TOOLS & ARTICLES FOR BETTER BREWING


BREWING TOOLS

HOME BREWED BEER CALCULATORS

COURTESY OF BREWERSFRIEND.COM

BELGIAN CANDI SUGAR

HOW TO MAKE BELGIAN CANDI SUGAR WITH TEXT & PICTURES

HOP ALPHA ACID CALCULATOR

Hops are natural produce whose bitterness can vary slightly from season to season. It is possible to tell how bitter hops are by observing the alpha acid % on the packet. The higher the percentage the more bitter, and so sometimes less or more is ... 

... needed to achieve the same bitterness. In order to achieve consistent results use the FORMULA which follows to determine how much hops to use, either of varying years of the same hop variety or different substitute varieties. 

----------------------------------

NEW WEIGHT OF HOPS BECOMES:

QUANTITIY OF SPECIFIED HOPS x ALPHA OF SPECIFIED HOPS
--------------------------
DIVIDED BY ALPHA ACID OF SUBSTITUTE HOPS 
Assuming that the recipe calls for 40 grams of Challenger which has an Alpha Acid content of 7.6 percent and you want to use Golding that has an apha acid content of 5.7 percent
NEW WEIGHT OF HOPS BECOMES:

40g x 7.6%AA
-------------------------
÷ 5.7%AA 
= 53g of Golding

BEER SMITH

HOME BREWING SOFTWARE
RECIPES, FORUM, BLOG, PODCAST AND MORE
FREE TRIAL AVAILABLE

INVERT SUGAR

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT INVERT SUGAR AND HOW TO MAKE  IT IN ALL SHADES

HITTING THE TARGET OG

If you know your boiling losses and the pre-boil specific gravity, you can estimate the post-boil original specific gravity (OG) of your beer with reasonable accuracy. The formula for calculating the approximate post-boil OG is: 

Post-boil gravity points = (Pre-boil volume  x  pre-boil gravity points) / Post-boil volume 

Specific gravity “points” (or GP) are the portion of the specific gravity reading to the right of the decimal point multiplied by 1000. For example, a specific gravity of 1.050 is 50 points. 

----------------------------------

Using the pre-boil and post-boil volumes from the example above, with a pre-boil specific gravity of 1.036, the projected post-boil OG would be 1.049.

(7.5 gallons  x 36 GP) / 5.5 gallons = 49 GP (equivalent to SG 1.049)

Calculating the post-boil OG at the beginning of the boil is valuable because this is the easiest point to make adjustments. If the calculated OG differs appreciably from the target for the recipe, additional extract or water can be added. 

*INCREASE GRAVITY:
To increase the gravity of a 5-gallon (19 L) batch by approximately 1 GP at the end of the boil, add 2.5 oz. (72 g) — roughly one-half cup/118 mL — light dried malt extract, or approximately three-quarters cup (177 mL) liquid extract. 

----------------------------------

*DECREASE GRAVITY:
To decrease the gravity of the same batch by approximately 1 GP, add 24 fl. oz. (710 mL) water prior to boiling. 

You can also manipulate the OG by changing the boiling time. In the above examples, a 9-minute increase in the boiling time will raise the OG by approximately 1 gravity point, while decreasing it by 9 minutes will lower it by approximately 1 point. The approximate change in the post-boil volume per 9 minutes will be 22 fl. oz. (640 mL).

COMPARING & SELECTING HOPS

So how do I choose the right hops for my beer? With such a wide range of flavor and aroma characteristics, this chart can serve as a helpful guide to more than one hundred varieties. Whether you are trying to duplicate a style or are looking to experiment, the following list can help to get you started. Just select a beer style and a chart will pull up with appropriate hops to consider for your recipe.

HISTORICAL RECIPES & BEER BLOG
BY RONALD PATTERSON

SHUT UP ABOUT BARCLAY PERKINS

SAVE YOUR HOPS FOR POST-BOIL

By Brad Smith (Beer Smith Software Engineer):

In 30 years of homebrewing, I’ve seen a wide variety of “hop” trends and fads. Boil hops, flavor hops, aroma hops, whirlpool hops, dry hopping, fermentation hopping, continuous hopping, mash hopping, hop infusions, hop extracts, and of course the newest designer IPAs.

Some, like mash hopping, died quickly, but others like boil, flavor, and aroma hop additions have persisted. Today, I’m going to make the case that late hop additions, including “flavor” hop additions — generally boiled 30 minutes or less — are not needed, and in fact short boil additions in general are not an efficient use of hops. They don’t deliver high utilization or much in the way of aroma oils. Whirlpool and dry hopping are more effective.

GET THE HEADS UP ON WHAT'S HAPPENING

SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER

PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS OF USE

 © 2021 WILD ABOUT HOPS® PLANT NURSERY & BREWING SUPPLIES NZ
NZ's LEADING SUPPLIER OF HOP PLANTS FOR BREWERS
HELPING YOU BREW BETTER BEER
PHONE: 0210 2407203 | CONTACT | CD