Interesting process similar to First Wort Hopping on steroids
  • ceanntceannt
    Posts: 53,828
    I have long been intrigued by this old method, but have never gotten around to attempting it. Back in the 1850s, during the period that English beers were hopped to the point of being silly… this process was developed as a means of getting more hop presence in beer than could be achieved by adding to the boil, or by dry hopping (most English hop varieties don’t dry hop well anyway).
    Unlike FWH or mash hopping, this process is carried out independently.
    Hops, typically one ounce per pint of water, were placed in water at 160 degrees. Six hours later, the water was added to the wort, sometimes at the beginning of the boil, mostly at the end of the boil.

    To do this, say for a 5-gallon batch…. Calculate gravity based on a five gallon batch. Then decrease the strike and sparge water until the post boil volume is 4.5 gallons. Add hops aggressively during the boil as normal.
    Six hours before the end of the boil, pre-heat your oven to 160. Heat ¾ gallon of water to 165 or so… and add 8 ounces of hops (whole, no pellets) Heat on the stove gently until you get to 160 degrees, put a lid on it and stick in the oven.
    After six hours, pull out the pot, drain off the liquid and squeeze the hops until you get a half gallon. Add this to your wort at the end of the boil.

    I have absolutely no freaking clue how to calculate IBUs for this….. But, if FWH, for the short time the hops are steeped, increases hop flavor, and adds a smooth bitterness….. I can only guess what SIX HOURS of this would do…
    I believe that this would really, really, really lend itself well to a big, intensely hoppy American IPA…..
    Anybody care to give it a try??? Say with Citra???? @frydogbrews ????

    Never attribute to malice, that which can adequately be explained by stupidity.
  • FuzzyFuzzy
    Posts: 49,656
    sounds neat. i might just give it a try the next time i brew an ipa. might be a while, though.

    since it would be really tricky to figure out the ibus, this might be a good candidate for homegrown hops.
    The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake
  • frydogbrewsfrydogbrews
    Posts: 44,679
    i'll give it a shot, but i'm not using 1/2 lb of Citra for this. that's hard to get!
  • FuzzyFuzzy
    Posts: 49,656

    i'll give it a shot, but i'm not using 1/2 lb of Citra for this. that's hard to get!



    home grown cascades!
    The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake
  • ceanntceannt
    Posts: 53,828

    i'll give it a shot, but i'm not using 1/2 lb of Citra for this. that's hard to get!



    Ha!
    OK ... so use some other mutant variety that you like as a late addition hop in a face melting hoppy beer ....
    Never attribute to malice, that which can adequately be explained by stupidity.
  • frydogbrewsfrydogbrews
    Posts: 44,679
    i'll just use regular cascade, that's easy as hell to get
  • C_BC_B
    Posts: 88,448
    ceannt said:

    i'll give it a shot, but i'm not using 1/2 lb of Citra for this. that's hard to get!

    ....face melting hoppy beer ....


    Yeah..... Sounds interesting.
    "On it. I hate software." ~Cpt Snarklepants
  • scoobscoob
    Posts: 16,617
    I may try this sometime, thoughts on steeping the six hours and then freezing solid till brewday, adding the block post-boil to assist in chilling the beer down?
    Jesus didn't wear pants
  • ThymThym
    Posts: 121,594
    This sounds like it would go nicely with my hop espresso based IPA idea.
    The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny
  • scoobscoob
    Posts: 16,617
    Lakewood said:

    This sounds like it would go nicely with my hop espresso based IPA idea.



    Indeed it would, brew it up so it's ready for the brewery crawl!
    Jesus didn't wear pants
  • ThymThym
    Posts: 121,594
    azscoob said:

    Lakewood said:

    This sounds like it would go nicely with my hop espresso based IPA idea.



    Indeed it would, brew it up so it's ready for the brewery crawl!


    that's coming up soon!
    The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny