Hi. I have a recipe that calls for "1 oz mash hop addition"... Does this mean I put the pellets right in the mash? Would 1 oz really make a difference with 12# grains and nearly 4 gallons water? Thanks.
Much of the AA is left in the mash, not much happens. Not a good use of hops, maybe better than putting in the sparge water.
I think there are a couple of really good commercial IPAs that use mash hopping (not that the mash hopping is the difference). I can tell you this though...whole cone hops will prevent a stuck sparge if you are out of rice hulls
I don't know if there's necessarily a difference in flavor from a mash hop, and a first wort hop. I've done first wort hopping before on a saison, where you put the hops in the kettle right before you do your first runnings from the mash tun. It'd be interesting to try on an IPA though!
The last IPA I brewed I threw in a couple ounces in the mash for the fun of it. I could not tell what it brought if anything.
That's what I was wondering. I haven't tried either, and am no expert, but surely a "mash hop" is similar to FWH if you think about it?
FWH hops remain in the kettle for the boil, so you're getting IBU's from them just like a normal bittering addition. Mash temps are not high enough to isomerize Alpha Acids, so you're not getting much bitterness from hops added to the mash. That's the difference.
But wont the AA be suspended in the wort, thus will be present in the boil also? I'm not sure of the technical details of how soluable the oils are in wort, but surely most of them would have disappated out into the liquid (esp if stirred up at the start / end + sparging).
I see your point. But solubilization of oils is a gradual process, and the rate is temp-dependent… Perhaps someone with a stronger background in chemistry will give you a better answer. Look at it from a standpoint of recipe formulation. The volatile oils that contribute to flavor and aroma will be boiled off anyway, so you're left with an unknown quantity of residuals that will have an incalculable effect on your final product. Better to throw them in the boil.
The problem with mash hopping is that not much of the AA get out of the mash. The utilization from it is really low.
