Hi folks
Did my first extract brew the other day and something struck me that I hadn't thought of before, despite it being obvious: when I add the final hop addition at 0 minutes - in other words, the one I'll be using to showcase the aroma and flavour of a hop I really like - is it even in contact with the beer long enough to have a meaningful impact?
I ask because I start transferring the beer to a different vessel for cooling more or less straight away (why try to cool in a bucket with a recently scorching-hot element in the bottom?).
Am I wasting those hops I dunk in at the end of the boil? Would it be better to just add those to my dry hopping phase or is the heat doing some important work at that phase, even if it is only for a few minutes while the beer waits for me to rack it?
Thanks in advance!
it's not a waste at all. why not do both?
The residual heat is excellent for pulling the hop oils into the wort.
Also the character of the aromatics will be different from dry hops.
You can leave the hops in post-boil for a wee while. If you're extract brewing I don't think you've to worry too much about DMS reforming, and infection only becomes an issue below 70oC. You can easily let your hop oils soak into your wort for half an hour, I'd say. It does add half an hour to your brewday, though!