Another hops thread

"What do u guys think of hop shot for bittering charge."

I have read posts from folks who have reported that when they have used hop shots that when they went to clean their kettles there was hop 'goo' on the sides of the kettle. The implication being that the hop shot product did not completely 'dissolve' into the wort.

Is there a 'trick' to using a hop shot? Is it a vendor specific thing?

Cheers!

 

Never used hopshot, but I've heard decent reports about it. Otherwise, your hop schedule looks good. 30% flaked grain is a LOT, however. You might want to grab some rice hulls before you dough-in.

 

I've only used hopshot once, and I liked it. It keeps wort loss due to hops to a minimum and still seems to do the job.

I love Comet. I've used it as a late boil, hopstand, and dry hop addition. Descriptors I would use for it include: dank, resin, catty, pithy grapefruit. Definitely not a hop for everyone, but it seems like you either love it or hate it. I would say it isn't too far removed from Columbus; I do not understand the claim I read somewhere calling it "Citra's little sister."

I think your hop combo is fine. I'm a little worried about your percentage of flaked grains, though. I've gone that high, but these hops (with the exception of maybe Ekuanot) don't really scream NEIPA. I think you've built a nice WCIPA hop bill here, but give this a shot if you want. I bet it'll taste good either way.

 

If you changed pithy grapefruit to mango I would have said you were describing citra.
As for hop shots, I have heard diluting it in a touch of vodka before pitching it into your kettle helps prevent the hop goo issue.

 

I'd agree that your Columbus comparison is a lot more accurate than relating it at all to Citra.

 

I suppose that's mostly true. To me, though, the mango/tropical fruit component is the dominant quality of Citra, so if you were to leave it out, you'd end up with a very different hop.

 

Sorry, I never used those hops but I used hop shots once. I pushed what I needed from the syringe into a stainless ladle and "cooked" it with some wort over my kettle while boiling. After a few minutes it dissolved and I let it fall in. I still saw some tiny oil bubbles bouncing around but clean up after didn't seem any different than usual. I only used like 4ml I think.

 

If I had more than a single fermenter, I'd be tempted to brew two different versions of this, one being what @Prep8611 already has in mind, and one with a traditional WCIPA malt bill, to see if and how the hops express themselves differently.

 

Hop shots do leave the oil/grease slick on the sides of boilers, they work, but I never used them home brewing. Also have never used comet or eukanot. Grain bill with rice hulls sounds good

 

Have you tried any of the 'tricks' mentioned above?

Cheers!

 

I agree wholeheartedly. Maybe someone was bitching about the cattiness. I see that a lot when people talk citra.

 

I've never got that character from Citra. Not saying that it can't be present, just saying that I've never experienced that 4MMP-related characteristic from Citra personally.

 

I don't experience the cat piss, but it's musky to me.
Like an overripe cantaloupe.

 

I get it from other hops, just never Citra. I'm not complaining that I don't get it, btw.

 

I like how citra beers almost have a citra fog to them. It's like an oily fog that kinda rolls up the back of your throat and into your sinuses, it's almost unctious.

 

I think this is a big part of what differentiated Citra from all the other hops that came before it. I think that you now have other more modern hops that have a similar character, but Citra was the first, IMO.

 

I have bitter'ed almost exclusively with hop extract for a couple of years now . . . very positive experience. The only precaution I take is to remove hot break before adding the extract because the oil will attach itself to the surface-scum initially. It all settles down (dissolves) after a bit, never encountered oily residue on kettle.