All mash hopped IPA aka Monster Mash

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Wild Bill
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All mash hopped IPA aka Monster Mash

Post by Wild Bill »

I have done a few brews that have had some hops in the mash but they also used hops at various stages of the boil. Discerning what the mash hops contributed was futile. Well digging around in my freezer I discovered I had accumulated various pellet hops as old as 2014 vintage. So in an effort to see a definitive effect of mash hopping I hatched a plan for an all mash hopped ipa with older pellet hops. This brew also aided in cleaning my freezer of old hops. Various opinions I had read on mash hopping varied from totally ineffective to limited effect on Ibu’s.
So it began. I used a simple Ipa all grain recipe I have used many times before but scaled it to 10 gallons and shifted all the hops to the mash. Here it is

Monster mash Ipa 11 gallon
American IPA
All Grain (11.00 gal) ABV: 4.70 %
OG: 1.046 SG FG: 1.010 SG
IBUs: ? IBUs Color: 5.0 SRM

Mash Ingredients
1 lb rice hulls
3.00 oz - Mosiac
3.00 oz - Nelson Sauvin
3.00 oz - Citra
3.00 oz - Galaxy
1.32 oz - Galena
1 lb 13.3 oz - Pilsner (2 Row) Ger
13 lb 4.1 oz - Pale Malt (2 Row) US
9.8 oz - Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L
1 lb 3.6 oz - Munich Malt
1 lb 4.0 oz - Wheat, Flaked
0 min - Saccharification (154.0 F for 60 min, 15 min rise)
Add 27.24 qt of water at 165.2 F
1:15 hours - Mash Out (168.0 F for 10 min, 10 min rise)
Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min
1:35 hours - Mash Complete
Boil 60 min
2 pkgs Safale us-05 dry yeast

I strongly recommend using rice hulls to prevent a stuck sparge with all the hop matter. I split batch into to carboys and pitched yeast at 65 degrees and set ferment temp for 63 degrees. I was basically able to use the last drop out of the boil pot as the no boil hops made for a really clean wort. I took a gravity reading of 1.049 into fermenters and tasted the sample and was pleasantly supprised at the bitterness. Combined with the sweet wort it is hard to tell what you have for sure until it fements out. To hedge my bet I dry hopped one of the 5 gallon carboys with 1oz each of citra, galaxy, nelson sauvin, and mosaic hop pellets. I did this at high krausen in the primary to add to the experiment. After 3 weeks I cold crashed and kegged the dry hopped beer and bottled the the contents of the second carboy. After carbing up the keg I poured a sample yesterday and was pleasantly suprised with one of the best ipa’s I have ever tried. The bitterness definitely came through the mash but was smooth and was very balanced with the dry hop taste and aroma. I would guess the ibu’s to be in the range of 60 or so. So hop utilization from the mash definitely is better than what has been opined about and far from a waste of hops. I say it gives a smoother bitterness to my palate. Hell my wife who is not a fan of the style even gushed over it. Also dry hopping at high krausen works fine and all the taste and aroma does not get scrubbed out by co2. I am waiting for the non dry hopped version to carb up in the bottles so I can see if anything other than the ibu’s from the mash hops made it through but smelling the sample I think not. So there you have it, a couple of hop myths busted. I highly recommend this recipe for ipa lovers and it may even convert some non fans like my wife. Cheers!
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Shine0n
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Re: All mash hopped IPA aka Monster Mash

Post by Shine0n »

Sounds like you have a good handle on things and glad it worked out for ya, I've had a few ipa that were good and some way over the top but I'd like at some point to give this a try.

Good job mate, Shine0n
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Wild Bill
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Re: All mash hopped IPA aka Monster Mash

Post by Wild Bill »

Just an update on the all mash hopped experiment. I opened one of the bottles that I had put up from the split batch that had no additional hops beyond the ones in the mash. I can conclusively say that none of the hop smells or flavors made it through the process. However the bittering from the mash hops is very present but even smoother and less sharp than the kegged batch that was dry hopped. It reminds me of a nice smooth lager in many ways even though I used an ale yeast. This method may not be for everybody but it has the benefit of utilizing old hops that may have gotten thrown out otherwise and the wort stays very clean and therefore yields are great. It also resulted in two damn good beers. Cheers!
Living life one drop at a time

I ain’t here for a long time, I am here for a good time

Don’t worry, have a bourbon!
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Wild Bill
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Re: All mash hopped IPA aka Monster Mash

Post by Wild Bill »

Just another update on this beer. The initial 5 gallons that was dry hopped was a big hit and is all but gone now so I did another batch this weekend but scaled everything up to 25 gallons. I mash hopped with a whopping 34.2 oz of various hops cluttering the freezer. Even with 2 pounds of rice hulls, my mash was a little hard to lauter with all the hops but I got it done. 26 gallons of prime clear went into boiler. Ended up putting 10.25 gallons @ into two fermenters using us-05. The remaining 4.5 gallons went into another carboy with safelager 34/70 yeast for yet another experimental twist. I plan on using au ella hops at high krausen on the lager and for the ales I will use the same or similar hops as the last batch. Cheers.
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Wolfairious
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Re: All mash hopped IPA aka Monster Mash

Post by Wolfairious »

If nothing but the bittering transferred over, why not just use a small first wort hop charge to accomplish the same thing? Then use all those other hops as dry hops?
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Wild Bill
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Re: All mash hopped IPA aka Monster Mash

Post by Wild Bill »

I buy hops once a year from the source in Yakima so I try an predict what I will brew for the upcoming year. Inevitably I end up with a glut of various older hops after several years. Many which are not suitable to dry hop with. This is a good way to utilize these hops. I also think this method provides a smoother bittering than boil hops. That’s my take anyway, YMMV. Cheers
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Don’t worry, have a bourbon!
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Wolfairious
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Re: All mash hopped IPA aka Monster Mash

Post by Wolfairious »

I just want to clarify, the mash hops were smoother than First Wort Hops? Any idea what qty you need in the mash to equal FWH or even 60min hops? I love to smooth out my bitterness as I brew a lot of NEIPA's. I grow a lot of my own hops (8 varieties and 17 plants) so I too at times have some old stock. Wondering it you had any ratio's to follow. Thanks for any insight.
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Wild Bill
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Re: All mash hopped IPA aka Monster Mash

Post by Wild Bill »

I have never really done a true fwh beer, so I can’t really give a comparison with the hop profile. My hop forward beers have the bittering hops added after the hot break or later in the boil. Fw hopping may indeed give a similar result as mash hopping. My first attempt at an all mash hopped beer was kind of a leap of faith on how much hops to use but after repeating the experiment on a larger scale I would say 1.25 - 1.5 oz per gallon of wort is about right. Now my hops were on average 2.5 year old pellet hopps so you may want to back out to maybe 1 oz per gallon for fresh hops. To me the mash hopping has two main benefits. It allows you to utilize older hops that have been languishing in the freezer and leaves all the hop matter behind in the mash making for some very clean wort. Being you have experience with fw hopping, you should do a side by side comparison with a mash hopped version of the same recipe. Who knows maybe I will even give it a go. Cheers
Living life one drop at a time

I ain’t here for a long time, I am here for a good time

Don’t worry, have a bourbon!
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