My first foray into home hopping - recommendations please

Ravelleman

I've currently finished 3 batches of home brew - with mixed results - and have just bottled another. For all but one I used the sachet of hop powder that comes with the kit but I find that this adds a slightly unpleasant resiny type of flavour to the beer, which didn't combine well with the somewhat unrefined tasted of my early attempts.

Now I'm looking at trying out my own hopping using hop pellets as a first step. I have a couple of questions.

• How well do pellets combine with kit brews?
• What extra stages does this add to the brewing process?
• Finally, what kits would you recommend for this early foray?

I'd like to use cascade hops for one batch so perhaps an IPA of some description. I'd also like to try a stout so any recommendations there would be appreciated. But I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks for reading.

BeerNut

Ravelleman wrote: »

How well do pellets combine with kit brews?

I've dry-hopped with pellets in the past and it turned out OK. I prefer using whole-leaf, though. The important thing with hops is freshness.

Ravelleman wrote: »

What extra stages does this add to the brewing process?

If you're dry hopping you just bung them in, say a week or so before bottling. You can rack to a secondary beforehand if you like but it's not necessary. If you're after bitterness or flavour from the hops then you'd be best to boil them. If you can, boil the whole mix, failing that boil all the hops in a couple of litres of wort and bung them in. But remember that the kit has already been hopped so there is a danger of ruining it with extra bittering or flavour hops. TBH, if you want control over your hopping, it's time to move away from kit brewing.

Ravelleman wrote: »

Finally, what kits would you recommend for this early foray?

I wouldn't normally recommended lager kits, but they can be pretty good for this sort of experiment, giving you nearly a blank canvas to work from. I did a very dry-hoppy Coopers white label Lager kit for a wedding a few years ago and it turned out nicely. The Coopers black label IPA is a good kit, I've found, so might benefit from some hopping experimentation too.

tteknulp

Hi,theres loads here. http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/hops-leaf-hops-c-77_78.html thats where i buy them ,shop around ,they arrive foil packed better than pellets in my opinion ,

Cascsde for ipa ,fuggles or goldings for stout ,i usually dry hop when ferment finishes.
Put in a muslin bag ,its easier

Carawaystick

tteknulp wrote: »

Cascsde for ipa ,fuggles or goldings for stout ,i usually dry hop when ferment finishes.
Put in a muslin bag ,its easier

You only want bittering for stout, so high alpha acid and a good hour's boil

Ravelleman

This is all very interesting.

My plan is to buy two Coopers kits - probably the Australian Pale Ale and the Irish Stout - and to try using spray malt for the first time. Previously I used 3kg kits - St Peters and Muntons - but I'm curious about using spray malt with a smaller kit.

Do you think it would be worth dry hopping the Australian Pale Ale with cascades? Can stouts even be dry hopped effectively or do you have to boil them to achieve a worthwhile effect?

I really want the beers to have a strong aroma as my previous batches had a curious 'bucket-like' aroma, as if they hadn't really developed away from the smell of the canned malt extract. I'm not sure if that makes sense but they certainly didn't seem like a very refined product.

I know a lot of this is about experimentation but getting it wrong leaves me with a lot of low quality beer to drink! Could hops be the answer?

BeerNut

Ravelleman wrote: »

Could hops be the answer?

Upgrading your brewing method is the answer, if you're not getting what you want from kits. Hops might take you some of the way, though.

Aromatically hoppy stouts are unusual in commercial beer, but it could work, depending on your taste. Or you could try something else to change the aroma: coffee, for instance.

Ravelleman

I like the idea of experimenting with coffee and the like.

Is there anything to be said for brewing with different yeasts? For example, when making the Irish Stout, would it be worth trying to cultivate a yeast from a beer that I already enjoy, like O'Hara's Stout? O'Hara's may not be the best example though as it isn't a very sedimenty beer.

BeerNut

Again, you're just fiddling with details if you're going to stick with kits and change the yeast. You might get slightly better results if you use a commercial yeast, or a cultivated one, but I doubt that it would be significant.

I don't think you'll get much from O'Hara's, though: AFAIK it's filtered and pasteurised.

Carawaystick

If you don't have a big pot or you are not planning on getting one, you should be able to lay your hands on something to hold 6l and brew a 5l batch with spray malt and hops
You can ferment this in a 5l water bottle

And dry hop if you like.
Then you will have your own pale ale

If you can get a pot to hold 16-17 litres, you can brew like Palmer suggests, and thin down to 22l in your fermenter

Using a kit is brewing someone else's beer, if you've bought spray malt, hops and yeast, this is all you need , no kit


Actually, to add a bit more, you could get speciality grains to steep to change from basic spray malt. Crystal malt, chocolate malt and roast barley, being the obvious ones

sharingan

Ravelleman wrote: »

I like the idea of experimenting with coffee and the like.

Is there anything to be said for brewing with different yeasts? For example, when making the Irish Stout, would it be worth trying to cultivate a yeast from a beer that I already enjoy, like O'Hara's Stout? O'Hara's may not be the best example though as it isn't a very sedimenty beer.

In order to cultivate a yeast from a commercial beer, you will need one that is marked as 'bottle conditioned'. Its an old school brewing trick, when yeast strains were difficult to come by.

However, you risk underpitching your beer (not adding enough yeast cells), which can stress the yeast and cause it to produce off-flavours.

Kit beer is convenient, and if you pick the right kits you can make good beer. However if you are interested in making a beer that is uniquely yours, or different to what you can easily get in kit form, then you need to start looking into extract brewing. There are limits to what you can get from kits.

Edwardius

Ravelleman wrote: »

Do you think it would be worth dry hopping the Australian Pale Ale with cascades?

Oh yes! Add a hop tea too, it works out very well with that kit.

Herb Powell

Carawaystick wrote: »

Using a kit is brewing someone else's beer, if you've bought spray malt, hops and yeast, this is all you need , no kit

Surely you mean malt extract????

Carawaystick

Herb Powell wrote: »

Surely you mean malt extract????

Yeah, but lme means liquid malt extract to some and light malt extract to others

Www.muntonshomebrew.com/category/spraymalts/

lang

I've used Hops for the last few of my brews. I started by Dry Hopping. Put desired amount of hops into muslin and leave in the fermenter for about a week or ten days before bottling. I use a Secondary Fermenter so I put the hops in then.

Recently I've experimented with hop teas. Nothing spectacular but a start. Just add the hops to some water and malt/sugar and boil of desired amount of time.

I've been told that when using the pellet hops you reduce the weight down about 10% (compared to the leaf hops) to give same strength of flavour/aroma/bittering.

joctcl

Pellets are better for Aroma and contact with beer in secondary, will sink better than leaf if just chucked in, also pose less bacterial risk, than leaf, although I prefer leaf and sink with marble in a tea ball:)