FWH

[eyeoftheduck]

I have recently been adding the entire bittering addition as FWH instead of adding them to the boiling wort. The perceived level of bitterness appears the same to me via both methods, although there are enough other variables at play to make this a very unscientific judgement.

[Aleman]

How much hop are you adding FWH ?

As I generally tend to use 'softer' varieties of hops, I hesitate to use the term 'noble'. Then the bittering addition is used for FWH. If I am using a high alpha non noble hops (Target Pacific Gem) then I'll still use a good 50g+ (Or all) of the flavour addition for FWH and add the bittering one the boil has started. I generally do not add any hops after 45 minutes as I tend to find that even with this length of boil I get a harsh nasty flavour. Any aroma hops are steeped once the boil has dropped below 80 in cooling.

Consider my 911 Resolve IPA, that had 100g of target, and 100g of goldings as the bittering addition. So the goldings was used as FWH with the Target being added once the boil had commenced. Another 100g of goldings and 50g of fuggle was added at 60 minutes before the end of the boil and 35g of Goldings with 45 Minutes to go.

The jury is still out on that beer, as it tastes big and malty and has a very understated bitterness, despite the theoretical 130+ IBU. Aand it certainly doesn't taste like a 2+:1 BU:GU ratio. I'm hoping that age will improve this.

and does anyone mash hop?

Done it, not yet convinced of any success might try it again with my CAP, with 100g of Saaz Pellets in the mash. Not that the best success with mash hopping comes from using pellets as you get more of the hop exposed to the mash liquor.

[mik82]

I killed my Swan tea urn doing FWH. (Denny's Rye IPA off Northernbrewer.com). The hops all stuck to the element which overheated when I started to boil. Smoke came out of the bottom of the urn. I managed to finish the boil but the element (a flat, disc type) was completely screwed. Annoyingly after finishing primary I tasted the beer and the burning element had also smoked into the wort, ruining that too. I've never been able to find a replacement element too - it looks like a small solid hob element - which is a shame as the tea urn itself was perfect. Anyone know anywhere that sells such things?

[Aleman]

Thats a cautionary tale.

However it shouldn't have happened. The process for FWH is to add the hops and allow the wort to run off into the boiler, Stirring to allow the hops to get wet and absorb the wort. Once the boiler is around 1/2 to 2/3 full then you switch the heater on, so that as the last of the wort is added to the boiler, the temperature of the wort should be rising above that magic 80C mark.

The hops and wort should be rested at around mashing temps while the boiler is filling. it is this steep at lower temperatures that is thought to create the effect. and of course why Mash hopping is also tried, the 90 minutes of contact with the concentrated wort being beneficial.

[prodigal2]

Having dabbled a couple of times with this technique, I was hunting around for more info and found these 2 articles that I felt should be posted somewhere findable:
article 1
article 2

I am hoping to have another stab at a stunner FWH in the near future, this time hopefully it will not be so in your face.