Mash hops - an alternative use

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by telejunkie, May 11, 2012.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. telejunkie

    telejunkie Savant (1,107) Sep 14, 2007 Vermont

    So brewing an irish stout this weekend with 1lb flaked barley, 1lb flaked oats & 1lb pulverized roasted barley...and no rice hulls (which traditionally I'd add). Instead of driving 3hrs roundtrip to my lhbs, am contemplating tossing in a bunch of mash hops instead. Iirc Matt Bryndilson has mentioned using this technique but can't remember where or when. I've still got at least 2lbs left over from my 2011 hop crop so am at liberty to throw 8oz in the mash without thinking twice.
    Anybody have thoughts on this one? I believe isomerization doesn't occur until 175F and any oil contributions will be boiled out...so basically i'm hoping it will be nearly an insipid addition. Polyphenols are my only concern...but would a dose more astrigency be really that bad for a beer like an irish stout?
     
    #1 telejunkie, May 11, 2012
  2. evantwomey

    evantwomey Initiate (0) Jan 1, 2008 North Carolina

    What are you trying to accomplish by doing this? I don't understand why you wouldn't just put them in the boil like normal.
     
    #2 evantwomey, May 11, 2012
  3. skivtjerry

    skivtjerry Pooh-Bah (1,865) Mar 10, 2006 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    What is your mash tun like? If the grain bed is shallow, you can successfully mash some pretty sticky stuff. I brewed a dunkelweizen last month without rice hulls (55% wheat) and no runoff problems. The grain bed was 7-8 inches deep. Negatives are maybe having a cloudier runoff and perhaps a touch of extra astringency, and the need for a relatively slow sparge. Shouldn't be a major issue for a stout. And I've never had much trouble with any flaked grains no matter what the MLT configuration. You can probably get this done without wasting any hops. If the mash does stick you can just stir in the hops and redo the vorlauf. In any case, what you propose should work without imparting any negative character to the beer, though not all bitterness comes from iso-alpha acids so you might want to back off on the bittering addition a little.
     
    #3 skivtjerry, May 12, 2012
  4. HerbMeowing

    HerbMeowing Maven (1,295) Nov 10, 2010 Virginia
    Trader

    Interesting idea.
    Go ahead and try it.
    Hops might not work as well as rice hulls but it's more better than nothin'.
     
    #4 HerbMeowing, May 12, 2012
  5. telejunkie

    telejunkie Savant (1,107) Sep 14, 2007 Vermont

    glad to report that I didn't have any issues, I ended up tossing in a big handful of whole cone hops. The mash flowed freely the entire time during the step mash process that took about 75mins.
    Skivtjerry, I was using my cylindrical 5gal tun with one of those Northern Brewer false bottoms. Really, you've never had issues with flaked grains?? I wish....Yes did back off on the bittering addition since as you say there could be things like Beta acids, polyphenols and non-isomerized alpha acids (which get converted in the boil) which may be contributing more than I think.
     
    #5 telejunkie, May 14, 2012
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.