CO2 extract for late boil/whirlpool additions

[powwowwow]

Our recipes are becoming so hop-heavy that we are having trouble separating wort from the hop/trub cone and our yields are suffering. So we're thinking about substituting CO2 extract for some of our late boil/whirlpool additions -- just to reduce the quantity of vegetable matter a little bit.

Does anybody have any experience or guidance when it comes to using CO2 extract for not just IBU's but hop flavor? Is the flavor and aroma good? Does it need to be boiled or can it be dumped directly into the whirlpool for more hop flavor without as many IBU's? how quickly does it isomerize compared to pellets?

[Wayne1]

CO2 hop extract is mostly just for bitterness. It can replace or supplement your kettle charge.

For whirlpool or dry hopping, look into varietal hop oils. SS Steiner has quite a few different varieties available.

[Bainbridge]

Co2 hop resin does have some character that it imparts, and it isomerizes at about the same rate as hops. I did get a bit of a shock one year when we sent our IIPA off to White Labs Big QC day and the IBUs were about 20 below what I expected. I think that had to do with poor extraction from late addition extract, and also from dryhops and yeast grabbing bitterness on the way out as usual. We were using one addition at the beginning of boil, and another at 15 minutes, then switched to two at 60 when we switched from 150gm AA Centennial specific to 100gm AA Generic cans. Did notice a change in flavor and aroma (actually for the better, different notes to the late addition hops) but the extra boil time didn't seem to impact the flavor much. Since our kettle can't handle the hop charge our IIPA needs without gunking the Heat-x to hell, I'm a big fan. It is kind of a pain to calculate the bitterness on short boils, but it can be done.