I have been reading Palmers book, How To Brew", and I have read the instructions in each of the kits I have made, and I have read many instructional posts about hop additions. It seems clear that the higher the gravity of the wort the less productive is the hop isomerization. So I thought, when I do a boil I usually have 2 gallons of clean water and then 3 gallons of the water that I use for the wort boil. Why not use the 2 gallons of clean water for the hop boil? Follow the same time schedule of an hour boil with the timed hop additions. The 3 gallon boil would be reduced in time to just pasteurize the malts and achieve the hot break. I have never heard this mentioned anywhere but I think I will try it in a future batch unless anyone can come up with a reason why it would be a poor idea. Thoughts?
Because 10% more bittering hop addition is just easier.
Well that’s a rather anticlimactic answer.
Plain water extracts some undesirable compounds from the hops and you end up with a nasty, grassy hop character. Try it with a small amount of hops and see what you get, though.
+1 - The proteins in the wort help coagulate the tannins that are extracted from hops in the boil. It is also believed that the sugars in the wort react with some of the hop oils to help retain flavor/aroma a bit better.
OK. That’s cool. I’m getting the idea now.
If you are looking to improve things, get the gear to do full wort boils. IMO huge quality boost. Your beer will thank you.
^^^ This!
