Hop Stand or Whirlpool Hopping question

[mmbrew]

I am planning to brew a APA style beer with Cascade and Simcoe hops (60, 30, 10 and 0) and was researching creating a whirlpool to enhance the hop flavor and aroma. I will do a 30 minute hop stand at flameout for this brew session ( will try longer times later with at different temps for Alpha acid iso. - another day).

Q: Should I do the whirlpool once at beginning or gently restart the whirlpool every 5 or 10 minutes in my boil kettle? Any other suggestions - trying to keep it simple.

[Jimmy]

I don't think the whirlpool is necessary. I attempted to whirlpool on my last IPA and it clogged the pump - beer turned out great with lots of hop flavor and aroma. Just dump the hops in, but don't bother recirculating.

[GuingesRock]

I tried hop stands a few times, I gave up on them. Wasn't impressed with the results. Didn't think they were what they are cracked up to be. You might have more luck with them though. You have to try these things.

[mcgster]

Hop stands are a great way to go to change the aroma that you get out of your hops, but they won't impact your alpha acid / bitterness.

I don't think a 30 minute hop stand is required though, when it comes to extracting aroma compounds from hops 30 minutes will give you full extraction at room temperature so at post boil temps it would be much more than you require to get the majority of the good aroma compounds out of the hops. I would aim for a 10 to 15 minute hop stand.

As for whirl pooling its not something i do myself so i can't attest to how well it works but i do know you can brew an amazing IPA without whirl pooling!

[mmbrew]

Thanks all - I'll chalk this up to an experiment as well as a learning experience. Cheers.

[Jimmy]

I've only done a hopstand/whirlpool addition once (well twice, but the 2nd beer is currently fermenting). The beer I used it on was an IPA, had 36IBU come from a 60minute addition, and the only other hops added were the whirlpool (@180 degrees), and the dry hops.

The beer definitely came out hoppier than the 36IBU from the 60 min addition, and had lots of hop flavor and aroma. It was calculated to 83IBU total between the whirlpool and 60 minute additions, but I'd say it was definitely less than that (which I expected with a whirlpool additon, but I had also dropped the temp for the addition to 180* and beersmith calculates based on 190*).

In the end, I think the hopstand/whirlpool does have value..how much value when compared to a flamout? I'm not sure. Maybe a straight up flamout additon would be just as good..or should you just start the chilling process, toss the hops in when it hits 180-190, and continue chilling? It's something I'll likely find out in the future as I think this beer will be a frequent brew of mine...a recipe I can experiment with to see how various changes influence the flavour of the beer.