Hop stand for bitters?

[Erik The Anglophile]

I am thinking about incorporating hop stands when brewing bitters, ditching all the late additions and only doing 1 bittering during the boil.
Then start chilling and adding about 1g/ L of the flavour/aroma hops of choice once the wort comes down to 80c and let it sit for 20 minutes. Is this a reasonable approach? And would I be good to go weighing up the hops the night before, put them in a tea cup with some foil over and keep that in the freezer until it is time to add them? I know 80c should be plenty hot to kill any nasties but I am still a little paranoid.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Why not go for it, I would pitch the hops at 85C

 

[matt76]

I've done it recently using EKG in a bitter at about 3g/L, brewday here. The final beer is decent enough - it needs some fine tuning but I don't think the minor detail issues are related to whether or not I did a hopstand/whirlpool.

In fact I already have a tweaked version planned where I'll do the same, just this time using a blend of First Gold and Cascade.

Bitters (some, not all) have been dry hopped since forever so I don't see any reason why you couldn't or shouldn't whirlpool/hopsteep or similar. Come to think of it I think St Austell Tribute goes through a whirlpool or hopback post boil...

I think you just have to remember it's a bitter you're making and not an AIPA, NEIPA etc and design your recipe accordingly - doesn't mean you shouldn't step away from the accepted dogma and take inspiration from what might be considered more modern/unconventional techniques for the style.

So I think your plan is fine - whether it's better than using late hops in the boil is another matter, but I'm interested to know so report back.

Re. killing nasties at 80degC - look up pasteurisation times and temperatures. Nasties will be killed (pasteurised) above 72degC if you hold it there long enough. The time required to kill them reduces dramatically as you go up to 80, 90, 99degC etc. I tend to whirlpool around 85-90degC.

So you'll have no issues adding whirlpool hops around these temperatures - besides which, hops have antiseptic qualities anyway which is why you can just throw them in as a dry hop, and also the reason hops were originally used.

Similar to what you propose, I usually weigh my hops out the night before and put them in little plastic pots with lids so yeah you'll be fine.

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

3g/L seems a bit much, and more in modern IPA territory. I'll go with 1g as it seems more in line with traditional bitter hop flavor/aroma levels.
I feel more confident about adding them att 80c now after weighing up beforehand and storing in freezer until use.
I won't be able to brew for a couple more weeks until we get everything in our new house in order, and I got a traquair clone and a British Strong Ale using only invert both destined for bottling coming up then. But this will det be my first brew going in keg when I (soon) get my kegs and build a kegerator out of the old kitchen fridge.

 

[Clint]

Just make sure you crook your little finger with that tea cup.

 

[matt76]

3g/L seems a bit much, and more in modern IPA territory. I'll go with 1g as it seems more in line with traditional bitter hop flavor/aroma levels.

To be clear I'm just saying that's what I did, not that's what you should do. If you're not comfortable starting of at a lower rate then no problem.

What I would point out though is English hops, and old world hops in general are much less intense than New World hops - 3g/L of EKG for example is an entirely different prospect to 3g/L of Citra for example.

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

To be clear I'm just saying that's what I did, not that's what you should do. If you're not comfortable starting of at a lower rate then no problem.

What I would point out though is English hops, and old world hops in general are much less intense than New World hops - 3g/L of EKG for example is an entirely different prospect to 3g/L of Citra for example.

I am aware, altough I like the hop presence in bitters, apart from a little bite from the bitter hops, to be rather subtle. I'll start at 1g and maybe adjust up a little if need be.

 

[Erik The Anglophile]

Just make sure you crook your little finger with that tea cup.

Ofc my good sir, I will also ensure my monocle and flat cap is properly in place.