(Recipe) Traditional with beer Hops

[McJeff]

So on 1/9/14 I started a traditional with hops to see how it would turn out. The exact recipe...

Just shy over 4 gallons total
14 lbs local wild flower honey
1 oz fuggle hops boiled 15 mins
1 oz dry hoped
D47
And first 3 days of aeration and nutrients

The calculator says the sg should have been 1.126 it was prob a touch lower with the little extra water I had in it.

Took two gallons of the water and boiled 1oz of hops for 15 mins, no sugar in the water which I guess was a mistake.

Once that cool down I incorporated my honey and added the boiled hops(mistake) and the dry hops to the must. Let it cool down some more and pitched the yeast with nutrients.

So today 2/12/14 I racked the mead into 4 glass 1 gallon carboys. The gravity was 1.010 and still fermenting ever so slightly. Doubt enough to change the gravity all that much.

The taste was rather interesting but good at one month old. not knowing what the hops usually taste like I have nothing to compare it to. But it is light and a decent taste while still tasting the honey. Hope the hops doesn't get lost with age.

Out of curiosity I oaked two of the one gallon carboys, one with light French and the other with med American. I'll let that set for a week or two.

Conclusion not a total loss or mistake, I've done worse

 

[McJeff]

Well crap I meant to put this in the recipe thread

One other thing I wanted say, I don't really get any beer bitter. But then again the hops didn't have a high count to begin with. So if I was to change one thing I would go with a bit stronger bitter level

 

[Kansas Mead]

Do you know the alpha acid content of the hops? Also were the hops leaf or pellet?

 

[McJeff]

I used the pellet form and off the top of my head I think the alpha content was like 5-6.

 

[Kansas Mead]

I used a program called Beer Smith to calculate the IBUs (International Bitterness Units). Using the Rager formula I got 35.8 IBUs at 6% alpha acids. If bitterness is what you are after I would add more hops and boil longer.
Did you dry hop with the same fuggles?

 

[McJeff]

Yeah I dry hopped with the same hops.

 

[fuelish]

15 minutes of boil isn't going to give up the bitter...typically hops are boiled for an hour in the wort when making beer for the bitterness... and yeah, the hop flavor/aroma will diminish with age, seems to be the nature of hops (and why beer is best enjoyed fresh). Soundls like an interesting experiment, have yet to hop any meads for flavor.....yet

 

[fatbloke]

See while experimentation is laudable, apart from the bittering normally associated with hops, what else do they bring to the party ?

Cos right now, I don't get the point........

 

[McJeff]

Interesting I was told your didn't have to boil it very long to get bitter out of the hops.

As for bringing other stuff to the party, this was it so far. I've never worked with hops before so wasn't sure what to expect.

I'm going to start another batch tonight, bought 4lbs of mixed berries and 4 ounces of Centennial hops.

We shall see

 

[McJeff]

See while experimentation is laudable, apart from the bittering normally associated with hops, what else do they bring to the party ?

Cos right now, I don't get the point........

From my limited experience with hops, when you boil them they bring bitter to the beverage. When just put in dry they release their aroma and flavor. So what else they bring to the mead depends on the type of hops.

This is a small list of hops. First batch used US Fuggle. This second batch will use Centennial.

 

[Kansas Mead]

I had a lot of experience with hops. The general rule is the longer the boil the more bitterness there is up to a point. There is also a relationship between the starting gravity and the IBUs in a beer. A higher starting gravity will led to low hop utilization. If you want to calculate the bitterness units then check out a program called Beer Smith. Hops are a fun and fascinating plant to study and grow.

 

[McJeff]

I had a lot of experience with hops. The general rule is the longer the boil the more bitterness there is up to a point. There is also a relationship between the starting gravity and the IBUs in a beer. A higher starting gravity will led to low hop utilization. If you want to calculate the bitterness units then check out a program called Beer Smith. Hops are a fun and fascinating plant to study and grow.

I need to look and see if there is an app for that Beer Smith

 

[McJeff]

I had a lot of experience with hops. The general rule is the longer the boil the more bitterness there is up to a point. There is also a relationship between the starting gravity and the IBUs in a beer. A higher starting gravity will led to low hop utilization. If you want to calculate the bitterness units then check out a program called Beer Smith. Hops are a fun and fascinating plant to study and grow.

I wish i could find the info that originally had. Basically no point of boiling over 30 mins is the way i understood it. This second batch i found a hops that appealed to me with double the amount of Alpha content. Boiled em 2ounces instead of one for 15 mins, and dry hoped 2 ounces instead of one. I also boiled with 1lb of honey this time, cause i was told some sugar in the boil helps the release of something or other