Speaking of Hops...



Hop farm in Germany (Photo by Marti Benutzer)


I thought it was interesting that I just posted a blog about hops and no sooner had I finished than I received word from my local homebrew store that hop rhizomes were ready to order. Rhizomes are cuttings of roots, (these of course being from a hop plant) that once planted, will grow as much as a foot a day up to 25 feet. I ordered 6 Cascade and 6 Centennial rhizomes. Once harvested in August or September, I hope to get a half to a full once of dried hops per plant. Just enough for a few limited batches of seasonal Hopzilla Harvest IPA and Harvest Eight Legged Pale Ale.

Got Hops? Part II

As I said earlier, particular hops are associated with specific beers. American Pale Ales for instance are normally brewed using Cascade hops, while traditional lagers utilize Saaz, Tettnanger, Spalt or Hallertau hops which are also known as Noble hops.

Noble hops refer to the varieties of Saaz, Tettnanger, Spalt and Hallertau hops which are known for their mild bitterness and high aroma.  They are most often found in lagers, Marzens, Pilsners and Dunkels. These hops are named after the towns and regions in Bavaria and Germany where they are grown. Examples include Pilsner Urquell and Sam Adams Noble Pils.

Hops can further be grouped into whether you want to use them for bitterness, aroma or a combination of both. Hops containing high alpha acid are normally used for bittering and are incorporated into the wort at the beginning of the boil process and usually have an alpha acid of 9% and higher. Examples of these hops are Galena (11%-15% alpha), and Nugget (11%-13% alpha).

Hops containing lower alpha acids are traditionally used for aroma and are incorporated into the wort toward the end of the boil process (usually the last 10 minutes) or are added as dry hops directly into the fermentor. These hops have an average alpha acid of anywhere from less than 2% to 8%. Examples of these hops are Cascade, (5%-7% alpha), Goldings, (5%-6.8% alpha), Fuggle, (4%-5% alpha), Willamette, (4%-5% alpha) and the Noble hops which range from less than 4% to 5% alpha.

Hops containing moderately high alpha acid can be used as dual purpose hops and will produce both bitterness and aroma depending on the amount used and the length of time allowed in the boil process.  Examples of these hops are Brewer's Gold (6%-7.5% alpha), Chinook (11%-13% alpha), Northern Brewer (6%-7.5% alpha), and Perle (6.5%-9% alpha).

Depending on how adventurous you are, the options for creating beers that are unique to your own taste are endless and just as simple as varying the types of hops used.   

Bitchin’ Blonde All Grain Update

My first all grain batch using a conical fermentor was finally ready this weekend so I thought I’d share a quick post on how things went. I had very active yeast as you can see from the lid of the fermentor. The lower valve allowed me to blow off the trub and convert from a primary to a secondary fermentor. The top valve worked perfect when it came time to rack to my kegs.

Brewed on: 1/18/11

Fermented for: 1 week at 68⁰ F. Lagered 18 days at 44⁰F.

Kegged on: 2/12/11

FG: 1.003

ABV: 4.86%

IBU: 10.83

SRM: 3.7

Yummy!

Hydrometer reading at 1.003



Happiness is a full beer refrigerator!



Got Hops? Part I

One of the key ingredients to making beer, are hops. However, most non-brewers think of hops as a one dimensional ingredients that either varies from slightly bitter to very bitter and leave it at that. In reality, hops come in over a hundred varieties each with its own characteristics that can be used for bitterness, aroma or both.  Grown in several countries of the world, specific hops will be forever associated with particular styles of beer.

(* Photographer: LuckyStarr * Location: Hallertau)

                  

How did this practice get started and why? Since early 700A.D. to 900 A.D. hops were being harvested and used for medicinal as well as culinary purposes. But it wasn’t until 1079A.D. that they are recorded as first being used in beer. Until that time, brewers used a variety of flowers and herbs to flavor their brews and it is thought that through this practice of trial and error, they realized the benefits of brewing with these little green strobiles. For along with providing a balance against sweetness, hops possess natural antimicrobial properties that act as a preservative. (Even in ancient times, skunky beer was frowned upon).

With this knowledge at hand, 18^th century breweries in Great Britain heavily hopped their beer that was destined for India. As they had learned, the beer that they sent their soldiers spoiled on the weeks and months that it took for ships to travel the long voyage. By adding large quantities of hops, the brew would remain unspoiled with the original idea that once opened, this strong ale could be diluted with water. However, as it is today, nobody in their right mind drinks the water in India. Thus drinking it full strength not only became essential, it became the norm.

Next up: Types of hops

Partial Mash America Pale Ale

Today I thought I would go over a recipe for an American Pale Ale. The process for making this brew is called partial mash as the malts that I will used were already created in extract form as either a powder or a syrup. A few pounds of the specialty grains were steeped in the hot wort to add additional flavor and other properties that add character and body to the beer.

To start, I heated up 2 gallons of water. Depending on the type of beer you wish to make, and the hardness or softness of your tap water, you may need to treat your water or default to using bottled water. Since this is a topic that I could write an entire post about, let’s just say I used spring water for this recipe. After reaching a temperature of 155⁰ F, I soaked the grains which include crushed Light Crystal, Aromatic and Cara Pils malt in a muslin bag for 30 minutes.

After removing the bag, I then added my malt extract making sure to continuously stir to avoid scorching the malt.

Once completely dissolved, I added my bittering hops. As this in an APA, I used a few ounces of Cascade hops. (Since there are several types of hops that have been used for thousands of years, each with a different taste and aroma profile, I will be devoting a post at a later date to discussion of the different types). After adding the hops, I raised the temperature of the wort and boiled for 60 minutes. During this time I also add additional hops for flavor at 50 minutes into the boil along with Irish moss to aid in clarification.

Once my boil was completed, I used a wort chiller to cool the wort down to a temperature between 70⁰ F and 75⁰ F. To cool it down even more, I add 3 more gallons of water that I refrigerated an hour before I started brewing. With the wort now well chilled, I transfer it to my fermentor and add the yeast. I chose a liquid American Ale yeast strain from Wyeast Labs and dry hopped a few more ounces of Cascade before closing the fermentor and installing the airlock. After the airlock bubbles slowed to 2-3 minutes apart, ( About 13 days) I transferred it to a 5 gallon Cornelius keg pressurized to 30 PSI for 24 hours then lowered to approx 12 PSI for an additional 5 days.