|
 
ames at Basic Brewing Radio was kind enough to invite me on his podcast once again. This time to discuss interesting ways and places to add hops to a beer other than the standard: "Hops at the start of the boil for bitterness, in the middle for flavor, and at the end for aroma"
The discussion centered around three of my batches:
"No hops in the boil" IPA, which had hops in just about every conceivable spot except the boil, including the mash, sparge, wort heating, flameout, and secondary.
Hop-Bursted Barleywine, which had a healthy dose of a hop blend added every 5 minutes for the last 35 minutes of the boil.
Decoction Hopped Berliner Weisse, which had hops in the mash during the decoction, but was not boiled. This beer recently earned me my first ribbon with a category win at the 2008 Spirit of Free Beer last Saturday (It was the first time I had entered a BJCP sanctioned competition since September 2005).
We also briefly touched on some other concepts like hop teas, and bottle hopping.
Enjoy.
Interview:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/basicbrewing/bbr05-15-08alterna
te.mp3
Links to the recipes: http://madfermentationist.blogspot.com/2008/05/alternate-hopp
ing-strategies-with-basic.html
Anyone else have unique ideas on how to hop a beer?
|
Reply 
Private message 
|
Cool - I look forward to listening once Itunes downloads the podcast! My berliner weisse (based on Joe McPhee’s recipe in the recipe sectino here) used mash hops and turned out really well. Speaking of that, I should brew it again so I’ve got some in August.
-rudy
|
Post a reply
Private message
|
|
I just bottled my berlinner weisse that I made by decoction hopping. At bottling it tasted great and I can’t wait till its got some carbonation.
|
Post a reply
Private message
|
|
Good luck on the Berliners guys. Mine really didn’t taste that sour until after it carbonated. Not sure if the lacto ate the sucrose, or if it was just the carbonaic acid, but it got real tart real fast in the bottle.
|
Post a reply
Private message
|
I also did my last berlinner weisse by decoction hopping. Turned out pretty good IMO.
|
Post a reply
Private message
|
For my next Berliner I’m going to let the sour mash get really warm (80ish? I need to check Wild Brews to see what would be best). Last time I did it at cellar temp & while it soured and is tasty, I’d like a bit more out of it.
-rudy
|
Post a reply
Private message
|
I’ve never done a sour mash, but in my experience with yogurt I saw first hand that lacto likes it warm, ~110 is about optimal. A heating pad or electric blanket would be really helpful at maintaining those temps.
Next time I do one I’ll do a short boil. Mine has a very grainy flavor, like chewing on grains of pils malt. I think that this is at least partially because there is still a bit of DMS (which one judge mentioned).
|
Post a reply
Private message
|
|
I heard (maybe on Jamil’s show) that lacto loves it at 100° and there is very, very slow growth below that. I’m going to sour mash a Berliner Weisse too, just for the heck of it. Maybe do a big batch and do 1/3 straight, 1/3 with some sour cherry juice that I have, and 1/3 with peaches (like the DFH).
|
Post a reply
Private message
|
A sour mash can full sour in a matter of hours at ~100, my Berliner took about 3 months at 65 degrees.
Good luck, should be 3 tasty beers. I am planning on making a homemade blueberry syrup to mix with mine for "non-beer" friends.
|
Post a reply
Private message
|
