I’m sure some of you have done this and I was wondering how the beer turned out? I’m thinking of doing either my IPA, my house Pale ale, or my every day everyone pleaser Blonde ale with no bittering addition and just increasing the late additions to get the same IBUs that the recipe calls for. Does the beer lose complexity? More flavor? What do y’all think.
I have yet to do this but a friend of mine on the east coast brewed an IPA with next to nothing at 60, and copious late additions as was pretty pleased, he said tons of hop flavor, and juicy. He said juicy alot and seemed pretty pleased with the results.
I’ve done this a couple of times and never managed to get enough bitterness despite heroic levels of late hopping. In fact with one beer I had to add bitterness back with a filtered boiled hop tea!
cheers
steve
I’ll be trying this soon. I plan on using no crystal malt, just pale malt, Munich or Vienna, and flaked oats and rye. Without the crystal there is much less need for excessive bitterness to balance sweetness. I have made a couple IPAs in the last two months with this grist and very light bittering additions and like the results.
Yes I have done hopbursting. Yes it’s still bitter enough. No it doesn’t lose complexity. Yes it gains hop flavor.
Do it.
I don’t normally do whirlpool additions right at flameout because I like the hop character I get at cooler temps, but this is a situation to do it. Large additions of late hops plus a substantial flameout steeped addition will give you a nice level of bitterness (aside from good flavor and aroma). And as per the article posted a few months back (by Denny?), a healthy dry hop addition can influence the perception of bitterness, too.
Once upon a time (in 2014), I brewed an all hop stand IPA. 4oz Cascade, 1oz Columbus, and 1oz Simcoe in a 30 minute hop stand, stirring every 5 minutes. Then, I dry hopped with an ounce each of Columbus and Cascade. According to Beersmith, the calculated IBUs were 71 (Tinseth). In actuality, the IBUs were no where near 71, but it was still a very tasty beer. It even scored a 36 at the NHC, that year. It may have scored a bit higher if it was entered as a Pale Ale instead of an IPA.
This is pretty much my standard IPA procedure. All my hops go in at flameout, followed by a 90 minute hop stand. The beer I had measured came in at 98 IBU, but it tasted closer to 60. Plenty bitter for an IPA, but the dominant character is massive hop flavor.
I’ve done it and probably my best PA I’ve brewed. I put in 8 oz at flame out. I did cheat a bit and put in .75 oz Columbus FWH. dry hopped 5 oz. i need to do it again.
I’ve tried it a few times and was generally unhappy with the results. Maybe I didn’t try it on the right styles.
Do you shorten the boil when you do these long hop stands or stay with a 60 min boil?
-Tony
Maybe it’s not your tastes? If you’re looking for a firm bitterness, this isn’t going to get you there. Even at 98 measured IBU’s I found the bitterness to be a bit softer than a traditional boil addition. I have some suspicions that humulinones (the compounds hops that add bitterness in a dry hop addition, but are not as bitter as iso-alpha acids) may have some role in this, but that is just speculation on my part.
Undoubtedly personal tastes play a big role. For most of the beers I make I prefer a firm bitterness.
I have made a cream ale where all of the hops go into the whirlpool right after flameout. It works for that beer.
Same here, Kiwanda style.
I prefer to get around 50% of estimated ibus at 60 minutes or longer and the rest at steep. Gives me a more stable bitterness and still tons of hop flavor.
Inspired by that Cream Ale, for sure.