Hopstands

[blockley]

I'm gonna be honest, as a newbie I don't really understand Hopstands.

I've been scared off of a few recipes because I don't know what to do.
I assume you drop the temperature to the hopstand temperature in the recipe, add the hops for the allotted time, and then continue to chill.

Question is how do I get my boiling wort down in temperature and then stop it cooling further, is it simply a case of using, in my case, the chiller and turning off the water supply at the appropriate temperature?
Secondly, I thought the idea of chilling quickly was to avoid the risk of infection - surely this is contradictory?

Any help appreciated as I've got my eye on a couple of recipes!!

 

[Ben034]

You're spot on! Cool to 80c or so with chiller whilst gently stirring. Add hops and leave to stand, stir every now and again. Continue to chill after alloted time down to pitching temperature.

There's no risk of infection if the wort is 80c (over pasteurisation temperature of 70c).

 

[Galena]

There are various ways to do a hopstand, one way is to put in at flameout and let it stand for the allotted time cooling naturally and then chill after that time. Another is to put it in at flameout and chill immediately, another is to chill to your required temperature, commonly 80 degrees and then hold at that.
I have started doing the latter but there is a thread on this subject HERE

 

[marshbrewer]

Whenever this is discussed, I always wonder if apprentices were sent to the stores to fetch a hop stand in the olden days?

I also now chill to 80 and add the hops, let it stand for a bit then continue cooling, but I used to throw them in at flame out and chill immediately. I think, to my palate, the beer is nicer with the stand at 80; more 'hop' taste.

 

[blockley]

Thanks all, you've given the new boy some confidence!

 

[Clint]

While doing the hopstand...I sit down.

 

[johncrobinson]

As a young apprentice I did fall for a "metric" calendar back in the 70s
Spent days and days at work doing it,When i proudly announced my work to the "big cheese" he was NOT amused,Some of the men got a right rocket.!!!

 

[Clint]

Yeah ..
Stand there for a long weight..wait..
Glass hammers,elbow grease.. gotta laugh..

 

[AdeDunn]

Pffft, I just got sent to the gynae ward for tampons, my mentor thought it was hilarious, until she realised I wasn't at all bothered. I know it was a setup, as there were 3 students on the ward that day, I was the only male 1 among them and the other 2 weren't doing anything either. lol

The times I've been for job interviews over the years though, and they've done that stupid "test" with the instruction "read the entire test before starting" then the last step is "Only answer question 1"..... Always had the urge to get up and walk out at yet another dumb ass boss who thought they were clever. lol But then I would have missed watching people make fools of themselves standing up and saying their names etc.....

My wife was just saying how her entire group at college lost a point in a test they did on the question "What do you do with a spider in the kitchen?" as the whole group described how to use the kitchen utensil called a spider, rather than answering "remove it"..... Kinda made me think of hop spiders in our boilers.... lol