[rodwha]

Just recieved my MoreBeer order which included what I’ll need to conduct 4 small test batches to compare how hop additions come through in the end product.

Long ago I was shown a hop utilization chart that when I’ve reposted it I’ve been given a lot of flack for it not being remotely close to factual, which I’ve assumed that all hops being a little different from the next, might be more or less the gist of how it might work. This is the chart:



My recipes are all identical as well as the hop amounts. All that will change is the time at which they are used. These are the 2.5 gal recipes I’ve come up with:

4.75 lbs pale ale malt
0.25 lb cane sugar (FO)
0.125 lb C-60
0.125 lb light DME (starter)
0.125 oz Centennial (10.1%) FWH
0.875 oz Centennial @ either 21, 14, 7 mins, or whirlpool
US-05

1.061/1.011
6.6%
75/57/47/69 IBUS’s (Rager)
7 SRM
75% efficiency (likely get closer to 80%)

I’ve been keeping US-05 going (washed the yeast after initial use) as I found I actually get a little better attenuation and flocculation than the WLP001 I used to use.

I know many feel a starter should be decanted, but I use a whisk to aerate and keep it in my fermentation chamber (65*) so it’s not shaken or fermented hot. I also just haven’t understood why one would prefer to make the yeast slow and lazy by cooling it when you can have them lively and reading to go, and it’s not just some wasted ingredient that gets poured out (I’m a bit frugal).

As time is of the essence to a degree when it comes to hoppy beers I’m considering trying to brew twice a week and ferment at 65* for 3 days at a time instead of my usual week before pulling it and finishing it at room temp for the last two weeks. But I’m not sure I’ll have the time (or patience from SWMBO) to do this. So it might end up being one each week.

I’ve been wanting to do this for years now. Glad I’m finally focusing on it. I’m hoping to find enough people to help me taste these to get a better field of opinions. My neighbors are always down to drink my beers, and I like that they give me honest feedback. Another neighbor has been very to himself but did say he only appreciates IPAs. Might have to knock on his door too.

[Robert]

Very cool.  The problem with charts like Tinseth and Rager are they just report the utilization that that one brewer got on his own system in a series of trials.  You really need to establish your own baseline.  Ray Daniels long ago suggested the only way to know what you're getting would be to brew, ferment and package, according to your usual practice, a nearly endless series of beers, at every possible gravity, each with a single hop addition at a different time, and have them all lab tested... in other words, what Tinseth and Rager did, but specific to your brewery, not theirs.  And who's going to do that?   But you can get an idea of how your results compare.  I've thought in the past I should do something like you propose, to get an idea of how to use the charts based on my actual results.   But instead, I've kind of evolved an intuitive,  nonscientific,  and decidedly relaxed habit of just formulating and tweaking my recipes based on experience rather than calculations.  Look forward to your reporting, and appreciate the experimental spirit.

[rodwha]

Yea, I feel much like you do in that it’s a bit dependent on your style of brewing. I used to use Tinseth for calculating but my hoppy beers never seemed to come across as flavorful as I expected the numbers to show. I was told maybe Rager would be a bit better for me. I think it has for the most part.

I’m mostly looking forward to seeing what I find out as that chart made me change my hoping and boiling schedule. I began doing a 70 min boil to both gain a slight bit of bitterness that may be smoothed just a touch more. And then followed the ~21 and 7 min additions for flavoring and aroma, and being a numbers kinda guy stuck with the series of 7’s. It’s a bit silly I know, but it’s what I’ve done, and I’ll change it if I find my findings show otherwise.

Mistakenly ordered an 8 oz bag of Centennial. Thankfully I ordered some extra pale ale and had a bit of that and white wheat on hand so I’ve adjusted the recipes to (3.75 gal):

5.75 lbs pale ale
0.75 lb cane sugar (FO)
3.7 oz white wheat
3 oz C-60
.25 lb DME (starter)
0.25 oz Centennial FWH
1.75 oz Centennial @ 21, 14, 7 mins, 49 min whirlpool
US-05

1.059/1.009
6.5%
79/64/43/52 IBUs
7 SRM

I used to start my whirlpool somewhere around 185* but will be trying 154* instead as many feel it adds more/better flavor at the lower end of the temp range.