First Wort Hops

[Davy6Mac]

Hi All, recently purchased an AG Kit for an American West Coast Pale Ale, which has some great hops etc, however the recipe has a small amount of Magnum hops which it states are for the First Wort Hops. Read up about this but was not 100% sure I understood what was required, do I add them to the wort before boil without soaking or do I add them to the wort without soaking. Any ideas/suggestions would be grateful.

 

[RichardM]

I maybe wrong but I think it means add the hops to the wort as soon you start heating it for the boil, rather than waiting until it comes to the boil.

 

[Mayor of Simpleton]

That is what I do. Add hops to the wort as soon as its in the kettle and heating

 

[jMac]

I may have been doing it wrong, but I’ve been adding them when I’ve started my sparge .

 

[Sadfield]

Add them to the kettle when you start running off from the mash tun, or when you remove the grain from the mash when brewing BIAB. As the name suggests, the aim is to hop the first wort produced.

There's evidence that this produces a less harsh bitterness and aromatics get carried over to the final beer. IIRC there's benefits to shelf life. Reduces the risk of boil over, too.

 

[BeerCat]

I do FWH with all my boiled beers. If you have to boil longer it does not make much difference to the IBU either.

 

[An Ankoù]

Chuck them in the kettle before turning on the heat. As soon as you've got enough wort in there to put the heat on, do so.
I do FWH all the time, now. I don't notice any difference in flavour, but, in the old days, we were expected to boil for 90 minutes to get all the goodness out of the hops and now we boil for 60+10 or 60+15 or just 60 minutes so, to my addled brain anyway, chucking them in a bit earlier gives them more of a chance.

 

[Davy6Mac]

Thanks for all the advice folks, much appreciated. That's what I like about this forum, always good friendly advice from other members

 

[foxy]

Hi All, recently purchased an AG Kit for an American West Coast Pale Ale, which has some great hops etc, however the recipe has a small amount of Magnum hops which it states are for the First Wort Hops. Read up about this but was not 100% sure I understood what was required, do I add them to the wort before boil without soaking or do I add them to the wort without soaking. Any ideas/suggestions would be grateful.

80 Centigrade is the temperature for the first wort hops, so slightly above the mash out temp.

 

[Slid]

As @Sadfield says, there is less chance of an uncontrolled boil, as the hops form nucleation points in the wort as it heats up, so less gas is released towards boiling.