can't absorb all of it immediately. It takes some time for it to sink in. As time goes on bits get lost, corrupted, or need updating. I think this was an example of all 3.

Thanks again for the feedback. Thanks to you guys, each brew gets better than the one before, and now each brew from here on out will end 10 minutes earlier! : )