Topic take-off, Mash Hopping

[BlackDuck]

the worst thing that can happen is it won't add anything and you will have wasted a few ounces of hops.

That's exactly my thoughts too. I figured I'd give it a go on a pale ale recipe, if it adds anything and it becomes closer to an IPA, well then, so be it....cause that would suck.

[Gymrat]

Something to think about. I have been first wort hopping all of my beers for months now. I have never detected any hop flavor as a result of FWH. I do it because the bitterness seems to be softer giving me a smoother beer which is nice on my malty beers. You can't possibly get any bittering from mash hopping as the hops will stay in the mash. And if my pallet is not deceiving me you won't get any flavor from it either as all mash hopping amounts to is FWH earlier then removing the hops before the boil.

[BlackDuck]

I wouldn't expect to get any bitterness from a mash hopping. If anything it would contribute to the flavor and aroma. And I would expect to get more aroma than flavor for that matter. We shall see. It will be a few batches before I give this a whirl, but it will happen eventually.

[mashani]

Something to think about. I have been first wort hopping all of my beers for months now. I have never detected any hop flavor as a result of FWH. I do it because the bitterness seems to be softer giving me a smoother beer which is nice on my malty beers. You can't possibly get any bittering from mash hopping as the hops will stay in the mash. And if my pallet is not deceiving me you won't get any flavor from it either as all mash hopping amounts to is FWH earlier then removing the hops before the boil.

If there is a result difference as far as getting flavor / aroma where you are not, it would go back to the time/temperature/ph thing, and whether a stable compound is being formed that will not vaporize in the boil later. There is a difference in that equation in the mash vs. a FWH, especially in a longer mash. FWH temps are going to not stay stable for as long since your going to be turning on the heat as soon as the worts in your pot (at least I think so?).

I'm not saying it will work, I'm just throwing out the science of how it might have worked for those that claim it worked for them. I have no idea if it will actually work. And if it does, I do suspect it is hop specific as far as getting good results or not as different hops have very different oil makeups. I've heard some FWH folks say the get flavor or aroma too, and I don't know why but it could very well be a hop specific thing, or the timing of how fast they can bring it to a boil vs. other people (time/temperature).

I can tell you that in hop stands, I've gotten better results with some hops then others (as compared to as if I had added them at 15 / 5 or the like) in my experience.