When do I add my hops?

[NorCalHB]

Soo.. i'm a home brewing virgin and plan on poping my cherry this weekend. I recently purchased a home brewing kit that came with the ingrediants to make an amber ale. I know from reading that hops can be added at the begining of the boil as well as the last 5-15 min of the boil. My kit comes with hopped LME and DME along with a bag of hops. The bag does not say its finishing hops so im assuming I add them at the begining of the boil.. if this is incorrect, please let me know. Thank you in advance.

 

[annasdadhockey]

I would say they may be finishing hops, as your LME is already prehopped and would serve as your bittering addition.

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

Does this kit by chance give an IBU number? How many gallons does it make? Also, is there an AAU% somewhere on the hops bag? This info can help to determine what times they planned it for. Also, with a hopped extract, I would assume it's finishing hops.

 

[ChshreCat]

I vote for finishing hops as well. Wouldn't make sense to give you hopped extract plus more bittering hops and nothing for flavor or aroma. Does it say what kind of hops and how much there is? Some folks on here could give you recommendations on when to add them and if they should be split up into more than one addition.

 

[NorCalHB]

Thanks for the quick response.. The bag only says "U.K. First Gold Hop Pellets" It also says, "ALPHA 7.3%" The kit makes 5 gallons. I asked the guy at my LHBS and his response was, "your gonna have to contact the manufacture".. total douce.

 

[Torg]

I would think your kit came with instructions.

Hops are added usually at the beginning of the boil (usually 60 minutes) for bitter. They are added for the lat 15 minutes for taste and at the last 5 minutes for aroma. You can also add hops in the secondary fermentation (really beer only has one fermentation), referred to a dry hopping. This is usually done to add extra aroma.

But since you note that your malt comes pre-hopped it is possible they only gave hops for the aroma or taste stage rather then the bittering. The reaons people are asking you for the IBU of what you are brewing is that with the IBU of the hops and the end result somoene could give you an educated guess as to when to use them. But really you bought a kit it should have instructions. If it does not go back to where you got the kit and ask them.

 

[DavidSteel]

The kit doesn't say anything about when to add them? Sad. They shouldn't be for bittering (at beginning of the boil) because the LME is already pre-hopped. I'd say they are flavor/aroma hops, but I have no idea which b/c I don't know what the hell kind of amber that it. lol

 

[NorCalHB]

The kit does come with directions, however, the directions are sooooo far off from the directions I get on this forum as well as other books and websites and so un precise that I am uncomfortable following them...the directions say to add the hops at the start of the boil, but then I thought, "why are there no finishing hops?" and "if the LME is hopped then are these hops finishing hops?". As a rookie im totally lost. The package says 7.3% in the lower right hand corner and the batches is to brew 5 gallons.

 

[takedown]

I too would assume they are to be added in during the last 5 or so min.

 

[DavidSteel]

The kit does come with directions, however, the directions are sooooo far off from the directions I get on this forum as well as other books and websites and so un precise that I am uncomfortable following them...the directions say to add the hops at the start of the boil, but then I thought, "why are there no finishing hops?" and "if the LME is hopped then are these hops finishing hops?". As a rookie im totally lost. The package says 7.3% in the lower right hand corner and the batches is to brew 5 gallons.

Weird shlt. I'd say the pre-hopped LME doesn't belong in that kit, but the hops do. Hard to say what to do..

 

[ChshreCat]

How long does the kit say to boil for? If it's all extract and the extract is pre-hopped, then it doesn't need a 60 minute boil. Throwing the hops in at the start of a shorter boil would do the same as adding them later in a long boil. The instructions may not be that far off in that case.

 

[NorCalHB]

Oh, ok.. The directions might be right..They say to do a 30 min boil, add the hops at the begining. The kit has the pre hopped LME, DME and the hops..So should I go with the directions? Sorry for the confusion. Im a rookie, what can I say?

 

[ChshreCat]

That'll give you more flavor than aroma, but there's nothing wrong with that. The instructions don't seem too bad so I'd say to follow them as far as the boil goes. They probably tell you to rack to secondary and bottle too early though. Just guessing there.

 

[DavidSteel]

How long does the kit say to boil for? If it's all extract and the extract is pre-hopped, then it doesn't need a 60 minute boil. Throwing the hops in at the start of a shorter boil would do the same as adding them later in a long boil. The instructions may not be that far off in that case.

Ah, makes more sense. Might just be a 30 minute boil or something.

 

[NorCalHB]

Thanks for all your help.. I'm just going to follow the directions and do the 30 min boil and add the hops in the begining. Thanks for your guys help and clarification.. huge help. Thanks again.

 

[tmstover]

Do I just keep adding the hops to the same bag leaving the intial hops till the end or toss and add the the next

 

[Brewnoob1]

If you have seperate hops, it's typical (at least from my knowledge) that it is easier to have seperate hop bags. I don't see how it could hurt to add to the same hop bag however. You'd want to leave the hops in for the entire time depending on what they are being used for. Example, hops at the beginning of the boil would be left in there for the entire 60 min. 15 min flavoring hops for the last 15 min, 5 min hops for aroma. So, there would be 3 seperate bags in this example. Or 1 if that's all you had...though others with FAR more experience than I could chime in an clarify if I'm stating something incorrectly.

 

[unionrdr]

Ok,this is starting to sound like what I do. If the DME is not pre-hopped,then use that in the boil. I use pre-hopped (bittering only) LME's,& they are never to be boiled. So if the DME bag says "plain" on it,it's not pre-hopped. I use those in the boil for late hop additions of no more than 30 minutes,usually 20,but I use 2 to 3 different hops myself.
So if it's plain DME,use it in the boil,get past the small foamy hot break,then bag the hops & toss it in,starting the stove timer for the 30 minutes given in the recipe.