First Wort Hopping Experiences?

[D Ash]

Howdy, y'all!

In my recent reading I discovered a revived brewing method of hopping
called "First Wort Hopping". Basically, take about 30% of your over-all hop
bill (usually the late addition/aroma hops) and toss 'em into the sweet
liquor runoff from the mash before boil. The technique was fairly common
prior to Prohibition but fell out of practice. Anyhow, the overall hop
flavor and aroma is enhanced with very little if any noticeable difference
in bittering.

I just tried this method last weekend and found that another advantage is
much better boil with hardly even a threat of boiling over when the DME was
added. The raw flavor (every brewer tastes the SG samples, right? I think
it's a requirement for QA/QC {grin}) was very crisp; couldn't tell a
difference at that point in aroma. This weekend, I've got two batches to
brew and I'll continue to practice to get more base points of information.

Anyone out there heard of this or have tried it? If so, what have the
results been? and has this become your common practice?

[baloonon]

Post by D Ash
I just tried this method last weekend and found that another advantage
is much better boil with hardly even a threat of boiling over when the
DME was added. The raw flavor (every brewer tastes the SG samples,
right? I think it's a requirement for QA/QC {grin}) was very crisp;
couldn't tell a difference at that point in aroma. This weekend, I've
got two batches to brew and I'll continue to practice to get more base
points of information.
Anyone out there heard of this or have tried it? If so, what have the
results been? and has this become your common practice?

I tried it once and didn't notice anything special to make it worth
repeating, but that was far from a controlled test. I've read some
other reports online saying it's great, others saying it's not special,
and I'm sure the truth is complicated.

I'm personally a bigger believer in doing hop stands for things like US
IPAs. You only do the bittering hops at 60 minutes or whatever and
don't add any flavor or aroma hops. When the boil is over, you let the
wort temp drop to 160 to 180 and then you dump the hops in and let it
stand at 160 or above for 30-60 minutes. Then you cool and move to the
fermenter.

My anecdotal take is agreeing with people who say that it boosts the hop
flavor and aroma in IPAs, but to be fair some people who have tried it
disagree.

Other issues are that messing with the hop schedule of recipes means
you're sailing off into uncharted waters as far as the finished product
in terms of bitterness and flavor, and you're lengthening the brewing
time. But if I'm not in a rush, I like to do it for US IPA type beers.
For a lot of other less hop-intense beers, it would seem pointless.

Other people are big fans of doing all of your hops in the waning part
of the boil, with the idea being that you make up for the loss of
bitterness from a long boil with volume, and you get more flavor and
aroma as well. It sounds logical enough to me if I understand what
they're doing, but I haven't tried it.

[D Ash]

Post by baloonon

Post by D Ash
I just tried this method last weekend and found that another

advantage

Post by baloonon

Post by D Ash
is much better boil with hardly even a threat of boiling over when the
DME was added. The raw flavor (every brewer tastes the SG samples,
right? I think it's a requirement for QA/QC {grin}) was very crisp;
couldn't tell a difference at that point in aroma. This weekend, I've
got two batches to brew and I'll continue to practice to get more base
points of information.
Anyone out there heard of this or have tried it? If so, what have the
results been? and has this become your common practice?

I tried it once and didn't notice anything special to make it worth
repeating, but that was far from a controlled test. I've read some
other reports online saying it's great, others saying it's not

special,

Post by baloonon
and I'm sure the truth is complicated.
I'm personally a bigger believer in doing hop stands for things like US
IPAs. You only do the bittering hops at 60 minutes or whatever and
don't add any flavor or aroma hops. When the boil is over, you let the
wort temp drop to 160 to 180 and then you dump the hops in and let it
stand at 160 or above for 30-60 minutes. Then you cool and move to the
fermenter.
My anecdotal take is agreeing with people who say that it boosts the hop
flavor and aroma in IPAs, but to be fair some people who have tried it
disagree.
Other issues are that messing with the hop schedule of recipes means
you're sailing off into uncharted waters as far as the finished product
in terms of bitterness and flavor, and you're lengthening the brewing
time. But if I'm not in a rush, I like to do it for US IPA type beers.
For a lot of other less hop-intense beers, it would seem pointless.
Other people are big fans of doing all of your hops in the waning part
of the boil, with the idea being that you make up for the loss of
bitterness from a long boil with volume, and you get more flavor and
aroma as well. It sounds logical enough to me if I understand what
they're doing, but I haven't tried it.

Currently halfway through the 60 min boil for a brew I'm naming "Friday
the 13th" IPA. A US style, so IBUs around (estimated) 58.6, ABV about
6.8%. Put an ounce and a half of US Fuggle before the boil. Had no hint
of a boil over. This is the second one I've done using BrewSmith for my
recipe creating guide. It has the choice of First Wort Hopping for the
hop bill, and seems to be pretty good at estimating endpoint IBU's. The
raw sample I had of the previous brew, also FWH'ed, was exactly what I'd
hoped for. So far, so is this one. I'm waiting for an aged bottle to
know for certain, but so far, I'm liking this!

