Novice brewer getting ready to brew a single-hop IPA using home-grown columbus hops. Using NB’s super structure malt extract for a 45-minute boil. Got a few questions:
Can I use a muslin bag to contain the hops during the boil or will the bag break down during the 45-minute boil? Seen posts about using a paint strainer bag but I have muslin bags on hand. Either way, do I squeeze the liquid out of the hop bag after the boil? I know that’s bad to do that when the specialty grains are done steeping.
Looking at other single-hop IPA recipes, I see a lot call for hop additions at beginning of boil and then not again until 10 minutes, 5 minutes and 1 minute left in boil (and knockout too). Is there anything to gain by adding hops at the 20-minute mark or so?
With leaf hops you don’t need a bag. You can use a muslin bag if you want. And yes, go ahead and give it a lil squeeze.
As far as a 20 min addition, there is nothing wrong with adding it. You could also do a first wort hopped beer by adding your 20 min addition after steeping you grains and while you bring it to a boil. This is often counted and measured as a 20 min addition. Leave them in for the whole boil.
Edited for a lil squeeze…
[quote=“Loopie Beer”]With leaf hops you don’t need a bag. You can use a muslin bag if you want. And yes, go ahead and give it a lil squeeze.
As far as a 20 min addition, there is nothing wrong with adding it. You could also do a first wort hopped beer by adding your 20 min addition after steeping you grains and while you bring it to a boil. This is often counted and measured as a 20 min addition. Leave them in for the whole boil.
Edited for a lil squeeze…[/quote]
I agree. I would just add, if you have a ball valve and pick-up tube on your kettle, loose whole hops tend to plug up.
I’ve use muslin bags multiple times without falling apart.
Muslin bags will work fine. The only reason to contain the hops though is to keep them from clogging your equipment. If you pour your finished wort through a strainer after chilling (as many people start out doing), there is no reason to use the bag. If you use a pick-up tube, you can just put a wire strainer over the end of it to get the same effect.
As for the benefit of adding hops at different times, it is all about what you want to get out of them. The longer you boil hops, the more the hop aroma dissipates and the greater the bitterness you get out of them. So there is a reason to boil “bittering” hops for the entire boil and drop in “aroma” hops only near the end. The less intuitive one is flavor development. It takes some boiling to extract the main flavoring agents from the hops, but like aromatic compounds they dissipate as you boil. So to get flavors you might boil for anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, with the flavors you get changing according to the time in the boil.
