Mash hopping

Now my last IPA I did a mash hop which I’m told is a waste. Im not so sure. Now I can see adding the hops to the grains and mashing the hops would be strained out. But I definitely had hops aroma in the wort. Do those compounds boil off? My process next time will first add the hops to my strike water and let them steep until I get to strike temperature usually I heat my water to 180 then let it drop to 168 or so. The hops will have about 10 minutes in that range. Then I’ll put my bag in and do the mash after which I’ll add my FWH. So when I pull the bag the material from the mash hops won’t be strained out. If your using a tun just put the mash hops in a bag in your mash. Seems to me you will get something. Maybe you scientifically minded people can weigh in.

I asked a similar question quite some time ago, but was more directed towards possibly lowering the pH… But I never tried to verify… Too lazy? Sneezles61

Yes I read it does lower pH.

I should find some time to tinker with it… I can put hops into my smaller basket… let it steep while I mill my malt… What could go wrong? Sneezles61

I think you want to leave the hop material behind, how will you do that?

Put the spent basket “behind” me? :wink:
I’m not sure what, if anything gained by leaving the… green matter… Wouldn’t I have gotten what I need from the Lupilins? Sneezles61

Not sure, I was thinking you would get more leaving the hop material in for the boil. Like a FWH that’s steeping for an hour at a lower temperature. I believe certain compounds me to be boiled to be released. Where is a scientific mind @damian_winter

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He’s probably brewing up some new fangled Kool aid brew IPA! Now right there is a great idea for Kool aid… Make a hop flavored one!! A couple more brews and… and… well, have all sorts of ideers out there to play with!:joy: Sneezles61

I still have some Magnum in the freezer… I can’t brew the Irish red this W/E… So, an APA is up… I’ll give this a shot… And, I’ve got new test medium for my pH meter… I’m going to find out a couple of things then… Would I hose up an APA putting in a smidge of biscuit malt? Sneezles61

Isn’t adding hoops to the mash essentially First Wort Hopps? That’s a legit, if maybe gimmicky, thing, right?

The only caution I’d add to the discussion of hops in the mash, is to make sure when finished that the spent grains are protected from dogs. Dogs usually don’t like the smell of hops, but when sweetened up with spent grain they can end up consuming them. Hops, even spent hops, can be very toxic to dogs, and it’s weird because one day it may not effect the dog at all, but another day a lesser amount can be fatal. If you have a dog that likes to get into the garbage/mulch it may be better to just avoid the technique.

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I put out my grist for the deer… We have many roaming about here… I still think I’ll try it with my little basket, then, the grist can go into the big basket…
Now my mind is wandering about this… It’d be wonderful to find if it did work, and it would affect the mash pH… but, I won’t hold my breathe… Sneezles61

Mash hoping will mainly give you aroma and flavors and little to none bitterness. Unfortunately the oils that you extract for flavor and aroma are soluble and nonsoluble hop compounds that when boiled for lengthy period of time will be mostly lost. The utilization of mash hoping is so low that a large amount of hops is needed to achieve any real benefit. I only impart this technique on a few styles one is the Berliners Weisse and I don’t boil for for the full 60 mintues. Just enough to kill any unwanted bugs and to achieve my bitterness.

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Haha. No I’ve not been working on a new kool-aid beer. To be honest I been working on something very special. Something that one day might become a new style or beer trend that to my knowledge has never been done or seen before. I know i got you intrigued but that’s all i can say for now. Besides be prepared to be for something AMAZING!!!

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Well, there goes that dream out the the brain… Sneezles61

Aww Sneezles don’t stop dreaming my friend. Maybe you should be dreaming Mango kool-aid IPA or Sharkleberry fin milkshake IPA

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Not heard of Shark…le… what you said up there… I’ll just brew… beer… you know, the stuff that tastes like… beer… :sunglasses: Its all good! Sneezles61

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I think that when we homebrewers get bored we try to invent new was to do the same old thing. Like putting hops in the mash. I have added my bittering hops while the kettle fills with wort for a long time. Just thought is was easier.

Next thing ya know there will be a hybrid barley that is crossed with hops. We will call it Hopley or Barlops. :wink:

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So why would that be any different than first wort hopping since I’m leaving the hops into boil and not dumping it with the grain ? It’s just basically steeping a bit longer

I’m curious, like to investigate things. Can’t always believe what you’ve read. Im going to do a test batch. Next time I get the grains out I’m going to do a one gallon test batch with nothing but mash hops then we shall see. Will you believe what i write ? Remember 20 years ago if you said a cloudy beer that looked and tasted like juice would be very popular who would have believed that nonsense

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I’d rather have real experience that conjecture so yes I would.