Hopped Up Lawnmower Recipe

[David B5]

Hopped Up Lawnmower.

 

My partener and I have now made three batches of Lawn Mower Lager with Centenial & Cascade hops. We have produced a beautiful

"Middy" that is refreshing and fast to reach maturity.

It is a league above the the low alcohol beers that are currently produced in Australia.

 

1 can Cooper's os lager.

500 gms. Light dry malt.

15 gms. Centennial hops steeped for 1 hour

15 gms. Cascade hops at flameout

15 gms. Cascade dry hopped at day four.

1 sachet Cooper's ale yeast (as supplied)

Bottle at day 10

 

I have neglected to take note of the starting or finishing gravities.

[Hairy]

The flavours look good and I would guess that it is around 3.5% alcohol. A nice mid-strength.

 

Your first Centennial addition, do you mean it is boiled for one hour or steeped?

 

If boiled, do you find it very bitter?

 

 

[David B5]

Hairy,

 

I'm wondering if my terminology is correct.

The process I use for the Centennial addition is to add the hop pellets to hot water (approx 75c) and maintain that temperature for one hour.

As for the bitterness it is more bitter than a straight lawn mower but only marginly.

I would describe this beer as having a floral aroma and flavour.

Malt characteristics are present but are far from dominant.

If you like a lower alcohol beer give it a go.

We have tested the beer on humans and have found no adverse reactions.

I would welcome clarification on the use of "steeped" in the context that I have used it.

[Hairy]

Yeah, that is steeping. That won't add any bitterness so that also answers my question about whether the beer is bitter.[cool]

 

I was a bit confused when your 2nd hop addition is at flame out. This normally means that after a boil, you turn off the heat and add those hops.

 

How do you add the flame out hops?

[jasond4]

I think you have your terminology right, it's just like making tea ...pour the water in and allow it to steep for a length of time. One thing I would do is add the LDM with the steeping hops and boil/simmer it for 20 min and you should get the same result.

Malt and hops love to work together the malt helps to bring the hop flavour out more effeciently.[happy]

[David B5]

Cheers Jason,

I'll give boiling the dry malt a go for my next attempt.

 

Hairy,

 

How would you increase bitterness?

I was of the impression that a high AA hop boiled at those temperatures would impart bitterness. As stated the brew is only

slightly more bitter than a lawn mower.

Is there something I'm doing that I don't know about?

[David B5]

Hairy,

I did not cover your queries in full.

The heat is turned off when the second addition hops are introduced and left for about fifteen minutes before adding to the wort.

Does the difference between steeping and boiling relate to temperature?

Will a higher temperature (100c) impart more bitterness?

The beer we are producing is flavoursome but nowhere an IPA

[Guest]

Hairy,

I did not cover your queries in full.

The heat is turned off when the second addition hops are introduced and left for about fifteen minutes before adding to the wort.

Does the difference between steeping and boiling relate to temperature?

Yes, steeping is soaking at a temperature. i.e. steep at 65C means to try keep your temp at 65C throughout the time.

Boiling means exactly that. i.e. to maintain a boil which is a much higher temperature, usually around 100C.

Will a higher temperature (100c) impart more bitterness?

Yes it will. The longer you boil hops then the more bitterness it will impart.

"The degree of bitterness imparted by hops depends on the degree to which otherwise insoluble alpha acids (AAs) are isomerized during the boil. Unboiled hops are only mildly bitter. On the other hand, the (non-bitter) flavor and aroma of hops come from the essential oils, which evaporate during the boil."

The beer we are producing is flavoursome but nowhere an IPA

Boil your hops in around 1.040 wort and you will increase your bitterness.

 

You may find THIS CHART usefull to get an idea of what happens in a hop boil.

[David B5]

Thanks Bill.

The chart you referred me to has given Me a much better understanding of the hopping process. I'm looking forward to

employing the new techniques in my next brew.

It would appear that I could be using the hops much more efficiently.

[THIRSTY MATT]

HIGUYS,

paul from coopers posted this a coupla years ago, i copied n pasted it to my desktop :

Bittering Hops - boiled for 30mins or more to extract bitterness. Will impart some flavour but aromatic volatiles are likely to be driven off.

 

 

Flavour Hops - boiled for about 15mins will impart some bitterness and leave some aromatics.

 

 

Aroma Hops - tossed in at the end of boil or made up as a hop tea and added to the FV or simply thrown into the FV (dry hopping). The more they are exposed to heat the more bitterness and flavour they impart.

 

 

Late Dry Hoppiing - hops tossed into the dispensing keg.

 

 

Crazy Late Dry Hopping - hops packed into a cylinder (or similar) with the beer passing through on the way to the glass.

 

 

Super Crazy Late Dry Hopping - hops tossed into the glass then fill the glass with beer and strain with your teeth!

Cheers

PB2 - Coopers Brewery

CHEERS

MATT

[Hairy]

David, as Bill & Thirsty Matt said, you will need to boil the hops to extract bitterness. You will need to get the water/wort to boil and bubble and maintain that for 30 minutes or so.

 

Bill mentioned that it is best to boil the hops in a wort with a gravity of 1.040.

 

To achieve this you will need to add around 100g of LDM for every 1 litre of water.

 

So with your recipe you could bring to boil 5 litres of water with 500g LDM and then add the hops (or 3 litres with 300g etc). When finished you will have to try to cool the wort before pitching the yeast. You could try sitting the pot in a sink of cold water.

 

I guess you need to be careful with your recipe. You are making a light, easy drinking mid-strength with an already hopped can. You wouldn't want to make it too bitter. Maybe a 15-20 minute boil where you extract some bitterness but lots of flavour.