Just brewed the Kama Citra and did my first Hop Stand. Instructions in the kit said to cut the heat and throw in the hops for 10 min.
I read in BYO about chilling the wort first (to anywhere from 200* all the way down to 150*). The higher temp you add hops at, the more IBU’s you’ll get.
I decided on chilling the wort to 165* and adding the hops, whirlpooling occasionally while maintaining that temp for 30 min.
What’s everyone’s preference for Hop Stands?
[quote=“Helvetica”]Just brewed the Kama Citra and did my first Hop Stand. Instructions in the kit said to cut the heat and throw in the hops for 10 min.
I read in BYO about chilling the wort first (to anywhere from 200* all the way down to 150*). The higher temp you add hops at, the more IBU’s you’ll get.
I decided on chilling the wort to 165* and adding the hops, whirlpooling occasionally while maintaining that temp for 30 min.
What’s everyone’s preference for Hop Stands?[/quote]
Below 180* you won’t get any isomerization of alpha acids so it won’t add any bitterness which in my understanding is the purpose of a hopstand. Otherwise they are equivalent to just a standard flamout addition.
I haven’t done any sort of comparison though but I just use BeerSmith’s whirlpool calulcation to dialin my IBU’s to where I want them (usually aim for 15-20 min) then start chilling after the time is up. Usually by 20 minutes im below 180 anyway (depending on the weather).
[quote]Below 180* you won’t get any isomerization of alpha acids so it won’t add any bitterness which in my understanding is the purpose of a hopstand. Otherwise they are equivalent to just a standard flamout addition.
[/quote]
Depends on what you want to achieve. From what I’ve read, hop stands add more flavor as opposed to aroma vs. dry hopping, which is just the opposite. High temp HS (>180*) will add more bitterness as opposed to Low temp HS (150*-180*).
I should add that I’ll also be dry-hopping the Kama Citra (per kit instructions) to give some flavor, but mostly aroma.
[quote=“Helvetica”]Depends on what you want to achieve. From what I’ve read, hop stands add more flavor as opposed to aroma vs. dry hopping, which is just the opposite. High temp HS (>180*) will add more bitterness as opposed to Low temp HS (150*-180*).
[/quote]
I guess I’m having trouble seeing the difference between a flameout addition and a hopstand at 165. Maybe if you were using a counterflow chiller where the hops weren’t staying in contact with the wort for very long after flameout I guess it makes sense. I use an immersion chiller so my hops are in contact with my wort for the entire time after flameout for the 15-20 minutes or so it takes to chill.
I suspect that if you had 2 of the same brew, one where you chilled to 165 and did a hopstand for 10 minutes as opposed to just dropping them in at flameout and chilling down to pitching temps there would be little discernible difference but this would be quite a difficult experiment to try as you would need two kettles and two immersion chillers which would be quite a costly experiment 
No, you’re right; they are pretty much the same thing- if you’re chilling during the Hop Stand.
I used an IC, cooled to 165*, removed the IC, added the hops, put the lid on and maintained temp. whirlpooling every 10 min. I was going for flavor, not bitterness.
It seems there are many combinations of time and temp. with some breweries doing hop stands @150* for an hour!
Biggest difference I see from doing a hopstand straight after flame out vs. cooling to ~180 F is the amount of IBU’s that will be contributed. I don’t cool my wort first when doing a hopstand so I have to account for picking up some bitterness, not too big of deal since I’ve done it enough times I know what to expect.
Reading Mitch’s hop book and reading around it is a bit different for breweries because of how long it takes them to whirlpool and cool. I can get my 10 gallon batch cooled 10 minutes (have a counterflow chiller) where as it can take > 1 hr for a commercial brewery to get a batch knocked nto fermentors. That is a lot of extra contact time with hops that they have to account for. Seems they just account for the IBU’s they pick up or add the hops later in whirlpool.
I’ve been cooling my wort to about 170 before doing the hop stand to focus on adding flavor and no more bitterness. Then I dry hop for additional aroma. Here’s a link to an article I found informative on the subject. http://byo.com/stories/issue/item/2808-hop-stands
:cheers:
[quote=“dannyboy58”]I’ve been cooling my wort to about 170 before doing the hop stand to focus on adding flavor and no more bitterness. Then I dry hop for additional aroma. Here’s a link to an article I found informative on the subject. http://byo.com/stories/issue/item/2808-hop-stands
:cheers: [/quote]
That’s the article I was referring to- thanks, Danny. :cheers:
