Maybe it is just me but I find the directions to doing FWH a little confusing. Got this brew tip the other day that reads in part:
FWH involves adding a portion of the hops to the boiler at the very beginning of the sparging process, allowing these hops to steep as the sparging completes and remaining in the kettle throughout the boil. Add the hops to the boiler as soon as you have finished recirculating the first runnings.
My guess is 30% of your flavour and aroma hops is added to the wort in the brew pot you just collected from draining the mash tun the first time, letting them steep while the grain in the mash tun is then sparged, about a half hour.
It gives me a nice hop flavor and adds a bit of smooth bitterness. I start by deciding how much hop flavor I want, then adding the appropriate amount of FWH…usually 1-2 oz. I count the bitterness from them as a 20 min. addition. After having some beers analyzed, that seems like a pretty accurate guess. Then I add enough hops at 60 to get the bitterness I’m going for.
I put them in the kettle before I start my initial runoff and they stay in through the boil. Since I batch sparge, it’s about 15 min. from the time I start the mash runoff til the time I finish the sparge runoff and light the burner.
Curious. Beersmith II counts FWH as giving more bitterness units than a 60 minute addition. .75 of bravo at 60 gives me 37.9 IBUs, .75 of bravo at FWH gives me 41.7. Any ideas?
My own lab analysis showed that FWH beers measured about 10% more IBU. But generally we taste beer, not measure it! In a blind tasting, FWH beers were generally found to taste less bitter despite the increased measured IBU.
And that brings up a point about Beersmith and all other brewing software…they’re tools to help you brew the way you want to brew, not instructions on how to brew. Don’t automatically assume that any defaults are correct for you and your system. For example, Promash comes set to default to evaporation as a %. But the writer of it says you should reset that to gal./hr.
LOL I decided to FWH my bravo/munich smash today. The difference in IBUs on beersmith is low, only 48 for FWH verses 45 for a 60 minute addition. No biggie, right?
Except that somehow the process of deciding to FWH my beer led my mind into believing that a half an ounce was equal to 28 grams. D’oh! :o
Turns out half an ounce is still fourteen grams. :
And my beer will be about 30 IBUs higher than I planned. They were bravo hops, high AA. So it went from APA to IPA just like that. 8)
Guess I’m a little confused about IBUs. I always thought international bittering units was a measurement of bitterness- something that is quantifiable. So how can a beer with higher IBUs have less bitterness but more flavor? I agree with Denny that beer should is best enjoyed tasted and not measured, but when working with FW hopping and dry hopping (especially using a new hop) it is hard to know how much and how long. Is there a way of measuring how much flavor/aroma a hop will impart based on Alpha acid or some other metric?
There are different qualities of bitterness. A coarse bitterness that measures at 50 IBU will seem/taste more bitter than a refined bitterness that measures at 50 IBU. If you read the new Hops book, you will see that flavor and aroma are only barely understood.
IBUs are easy to measure, but bitterness is not. Bitterness depends upon complex chemical reactions in the mouth, cheek, nose, etc., and vary from person to person. Bitterness does correlate with IBUs, but it is not predictable like IBUs are.
As for predictability of flavor and aroma, my reading of Stan Hieronymous’ Hops book basically says you cannot currently predict flavor nor aroma. You need to rely on experience with the hops.
After recently reading this article: http://www.mrmalty.com/late_hopping.php I gave late hopping a try and I would have to agree with the author. The hop additions were smoother overall and I tend to believe this is because the hops were not subjected to a lengthy boil time. It makes a certain amount of sense that the longer you boil hops the more harsh flavors will be extracted.
Notably, the IPA I brewed did not have harsh hop flavors even several days into the conical. In my experience it can take some time for the hop flavors to mellow and smooth out but this batch was smooth to begin with and had some amazing floral aromas. You’ll have to judge for yourselves, but I’m sold.
I figured I would give it a try with a blonde ale I brewed yesterday. 1 oz of Cascades at FWH. Still to style according to Beersmith 2, so we’ll see how it drinks.
Thanks for the article. I’ve been experimenting with my last couple batches with loads of hops and adding them late. There’s the Q&A session on this forum with Steele and there’s his book “IPA.” The article you linked seems to go along the same lines; though I only scanned it today and will read later. The boss hates it when I’m reading beer articles during work hours…lol.
