Brew UK Forum | Grain
Hops ?!?
I am about to start my first all grain brew and wanted to ask a few questions about hops. At the moment i am going to make an IPA using Marris Otter Malt(5kg) with crystal hops AA 4.9%, Chinook hops AA 12.7 and Nelson Sauvin.
should bittering hops (Chinook) be added nearer the end of the boil to avoid overpowering the beer ?
What sort of quantities should i use? I aim to make about 20-21L of beer.
Also would this particular brew benefit from dry hopping or is that getting a bit complicated first time round.
Responses
Posted 2 years ago by Admin
Hi Adam and welcome.
Generally the bittering hops are used at the beginning of the boil to give the bitterness. Then additional hops are added throughout the boil, generally in the last 15 mins to give flavour and aroma. Chinook are good for flavour and aroma as well as having a high alpha. You've got some hefty flavoured hops there so I would probably not dry hop but you could give it a taste once its fermented and then always add some to the barrel or secondary fermenter. You probably be best off steeping some for around 25 mins at 80c after boiling is complete.
What overall bitterness are you aiming for? Usually shown in IBU.
I would recommend downloading some brewing software (Beersmith is really good) and formulate your recipes using that as its much easier and it will calculate the amount of grain and hops needed to hit your requirements.
Posted 2 years ago by Member
Using some brewing software, 5KG of pale malt would give you an OG of ~ 1.056.
I'm guessing from the hops you're using you're making an American IPA.
Look at some references on Brewers Friend:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/02/04/beer-styles-original-gravity-and-final-gravity-chart/
http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/01/24/beer-styles-ibu-chart-graph-bitterness-range/
This link gives an explanation of bitterness ratio:
http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2009/09/26/balancing-your-beer-with-the-bitterness-ratio/
For an English IPA it suggests a ratio of 0.8
Hopefully that'll give you some ideas.
Like Greg says, I would do a large addition at the beginning of the boil to get most of the IBUs.
Then add another aroma addition at 15 mins.
And down load beer engine or beer smith, it'll help a lot.
Posted 2 years ago by Member
Hey Guys, thanks for getting back to me. I think the IBU was meant to be around the 65 mark. I think adding after the boil sounds like a good idea so will give that a go. Plus the link you left were really helpful. I will let you know how it all goes.
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