I'm onto my 2nd kit and it's a Brupaks Colne Valley bitter. Pleased to
see the hop bag but not sure how I can use it as I'm not yet set up for
boiling more than 4-5 litres or so just now.

can anyone tell me:
* For bittering is it possible to boil the hops in say, 3-4 litres of
wort and add that into the bulk in the fermenter?
* If I wanted to use the hops for just aroma when should I give them
their 5-10 mins in the wort?

thanks in advance

A

[email]antony.adshead@dsl.pipex.com[/email] wrote:[color=blue]
> I'm onto my 2nd kit and it's a Brupaks Colne Valley bitter. Pleased to
> see the hop bag but not sure how I can use it as I'm not yet set up for
> boiling more than 4-5 litres or so just now.
>
> can anyone tell me:
> * For bittering is it possible to boil the hops in say, 3-4 litres of
> wort and add that into the bulk in the fermenter?
> * If I wanted to use the hops for just aroma when should I give them
> their 5-10 mins in the wort?
>
> thanks in advance
>
> A
>[/color]
I am not familiar with Brupaks kits but I can offer at least a little
bit of helpful advice. The biggest problem I see at the moment is that
of only boiling 4-5 liters of wort. This would give you a very
concentrated wort (very high sugar content). At this concentration your
hop utilization % will be quite low resulting in the beer being less
bitter than what it is intended to be. If at all possible, I would
recommend boiling at least 10-12 liters. You should be able to find (or
borrow) a cheap pasta pot of that size.

In any case, you should bring the wort to a full boil and then add the
hops (in the bag) to the wort. Begin the timing of the boil from the
time you add the hops. If you plan to use the hops just for aroma, add
them 5 minutes before you turn off the heat at the end of the boil.
Remember, if these are the only hops in your brew, you will get
virtually no bitterness in your beer. This would give you a sweet
tasting beer that smells great, but no balance between hops and bitterness.

Hopes this helps a little.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

Wayne wrote:> I am not familiar with Brupaks kits but I can offer at
least a little[color=blue]
> bit of helpful advice. The biggest problem I see at the moment is that
> of only boiling 4-5 liters of wort. This would give you a very
> concentrated wort (very high sugar content). At this concentration your
> hop utilization % will be quite low resulting in the beer being less
> bitter than what it is intended to be. If at all possible, I would
> recommend boiling at least 10-12 liters. You should be able to find (or
> borrow) a cheap pasta pot of that size.
>
> In any case, you should bring the wort to a full boil and then add the
> hops (in the bag) to the wort. Begin the timing of the boil from the
> time you add the hops. If you plan to use the hops just for aroma, add
> them 5 minutes before you turn off the heat at the end of the boil.
> Remember, if these are the only hops in your brew, you will get
> virtually no bitterness in your beer. This would give you a sweet
> tasting beer that smells great, but no balance between hops and bitterness.[/color]

The Brupaks kit is all hopped ME. They also give you a tea-bag type
thing of hop pellets for a) bittering by boiling with the wort or b)
aroma-ising near the end.

thanks for the reply

A