[baloonon]

Post by D Ash
Currently halfway through the 60 min boil for a brew I'm
naming "Friday the 13th" IPA. A US style, so IBUs around
(estimated) 58.6, ABV about 6.8%. Put an ounce and a half of US
Fuggle before the boil. Had no hint of a boil over. This is
the second one I've done using BrewSmith for my
recipe creating guide. It has the choice of First Wort Hopping for the
hop bill, and seems to be pretty good at estimating endpoint IBU's.
The raw sample I had of the previous brew, also FWH'ed, was
exactly what I'd hoped for. So far, so is this one. I'm waiting
for an aged bottle to know for certain, but so far, I'm liking this!

Good luck. I can't see any way it could screw up a big old regular IPA
and it may well help out.

The more I read about hop chemistry, the more I think it's tough to pin
down exactly what effects different methods will have, due to their
complicated and unstable nature, and the more I read about blind taste
tests, the less I trust my ability to judge tastes objectively. I'm
increasingly unconvinced that equal quantities of the same variety of
hop harvested at the same time will necessarily act the same. But that
all makes things more interesting.

[D Ash]

Post by baloonon

Post by D Ash
Currently halfway through the 60 min boil for a brew I'm
naming "Friday the 13th" IPA. A US style, so IBUs around
(estimated) 58.6, ABV about 6.8%. Put an ounce and a half of US
Fuggle before the boil. Had no hint of a boil over. This is
the second one I've done using BrewSmith for my
recipe creating guide. It has the choice of First Wort Hopping for the
hop bill, and seems to be pretty good at estimating endpoint IBU's.
The raw sample I had of the previous brew, also FWH'ed, was
exactly what I'd hoped for. So far, so is this one. I'm waiting
for an aged bottle to know for certain, but so far, I'm liking this!

Good luck. I can't see any way it could screw up a big old regular IPA
and it may well help out.
The more I read about hop chemistry, the more I think it's tough to pin
down exactly what effects different methods will have, due to their
complicated and unstable nature, and the more I read about blind taste
tests, the less I trust my ability to judge tastes objectively. I'm
increasingly unconvinced that equal quantities of the same variety of
hop harvested at the same time will necessarily act the same. But that
all makes things more interesting.

Oh, yes! Agree, agree, agree. After all, someone has to like those
alcoholic beverages made with corn and rice. Either a lot of people love
BudMilloors, or else they need a whole lot of drain cleaner!

In any case, this is why I love this hobby. It's nice that my neighbor
likes it, too, 'cos he shares excess homegrown. Post-brew reward! Beer and
toke. Ahhhhhh, God is indeed good!

[baloonon]

Post by D Ash
Oh, yes! Agree, agree, agree. After all, someone has to like those
alcoholic beverages made with corn and rice. Either a lot of people
love BudMilloors, or else they need a whole lot of drain cleaner!

I like cheap beer too, in the same way that I like Coke or 7 Up. I don't
drink much of them, but there's a time and place.

Post by D Ash
In any case, this is why I love this hobby. It's nice that my neighbor
likes it, too, 'cos he shares excess homegrown. Post-brew reward! Beer
and toke. Ahhhhhh, God is indeed good!

Just be careful with the second. State level legality may find itself
reversed without warning by the new Federal government with a big interest
in privatized criminal justice.

[D Ash]

Post by baloonon

Post by D Ash
Oh, yes! Agree, agree, agree. After all, someone has to like those
alcoholic beverages made with corn and rice. Either a lot of people
love BudMilloors, or else they need a whole lot of drain cleaner!

I like cheap beer too, in the same way that I like Coke or 7 Up. I
don't drink much of them, but there's a time and place.

Post by D Ash
In any case, this is why I love this hobby. It's nice that my
neighbor likes it, too, 'cos he shares excess homegrown. Post-brew
reward! Beer and toke. Ahhhhhh, God is indeed good!

Just be careful with the second. State level legality may find itself
reversed without warning by the new Federal government with a big
interest in privatized criminal justice.

Oh, yeah, I know. I know. I also have a well-deserved medical permit card.

[Ecnerwal]

Post by D Ash
Howdy, y'all!
In my recent reading I discovered a revived brewing method of hopping
called "First Wort Hopping". Basically, take about 30% of your over-all hop

...

Post by D Ash
Anyone out there heard of this or have tried it? If so, what have the
results been? and has this become your common practice?

I've been doing it for ~20 years (and I detest IPAs / overhopping) so
I'm pretty sure it's been revived for a while. Probably heard about it
right here. Seems to work, but I have not done any controlled side by
side testing, so that might just be confirmation bias.

[D Ash]

Post by Ecnerwal

Post by D Ash
Howdy, y'all!
In my recent reading I discovered a revived brewing method of hopping
called "First Wort Hopping". Basically, take about 30% of your over-all hop

...

Post by D Ash
Anyone out there heard of this or have tried it? If so, what have the
results been? and has this become your common practice?

I've been doing it for ~20 years (and I detest IPAs / overhopping) so
I'm pretty sure it's been revived for a while. Probably heard about it
right here. Seems to work, but I have not done any controlled side by
side testing, so that might just be confirmation bias.

Thank you.