How much hops if only hopping during flameout (hop stand)?

skelley · Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:44 pm Post subject:

I also just noticed that you are delivering the wort to fermenting buckets that are well below the leve of your kettle. I pump into conicals that have their top at the level of my brew table if not higher. I wonder if you bet a better siphon effect??

**kal** · Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:48 pm Post subject:

I'm not sure. I wouldn't think much if a pump is involved. (?)

I do slow down the pump drastically when the Hop Stopper gets exposed to air to avoid having the internal cavity empty. With a pump it's easy to do. Not so much when you gravity feed.

Kal

**kal** · Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 6:18 pm Post subject:

One thing I forgot to post is how fast the temperature dropped after the heat was turned off.

I've had no experience with cooling times as I've always been a "lid on at flameout and chill ASAP" type of guy because (up until now) this is what I had read was the best thing to do to "lock in" hop flavours and aromas. (Similar to what you do with a Hop Back where wort flows through hops and contact time is minimal and the wort is chilled immediately, supposedly locking in the flavour/aroma).

Here's what I observed in 12 gallons of wort (post-boil), ambient indoor temp of 65F. The lid was off at all times, the wort stirred gently every 10 mins.

00:00 - Upon turning off the power the temp dropped from 210F to 208F almost immediately.

01:00 - Added 6 oz of room temp hops. Temp dropped to 206F.

03:00 - Temp at 203F

08:00 - Temp at 196F

13:00 - Temp at 192F

25:00 - Temp at 182F

30:00 - Temp at 178F. Added second dose (10 oz) of hops.

30:00 to 80:00 - At this point I set the boil kettle to 170F to avoid going any lower. The temperature settled out at 170F and stayed there for the rest of the hop stand with the boil kettle element firing periodically. The firing of the element does not create a violent boil or stir, just enough movement to keep the hops moving around without me having to stir as much.

Kal

kuestess · Joined: 08 Feb 2013 Posts: 4

Kal, care to share your Hopslam recipe?

**kal** · Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 8:32 pm Post subject:

nemis79 · Joined: 01 Aug 2012 Posts: 1

Why do you keep the lid off during the hop stand? Wouldn't this drive off a lot of the hop aroma due to evaporation?

**kal** · Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 3:54 pm Post subject:

Everything I had read abot hop stands said to leave the lid off. Not really sure why. The temperature dropped fast and there wasn't much that appeared to was no longer evaporating after a few minutes.

Kal

Holter · Joined: 07 Oct 2011 Posts: 221 Location: Los Angeles, Ca

If you leave the lid on when the wort is above 140F you are more likely to develop DMS in your beer. Evaporation is going to happen anyway, I don't believe it would have that large of an impact on the hop aroma.

RetiredD · Joined: 20 Mar 2013 Posts: 1 Location: Beverley England

**kal** · Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 7:42 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the hints! I meant to do my Electric Pale Ale as the starting point but was out of Amarillo at time (more has bee ordered) and needed to get this brew under my belt for the competition.

I'll definitely be trying it again.

Kal

**kal** · Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 2:35 pm Post subject:

UPDATE:

I tried a taste of this beer last night when I took a gravity reading (it's been 9 days since I pitched and it's down to 1.012, I figure it'll end up around 1.010 which is where I was hoping it would end up).

Normally I don't take readings until a good two weeks or so (depends on the beer/fermentation temp/etc.) have passed and I know it's done fermenting and cleaning up, but this one was a special case since I only added hops only after the boil (16 oz).

I was worried that it would be overly hoppy but it's actually the opposite: If I was to get it analyzed, the measured IBUs is likely in the 30-40 range at the most. It's really hard to tell. There's bitterness but it's extremely smooth with a ton of hop flavour and aroma. The best way to describe it is it tastes the way a handful of hops smells when you hold them up to your face. Not astringent or bitter, just tons of flavour.

It'll be interesting to see how it behaves over time, if it fades at all. The competition this will be entered in is in exactly 6 weeks. By the time I dry hop and keg, it should have a good 4 weeks in the keg carbonating and conditioning. It should be in its prime.

Fingers crossed!

Kal

huaco · Joined: 05 Apr 2012 Posts: 1506 Location: Burleson Texas

I may have to try this on an APA soon... very interesting concept. I want to see how your hops hold out over time though. Seems like it is doing very well so far though.

**kal** · Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 12:08 am Post subject:

DAY 12:

Gravity has dropped to 1.010 - 1.011 (@68F). Beer was racked to 5 gallon glass carboys and 2 oz of dry hops added.
The hop flavours/aromas have not subsided as far as I can tell. Hopefully it'll stay that way.
At nearly 6 % ABV this beer teeters on the edge between an American Pale Ale and an American IPA, so it can take the extra hop flavours/aromas.

Kal

jbsengineer · Joined: 19 Jan 2012 Posts: 49

Hey Kal,

Do you always count on .5 gallons of thermal expansion after the boil? How did you calculate that?

Also, how do you measure your PH when the temp is above 150? Do you take a sample from the mash?

Josh

**kal** · Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 3:55 am Post subject:

**kal** · Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 8:02 pm Post subject:

I kegged it a few days ago and forgot to post about it... mostly because there isn't much to say or show.

The two kegs are now sitting in my conditioning fridge at 32F with the CO2 gas attached so they they'll carb up to about 5 PSI:

Not much to see. It's kegs in a fridge. Wink

I did taste it after 24-36 hours and now that it's cold (but not 100% carbed) it still has a ton of hop flavour, not much aroma from what I can tell and isn't overly bitter.

To use what is probably an overused marketing phrase: It tastes like liquid hops. To use a term from wine: The hop flavour seems to have excellent 'length' (the amount of time the flavour stays with you after you swallow it).

It reminds me a lot of sorts of American IPAs I like to make (lot of late hop additions) but without the up front bitterness that is usually included as well. So far it's definitely the most flavourful APA I've had.

It'll be interesting to see how it fares in 2-4 weeks once it is fully carb'ed up and cleared. It's going into a local tasting that a bunch of brewers are doing in early May so I'll make sure to collect comments and post back.

Kal

huaco · Joined: 05 Apr 2012 Posts: 1506 Location: Burleson Texas

If this is your "conditioning" fridge, why do you have beer lines on the kegs? Are those picnic taps just for sampling or do those lead into a trunk line for serving?

**kal** · Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 8:21 pm Post subject:

huaco · Joined: 05 Apr 2012 Posts: 1506 Location: Burleson Texas

Yeah, you only made the pipeline bigger. You will always have fresh new stuff to tempt you! lol...
That's a good idea about the little picnic taps! Will file that back in the memory bank.

skelley · Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 10:14 pm Post subject:

Kal
could you explain you set up for sampling the keg while it is carbing? Not sure what you mean by QDs and picnic taps??