Flame out and Whirlpool Hop additions

Steve Russell

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I completed my third brew with the help of a friend, and his recipe called for hops at hop stand and time was 30 minutes. Temperature was listed at 170 F. We assumed this meant add the hop additions after the wort was down to 170 F and then whirlpool off and on for 30 minutes. The beer color before these hop additions was kind of a brownish orange color. When we cooled the wort using a counter chiller to get it in the fermenter I noticed the color was more of a brownish green and very cloudy. I think we did something wrong with those hop stand additions or whirl pooled too long. When I cleaned my Grainfather I noticed the filter was covered with green hop residue. The wort tasted ok, more hoppy than I like but it was my friend's recipe a Double NEIPA. I guess I am asking if anyone can clear up or give me suggestions on this whole flame out/hop stand hop additions and how much to whirl pool.. Thank you !
 
My understanding...though I'm not positive.

Flameout - Add your hops immediately after the boil and proceed to cooling.
Hop Stand - Chill to some desired temperature and add the hops. Hold for some desired amount of time.

Whirlpool - Stir or recirculate either of the above.

It sounds to me like you did a Hop Stand/Whirlpool, assuming you held the temperature at 170° the entire time.

I anticipate being corrected on this, however. :)
 
Since I use a hop spider for all of my hops additions, the hops matter is contained in a bag, which I remove before cooling the wort. I regularly add hops at flameout, and then leave them in for about 20 minutes before starting the cooling process. I call this a hop stand. In my process, temperature is not a consideration for the hop stand. It seems there is quite a bit of flexibility in how terms such as whirlpool and hop stand are used. There is plenty on the web to read about these topics.
Certainly, others will chime in, maybe clarifying, or further confounding the matter.
 
Doesn't sound like you've done anything wrong. Longer flameout additions like the one you've done are trying to do a few things you can't get if it's boiling. One of them will be getting proteins and lipids out of the hops without them just falling to the bottom of the kettle/fermenter in the trub or evaporate away. That will give you that greenish tinge. Those will provide more hop aromas than a standard boil or short flame out addition. And dry hopping will be even more effective as there's more things for the hops to stick to when you dry hop.

The greenish brown look can be a bit of a visual turn off. Part of the reason a lot of these types of beers have moved to lighter grists. Hopefully yours clears up and you get that glowing orange beer, rather than the browner look.
 
My understanding...though I'm not positive.

Flameout - Add your hops immediately after the boil and proceed to cooling.
Hop Stand - Chill to some desired temperature and add the hops. Hold for some desired amount of time.

Whirlpool - Stir or recirculate either of the above.

It sounds to me like you did a Hop Stand/Whirlpool, assuming you held the temperature at 170° the entire time.

I anticipate being corrected on this, however. :)
Your explanation clears things up for me so thank you, as far as what we did is we chilled the wort down to 170 then added the hops and whirlpooled for about 15 minutes, so your assumption is correct :)
 
Doesn't sound like you've done anything wrong. Longer flameout additions like the one you've done are trying to do a few things you can't get if it's boiling. One of them will be getting proteins and lipids out of the hops without them just falling to the bottom of the kettle/fermenter in the trub or evaporate away. That will give you that greenish tinge. Those will provide more hop aromas than a standard boil or short flame out addition. And dry hopping will be even more effective as there's more things for the hops to stick to when you dry hop.

The greenish brown look can be a bit of a visual turn off. Part of the reason a lot of these types of beers have moved to lighter grists. Hopefully yours clears up and you get that glowing orange beer, rather than the browner look.
Mark, you are correct the visual didn't give me a warm and fuzzy...lol The wort tasted sweet when it first hit your mouth but then you could taste the bitterness as it finished. My friend was shooting for a 90 IBU and 8.00 ABV in his recipe, original gravity was 1.076! We are hoping for it to clear up some and we are adding some dry hops also. Thank you for your continued responses to my posts!
 
Since I use a hop spider for all of my hops additions, the hops matter is contained in a bag, which I remove before cooling the wort. I regularly add hops at flameout, and then leave them in for about 20 minutes before starting the cooling process. I call this a hop stand. In my process, temperature is not a consideration for the hop stand. It seems there is quite a bit of flexibility in how terms such as whirlpool and hop stand are used. There is plenty on the web to read about these topics.
Certainly, others will chime in, maybe clarifying, or further confounding the matter.
Thank you for your response, I think your process sounds reasonable and workable. Maybe I am over thinking this, but I am hoping the beer clears up some and some of that green and brown go away...lol
 
You're done, the yeast have their work cut out for them...did you dump the kettle trub and all or was there that much hop matter in suspension after whirlpooling? No worry either way, floculation will happen and things will clear up. Do you cold crash NEIPA's?
 
You're done, the yeast have their work cut out for them...did you dump the kettle trub and all or was there that much hop matter in suspension after whirlpooling? No worry either way, floculation will happen and things will clear up. Do you cold crash NEIPA's?
Ward, I use a grainfather and I used a hop spider, there was a lot of green trub on my filter after I emptied the kettle. I do cold crash NEIPAS but usually right after I keg it. I put the fermenter in the fridge after I filled it with the cooled down wort pitched the yeast at 70 F, but then set it up for temp control to keep it at 67 + or -- 1 degree. I am hoping the floculation does happen clears it up some and maybe the cold crash will a lttle more! Thank you for the response :)
 
I just returned from the Thanksgiving Holiday and checked my beer, the FG looks to be 1.011 so that is where we wanted it down from a 1.073. It did clear up as some of you mentioned would happen in the fermentation, it is more of a orangish brown now which is what we were hoping for. I tasted it and most of the real sweet taste is gone, a little bit of citrus and a little hoppy. I guess patience is the key when brewing beer! Going to try a closed transfer from my brew bucket to the keg and going to bottle 8 - 16 oz also. My buddy wants to give some of his friends a bottle! Thanks for all the advice above. :)
 

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