I’d like to brew Denny’s Waldo Lake Amber based on the recipe of NB’s Kit (I won’t buy the kit, but just follow their recipe.) It is hopped as follows:
How would I convert the Cascade amount to boil hops? My work schedule for the next few weeks won’t allow me to have 6 hour un-interrrupted for brewing, but I’ve had good luck chilling my wort (after mashing) in a walk-in cooler for up to 48 hours before starting the boil. But somehow I don’t think that leaving FWH hops in for 48hours is going to work… or maybe it will?
i haven’t done any FWH, but if i understand, you are splitting up time between mash and boil. so i would try just adding the FWH as you start bringing your wort to temp, and maybe hold it at about 160 for an extra 20-30 minutes before cranking it up.
If you’re bringing your wort to a boil from cooler temps, just add the FWH once you hit mash temp range (140ish). I do this with extract brews a lot and it works pretty well.
This is why I love this forum… great solid suggestions that I hadn’t though of… so as I bring the wort to a boil, toss in the FWH hops at 140, then they will have (at least on my system) about 10-15 minutes to steep before it hits the boil… I could even slow down the heat input to give it 20+ mins of steeping as Don suggests… I’m going to try this.
Right, if I change FWH to boil hopping, it will be different. And if I leave FWH in the wort for 48 hrs, that will probably also be different… but what about the theory of putting the FWH in when I’m heating the wort up to boil, and “steeping” them there for 20 minutes or so at around 140F, which is almost exactly what happens when you FWH right out of the mash cooler (my wort is usually 130-140F, and I have it boiling within 30 minutes…) It’s just that the wort has been chilled for some time between, and then reheated thru mash temps to boiling. Is there some enzymatic activity coming out of the mash that has been halted or slowed by the chilling of the wort that will effect the FWH?
You do whatcha gotta do to get beer in the fermenter. You’re committed to the hobby, dude!
Try it by “steeping”, and if you don’t like it, try it another way. IME, Waldo Lake Amber is a beer worth brewing multiple times (as well as a good base to start your own hoppy amber recipe).
As far as IBUs go - this is where brewing software comes in handy. FWH and a 60 min addition give you different IBU figures, so use software as a guide to nail down these numbers.