In our last Learning Lab, we studied the standard three-addition hopping schedule, but there are a host of other techniques for introducing hops into your beer. Some of those ideas are well-accepted—such as dry hopping or a hops stand—while others, such as mash hopping, are a bit more esoteric. We’ll talk through these techniques, and I’ll suggest some basic experiments to try them out.
We’ll work from the technique used earliest in the brewing process to latest. For each one, we’ll run down how it works, what the intent is, and how we might fit it into an experimental process.
Before we dive in, let’s define a control recipe that follows the default brewing process.