Whirlpool Strategy

From Beersmith :

• Myrcene – (147 F/63.9 C boil point) – The largest of the hop oils, making up 40-60% of the hop oil content in many American varieties (Cascade has 50-60%), though most noble hops are low in myrcene (Saaz: 5-13%). Mercene boils off readily, and can even volatilize in a high temperature steep (147F), so you will lose it if you boil it. It has a herbal note that can be described as green, balsamic, hoppy in small quantities. It also has a slight piney/citrus flavor. As a result of its low boiling point, it is present in much higher quantities in dry hopped or steep-hopped beers. It tends to provide a “green hop” or fresh hop aroma when used in dry hopping.
• Humulene – (210F/99C) – Humulene is the traditional noble hop oil, providing a strong herbal component most people associate with noble hops. Humulene is actually widely used in the perfume industry for its herbal characteristic. Over long boils, it also tends to produce a slightly spicy flavor – such as that from Saaz hops in light lagers or Nugget. Because it boils just below the boiling point of water, it usually provides its best characteristics as either a late boil addition or post-boil addition. Humulene will not survive a long boil, and is also prone to oxidize.
• Caryophellene – (262F/129C) – Caryophellene is a counterpoint to humulene – and provides a spicy, woody, earthy and even citrusy flavor. Clove and pepper contain this oil in significant quantities. While not a significant in noble hops, Caryophellene is a major aroma component in many traditional English hops such as Goldings and Northdown as well as many US hops such as Mount Hood. In beer it contributes a strong dry wood, pepper and earthy spice flavor. It may even add a citrus finish. Many hops are rated by their Humulene to Caryophellene ratio with noble hops having a high ratio of 3:1 or more. Caryophellene oxidizes rapidly, so fresh hops must be used and are often added late to preserve the flavor.
• Farnesene – (203-257F/95-125C) – Found in the coating of apples and other fruits, it provides the “green apple” flavor as well as flowery, citrusy, woody and at the extreme end musty, woody or vegetative. Farnesene is the smallest of the hop oils – typically less than 1% of the hop oil content, but it can be higher in many noble varieties.

 

Similar to a conversation I had recently with @Mag00n. My experience with whirlpooling is that from 170F-120F the hop character becomes more of a generic vegetal flavor the lower the temp goes. I think many people would characterize the flavor as "muddled". My sweet spot is 180F for about 45 minutes. This coincides with statements from Jeff O'Neil about his practices when he was at Peekskill (wish I still had the source).

 

I think duration of whirlpool/hop stand is another factor almost as important as temp...too long duration can be counter productive, IMHO

 

15 minutes for all hops...arbitrary, but it seems to be the best of both worlds (good hop aroma/flavor and good cold break)

 

Ditto. I just toss hops in at KO and let the kettle cool for 15 min without a flame. I don't have a pump, so there's no circulation there either. I just stir the hops in and let it ride.

I should probably run the immersion chiller for a few seconds to break the additional heat, but I'm too busy/lazy in cleaning other things.

 

There are some interesting comments about hop oil volatility in this podcast:

http://beersmith.com/blog/2012/05/13/hop-chemistry-and-beer-with-james-altwies-beersmith-podcast-38/

My general practice for IPA's is to split my whirlpool addition, half right after flameout, as I start the immersion chiller, and the remainder when the wort hits 170F. Total duration of the whirlpool is about 20 minutes. I'm toying with the idea of trying a 120F addition or just throwing in additional hops when pitching the yeast.

 

I don't have too much of a strategy with those regards…but really I want to extract myrcene & the highly volatile oils from dry hops with the less volatile oils from whirlpool stage, so I don't bother too much with the dropping of temp…but for my DIPAs, I'll employ what @skivtjerry talks about.
@Naugled you have any input from your whirlpool experiment??

 

Ever since I read Dave Green’s article of “Hop Stands” in the Mar/Apr 2013 BYO I have conducted hop stands per that article.

I add my hops at the end of boil and stir them and then let them sit for varying time periods per the style of beer:

“For most super-charged, hop-forward beers, my hop stands will run 45 to 60 minutes. For a mid-range hop profile like an American pale ale or a beer I am looking to get a significant IBU contribution from, I will usually shorten that stand to 30 minutes. If the beer is not to be hop forward nor do I need significant IBU from the hop stand, then 10–15 minute hop stand usually will suffice.”

For my IPAs/DIPAs where I have conducted a hop stand of 45 minutes I have not noticed any negative consequences.

Cheers!

http://byo.com/component/k2/item/2808-hop-stands

 

It would be nice to see the results of this:

http://www.mbaa.com/meetings/archive/2015/proceedings/Pages/65.aspx

 

I did a series of 10 or so single hop whirlpool pale ales this summer. Those beers had mild but bright aromatics (somewhat yeast driven) and moderate hop flavor. The aroma/flavor clearly differed between each beer. The aroma from whirlpooling was overpowered when the same base beers were dry hopped. Whirlpooled and dry hopped IPA's tend to have a more dense hop flavor than those that are just dry hopped, but I have not been able to notice a distinct difference in flavor based on the whirlpool hop variety.

To answer the question more directly. In beers that are only hopped during the whirlpool stage, I notice a difference in aroma and flavor based on variety. In beers that are hopped during both the whirlpool and dry hopping stages I do not notice any differences in aroma or flavor by using different varieties during the whirlpool. Additionally, I do not pay attention to hop oil levels. At this point specific oil extraction seems too much of a guessing game. I'd rather use sensory analysis to adjust my brewing practices.

*All of these observations are following a 15 minute/180F whirlpool regime. Transfer is 30 minutes, so total contact time of whirlpool hops is ~45 minutes

 

I haven't run any tasting panels, ala Brulosophy, but it seems that my IPAs that used large amounts of dry hops in whirlpool at low temps for long times just weren't that punchy. I've been pushing the whirlpool hops closer and closer to just off boil recently. Shorter exposure, too, since I'm trying to control the IBUs.

Also, based on my own experience and recipe advice from Trillium and Foundation, makers of some of the finest IPAs I've ever had, that some hop varieties should be moved out of whirlpool and put entirely into dry hop. I've found this to be true of Galaxy for sure, but Mosiac and probably others should be as well.

 

When you brew a beer to feature Galaxy hops do you just solely use Galaxy hops as dry hops? Do you add any hops at the end of boil (whirlpool) for a Galaxy featured beer?

Cheers!

 

The fort point clone in BYO has 2 oz of Columbus at knockout /whirlpool

 

Stan Hieronymus has said to try 185F in sme of his recent talks.

 

I use Galaxy only in dry hop. I add Columbus late and a bit during a whirlpool. My first few uses of Galaxy were split 50/50 with another hop and both would have been split evenly between knockout and dry hop. In those beers I would only get flavors I associated with the other hop (Nelson Sauvin and Chinook). When the dry hop became exclusively Galaxy (so all 4-6 ounces) I was much more impressed with the hop.

I haven't seen this particular recipe, but that was pretty close to what I did. I was trying to make a Trillium Congress Street IPA-like beer based on tips found in this forum.

 

Indeed Ive had some issues with some of my IPAs being somewhat muddled or generic tasting. I have done dry hopped saisons and ciders that have been borderline bursting with hop flavor. I believe it is either my hoppy beer water profile or my whirpool/flameout technique.