Hops in the mash

[SRB]

To mash hop or not to mash hop?....that is the question.

We have been (3.5# nuggets) in our IPA. We really enjoy our IPA and our customers are raving. But.....as new pro brewers....and with hops needing to last until harvest...(people are thirstier than we projected)....we are wondering about opinions in regards to this addition. I didnt come across a thread on this and the masters brewers handbook does not appear to address this question.

[william.heinric]

Hmmm...

This sounds like a technique used in a berliner weisse; you know, a "hop the grant" sort of thing. If you're mashing with them, then it would seem to be that you'd extract more alphas due to the higher pH of the mash, relative to the pH of the boil.

If the master brewers who wrote the handbook knew what you were doing, they'd be rolling over right now.

[gabewilson50]

Hopping the mash is different than first wort hopping, though, and while I'm a fan of FWH, I think that hopping the mash is a terrible waste of hops. Hey, but at today's prices, who doesn't have plenty of hops to throw out with the spent grain?

[v2comp]

Waste of Hops indeed!

Hopping the mash is different than first wort hopping, though, and while I'm a fan of FWH, I think that hopping the mash is a terrible waste of hops. Hey, but at today's prices, who doesn't have plenty of hops to throw out with the spent grain?

WORD!
I cant really think of a bigger waste of hops than that.......

[Vendetta]

WORD!
I cant really think of a bigger waste of hops than that.......

I've heard of people hopping the hot liquor tank, but I hope it's just an urban legend.

[kai]

I've heard of people hopping the hot liquor tank, but I hope it's just an urban legend.

I think that's when you have an uber-tuple IPA where you add hops to everything from the HLT to a plug in the pint glass...

[bmxfrank]

wort vs. mash hopping vs start

I've added hops to both mash and full wort. When doing the numbers the ibu's gained are much less in mash and slightly less in full wort than at the start of the boil. Which brings back the question of why doing it? What exactly is pulled from the full wort that you are willing to get less ibu's? Are there other oils that contribute to flavor or resin type felling on the toungue, etc. Im curious as well since Im doing an Imperial IPA and thought to ask here while searching the remainder of this section.

[beerking1]

Can't say I have any kind of empirical evidence, or even much experience, but from what i have read, Mash Hopping is supposed to extract a mellower bitterness, and somehow the chemistry/pH/etc or the mash extracts flavor and aroma components which survive the boil, giving more flavor and aroma in the finished product.
I haven't seen anything purporting to "prove" this.

[Moonlight]

Mash hopping does not contribute IBU bitterness any where near as well as kettle hopping...but neither does dry hopping, and that seems pretty popular.

[Gregg]

Mash hopping does not contribute IBU bitterness any where near as well as kettle hopping...but neither does dry hopping, and that seems pretty popular.

The objectives are different. Dry hopping is primarily to develop hop aroma, not bitterness - little alpha-acid isomerisation (bitterness extraction) without heat, unless I have forgotten more than I suspect. With mash hopping, even more of the aroma (volatiles) will be lost than standard kettle hopping.