Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org

Author Topic: Hallertau hop addition help  (Read 2804 times)

Offline ynotbrusum

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4881
Re: Hallertau hop addition help
« Reply #15 on: May 12, 2021, 08:51:54 am »
I should mention too that a beer with one hop addition is something I do a lot of and I really like it.  I get what the hops are contributing to the beer without my tastebuds being accosted and interrogated by hops for the entire session. :D  I realize there is a place and time for everything but one-hop-addition recipes are very, very common here.
I like your phrase, "tastebuds being accosted and interrogated by hops."
I usually use two hops per brew (unless I'm doing a smash), one higher aa for bittering and one at the end of the boil.  Sunday I did a pale lager,  first wort hop with Magnum and Hall Mitt at 10 minutes.

I use a one hop FWH frequently for very lightly hopped styles - say a Munich Helles, light American Blonde or light American lager.  I brew a lot of light lagers and ales with Lichtbier being one of my most frequent.  I will use anything from Saaz to Hallertauer to HMF to Magnum for that single hop charge.  The nice thing about Magnum is it is higher alpha acid, so I use less volume of it and as a result don't have to worry about loading up on the vegatation to get the bitterness level where I want it to be.  Like Jeffy, I use a two charge approach with a German Pilsner and the late hop addition can really lend a certain freshness/clean hop aroma and flavor without a whirlpooling or dry hopping.  One exception to the multiple hop approach are the Czech lagers - I will go solo with Saaz on those and risk the vegatation issue, just because....again no wrong answers here.

I second the comment on Ken's brews - I have brewed a few of them and they are quite consistently wonderful - hitting the right notes for my palate.  Cheers.

Hodge Garage Brewing: "Brew with a glad heart!"

Offline Village Taphouse

  • Brewmaster General
  • *******
  • Posts: 2327
  • Ken from Chicago
    • The new Mayfair Court Brewhouse
Re: Hallertau hop addition help
« Reply #16 on: May 12, 2021, 09:41:59 am »
Thanks for that guys.  I'm a humble beermaker from the midwest and I put my pants on one leg at a time (to quote Christopher Walken in the "more cowbell" sketch).  I like my beer but I whiff occasionally too.  ;)
Ken from Chicago. 
A day without beer is like... just kidding, I have no idea.

Offline MagicRat

  • Cellarman
  • **
  • Posts: 54
Re: Hallertau hop addition help
« Reply #17 on: May 13, 2021, 11:27:40 am »
I use almost exclusively HFM for my German style beers (Saaz in Czech pils).  In a pils, I’ll use a traditional 60-30-10 schedule adjusting amounts and times as needed depending on AA% to get to ~35-40 IBUs.

Offline Village Taphouse

  • Brewmaster General
  • *******
  • Posts: 2327
  • Ken from Chicago
    • The new Mayfair Court Brewhouse
Re: Hallertau hop addition help
« Reply #18 on: May 13, 2021, 11:55:01 am »
I use almost exclusively HFM for my German style beers (Saaz in Czech pils).  In a pils, I’ll use a traditional 60-30-10 schedule adjusting amounts and times as needed depending on AA% to get to ~35-40 IBUs.
Some brewers I know who are heavy into German and Czech brewing suggest that brewers in those countries do not add hops with less than 30 minutes left in the boil.  On one hand I keep this in mind if I think I want to make something "traditional" but OTOH, I have heard brewers say that as homebrewers we need to get to the finish line however we have to and with whatever processes make the best beer regardless of whether it's "traditional" or not.  This might be a good time to repeat myself ad nauseam and mention that our German or Czech beers might be even better if we used the freshest hops in our brewery... not necessarily HMF or Saaz but Edelweiss or Sterling because they may be fresher than Euro hops that crossed the pond. 
Ken from Chicago. 
A day without beer is like... just kidding, I have no idea.

Offline MagicRat

  • Cellarman
  • **
  • Posts: 54
Re: Hallertau hop addition help
« Reply #19 on: May 13, 2021, 02:06:39 pm »
I use almost exclusively HFM for my German style beers (Saaz in Czech pils).  In a pils, I’ll use a traditional 60-30-10 schedule adjusting amounts and times as needed depending on AA% to get to ~35-40 IBUs.
Some brewers I know who are heavy into German and Czech brewing suggest that brewers in those countries do not add hops with less than 30 minutes left in the boil.  On one hand I keep this in mind if I think I want to make something "traditional" but OTOH, I have heard brewers say that as homebrewers we need to get to the finish line however we have to and with whatever processes make the best beer regardless of whether it's "traditional" or not.  This might be a good time to repeat myself ad nauseam and mention that our German or Czech beers might be even better if we used the freshest hops in our brewery... not necessarily HMF or Saaz but Edelweiss or Sterling because they may be fresher than Euro hops that crossed the pond.

A pilsner is pretty much the one German/Czech style where I do want some hop aroma from a late addition. 

Offline neuse

  • Brewer
  • ****
  • Posts: 308
  • New Bern, NC
Re: Hallertau hop addition help
« Reply #20 on: May 13, 2021, 02:48:08 pm »
I've used HMF in a hop stand (20 minutes at 180F) and actually got an offensive aroma. Did it again to make sure and got the same result.

Offline Village Taphouse

  • Brewmaster General
  • *******
  • Posts: 2327
  • Ken from Chicago
    • The new Mayfair Court Brewhouse
Re: Hallertau hop addition help
« Reply #21 on: May 13, 2021, 03:40:35 pm »
I use almost exclusively HFM for my German style beers (Saaz in Czech pils).  In a pils, I’ll use a traditional 60-30-10 schedule adjusting amounts and times as needed depending on AA% to get to ~35-40 IBUs.
Some brewers I know who are heavy into German and Czech brewing suggest that brewers in those countries do not add hops with less than 30 minutes left in the boil.  On one hand I keep this in mind if I think I want to make something "traditional" but OTOH, I have heard brewers say that as homebrewers we need to get to the finish line however we have to and with whatever processes make the best beer regardless of whether it's "traditional" or not.  This might be a good time to repeat myself ad nauseam and mention that our German or Czech beers might be even better if we used the freshest hops in our brewery... not necessarily HMF or Saaz but Edelweiss or Sterling because they may be fresher than Euro hops that crossed the pond.

A pilsner is pretty much the one German/Czech style where I do want some hop aroma from a late addition.
It's wild because some of these breweries will do 90 or 120 minute boils and add small amounts along the way and end up with a decent hop character... probably because they're adding a good amount of hops because the hops are low AA%... especially in the Czech versions.  In the German versions I wonder how how of that hop crispness is actually coming from the slightly-harder water as opposed to the hops.  The Czechs are brewing with softer water which mute hops and so they need to add more to make up for it.  And the story goes that they do not add hops with less than 30 minutes left which could be nonsense too. 
Ken from Chicago. 
A day without beer is like... just kidding, I have no idea.

Offline MNWayne

  • Brewer
  • ****
  • Posts: 447
Re: Hallertau hop addition help
« Reply #22 on: May 14, 2021, 07:49:44 pm »
In my German/Czech lagers I always use Magnum and a nobel for bittering, and then usually 2 nobels for 10 minutes, usually Hallertau and Saaz.  I have a   Magnum/MtHood (bittering), Mittelfrue/MtHood (10 min.) in the fermenter right now. Can't wait to see how it turns out.
Far better to dare mighty things....