Flavour hops at end of fermentation instead of at end of boil

[Water_Wolf]

With the last IPA I made I added most of my hops towards the end of the boil and the largest portion at 'flame out'. This produced a lot of hop flavour and I am quite pleased with the result.

I was thinking however about the amount of hop flavour that is blown off during the fermentation or eaten by the yeast. Could adding the flavour hops after the fermentation produce a stronger flavour?

For example if you brewed your IPA as normal, except targeting a slightly higher gravity, added your bittering hops at the start of the boil but then didn't add any of your flavour hops at the end of the boil. Then you ferment your wort until it has finished as normal. Then you boil up some water, say a litre, and add your flavour hops to it on the same schedule as you would have added them to your orignal wort. Cool this water down and add it to your finished beer while moving to secondary or a bottling bucket.

Would you get more flavour? I would imagine it would at least taste a bit different as the flavours won't have been converted by the yeast. Has anybody tried this before?

[Vermelho]

Have you heard of dry hopping before?

You just add hops after fermentation, straight to the fermenter. It's a very common technique for IPA's.

[Water_Wolf]

I do not mean this as a replacement for dry hopping, that is done at room temperature and produces a different result. I am just suggesting moving the end of boil hop step to after the fermentation by basically making a hop extract. It may be a stupid idea but I'm just curious to see if anyone has tried this before!

[Parky]

I've tried something similar to what you're suggesting, although my effort was adding hop tea for priming at bottling time. You can check out my fledgling attempt here, or the source article I followed here.

My experience was that steeping in water produces a very harsh bitterness, and it's not something you want in a beer. For subsequent attempts I used wort at 1.020 OG with greater success, adding this as the priming solution. It was just a finishing touch really, so I didn't add too many hops. If you're looking at adding all the flavour hops for an IPA to even a litre of liquid I'd imagine you'll have some fun trying to filter out all that hop matter.

There are commercial hops oils out there that can be added after fermentation, but not sure there's any 'magic bullet' for big hop flavour. Using a combination of methods can work well, as each adds their own character.

I like you're thought process though - happy brewing!

[nigel_c]

Dry hopping is a tried and tested technique that gives better results then hop tea.
That's the reason it's done for every ipa on the market. It just works.

[giacomo]

Dry hopping and flame out would be producing more aroma than flavor, right? For flavor you are looking rather at "late" addition (typically 10 to 5 minutes).

[molc]

Well, like everything, it depends. Whirlpool hops give a ton of flavour when steeped for 30 mins after the boil @80C. Dry hop also gives flavour.

Also fermentation converts some of the chemicals from the hops, so you need that effect to get some of the flavours you associate with your favourite ipas.

If you want a big juicy hop flavour, I'd recommend doubling down in everything, with additions at 10,5,0,+5,+10 and also a dry hop. If you don't get enough out of that, just increase your additions until your happy.

[Shanna]

Well, like everything, it depends. Whirlpool hops give a ton of flavour when steeped for 30 mins after the boil @80C. Dry hop also gives flavour.

Also fermentation converts some of the chemicals from the hops, so you need that effect to get some of the flavours you associate with your favourite ipas.

If you want a big juicy hop flavour, I'd recommend doubling down in everything, with additions at 10,5,0,+5,+10 and also a dry hop. If you don't get enough out of that, just increase your additions until your happy.

Molc do you actually leave the hops sitting @80C or do you just add them when the plate chiller hits 80C and leave them in the wort as it chills down towards yeast pitching temperature?

Shanna

[molc]

I stop the plate chiller cooling around 85C and leave them sitting at 80c.

[Shanna]

I stop the plate chiller cooling around 85C and leave them sitting at 80c.

Cheers man.

Shanna

[Dr Brown Ale]

Interesting thread.

Circumstances meant that a recent brew I did didn't get dry-hopped, and then I had to get it bottled as I was brewing another beer and needed my FV.

Anyway, I did something like as described - it's a "Hop Tea" - heat some water to a specified temperature (I went for somewhere in the 75-80 degree range, to mimic a hop stand at that temp, I think I used 2 litres and steeped the hops for 30 minutes (about 150g for a 20 litre brew I think.))

I bottle all my brews, and so I basically mixed my priming mix with the hop mix and racked onto both, then bottled as normal.

I won a bronze medal for that beer in the Speciality IPA Category in the nationals a few weeks ago.

[Qs]

Well, like everything, it depends. Whirlpool hops give a ton of flavour when steeped for 30 mins after the boil @80C. Dry hop also gives flavour.

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/effect-post-boilwhirlpool-hop-additions-bitterness-beer/

Interesting read here, especially the sensory results of the whirlpool length. Suggests 10 minutes had more flavour and aroma than 30. I usually do between 20-30. This has me thinking I might try a shorter whirlpool and see how it goes.

[molc]

It's missing a test though, which is what is the aroma and flavour impact of a 10 vs 30 minute steep at 95C vs 80C.

[Qs]

Yeah I agree. Did you read this brulosophy experiment on that one?

[cruiscinlan]

I stop the plate chiller cooling around 85C and leave them sitting at 80c.

Should you not do it at under 80°C so you're below the isomerisation temperature?