FWH in a Pilsner - Does 20 min hold true for a 90 min boil?

Northern Brewer General
1

Brewing Jamil’s Pilsner Ale for the second time, but using some good homegrown Sterlings. I want to smooth out the bitterness by decreasing the 60 min hops and adding a FWH addition. So my question is - how does FWH work in a 90 min boil? Can I still calculate it based on a 20 min addition?

Here’s my recipe:

10 lb Pilsner malt
0.5 lb Carapils

1 oz Sterling, FWH
0.5 oz Sterling, 60 min
1.5 oz Sterling, 15 min
2.0 oz Sterling, 0 min

US05, pitched around 55 degrees, fermented in the upper 50’s.

The last time I brewed this recipe, I used a different hop schedule (1.5 oz Sterling @ 60, 20, and 10 min) and it was good but too bitter for a Pilsner. So I moved 1 oz of the 60 min hops to a FWH addition, and also increased the late hops and moved them closer to the end of the boil. I love the clean herbal flavor and aroma of Sterling hops - they might be my favorite of the varieties I grow. Today is my birthday, so this is my birthday batch (although I won’t brew until Monday, most likely).

My main concern here is avoiding an overly bitter beer but still getting lots of clean hop character. Let me know what you think. I’m posting this in recipe exchange as well as hops, hoping to get some good feedback. Thanks!

:cheers:

2

Good question. I don’t have an answer, but here’s a good article on 1st wort hopping
http://brewery.org/library/1stwort.html
that may give you some insight.

3

That seems like a lot of late addition hops for a Pilsner. I would keep the flavor/aroma additions at 20 and 10, but reduce the amount to an ounce each, maybe less for the 10 minute.

I’ve used FWH in my Pilsners with a 90 minute boil and like the results. I think the amounts you have shouldn’t be too bitter. Remember that the bitterness will subdue during lagering, so don’t rush it.

4

GlugMaster - thanks for the article link. That clarifies the intent of FWH quite a bit, and made me realize that my hopped up Pilsner ale might not be what I’m looking for. I think I’ll take yours and Narvin’s advice and brew something a bit more to style. I’ll do some figuring and post my final hop schedule. Thanks for the input!