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  • Hop utilisation

    What is the maximum utilisation one can expect from your kettle, lets say the hops are fresh(pallets,no loss in alpha) ,plato of around 11 ,pH 5.2 .Evaporation around 7% for a 90 min boil. Our utilisation will generally be around 35%, this can occasionally go up 38% (ie lower wort volume ,better boil),the hops are added at kettle up.
    Is it possible to get utilisations of over 40%?.
    I have read a lot about first wort hopping,we have found it to have a similar utilisation to that of hops added at kettle up( start of boil),we do notice a different preceived hop flavour. Does anybody else out there have experiances with first wort hop utilisation.
    Also what would be the maximum utilisation one would expect in the whirlpool,ie hops added 20 minutes into 30 minute transfer, 15 minute stand then 60 minute transfer.We have utilisation of around 5-8 %.
    Any thoughts would be welcome.

    Cheers.

  • #2
    Just curious...how are you measuring your hop utilization? GC? Mass Spec?

    UV spec?

    If you can't measure it your shooting in the dark.
    Larry Horwitz

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    • #3
      Spectro, the usual 275 nm, have results from 3 different labs. Have also had 10 years experiance doing them myself.
      So we are pretty sure of our results.

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      • #4
        Nothing but organoleptic testing in my place (definitely shooting in the dark as you say), but in my opinion, FWH has provided flavor and aroma qualities that would take more sizeable hop additions to accomplish later in the boil. Can't say I look to FWH to optimize bittering though, as I believe additions at the onset of boiling may be more efficient at that.

        Playing around with the recipe in ProMash can give you a good idea of the bittering difference, FWH versus 90min additions - but then again, this may be a little "loose" for your operation. Seems to works for mine though.

        If you've got a new hoppy beer to pilot brew, definitely give FWH a try!

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        • #5
          Sir Brewsalot, thanks for the tip - I'm going to be pilot brewing a pale ale with a rarely used hop, and FWH sounds like a good way to use less hops to accomplish the same goal!

          Cheers!
          "By man's sweat and God's love, beer came into the world" -- St. Arnold of Metz

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          • #6
            From our experiance it does give a more subtle bitterness , the aroma was very slight .We prefer whirpool or fermenter dry hopping ( add with one plato to go), but be careful as yeast cropping ,as you will end with extra trub,we also found conditioning for longer than two weeks produced beers with more yeast bite and filtration problems.Also be careful of those exta hop polyphenols.

            Good luck

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            • #7
              I generally (though not always) go cone-to-cone with my pitches, and with dry-hopped ales, I'll harvest yeast before dry-hopping
              Looking forward to trying FWH though -- do you just add the pellets as you start the kettle fill, or wait until you have some given volume in the kettle?
              "By man's sweat and God's love, beer came into the world" -- St. Arnold of Metz

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              • #8
                My practice is to toss them in the kettle as soon as the bottom is wet with the first runnings - excepting when I forget of course. Then it's a little later.

                Scott

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