# Malt extract hop question--- for beers ???



## spunky (Nov 14, 2006)

Just curious, if anyone on the forum, knows how many oz's of hops goes in a typical 4lb or 3lb liquid malt extract kit ????

I never seem to get much flavor out of the kits ????


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## Ben Brewcat (Oct 27, 2004)

It depends on the style. Usually the IBUs are in the ballpark, but flavor and aromatic hops don't lend themselves to canning. You can easily add them yourself though, and it's highly recommended for styles that need them. Hefeweizens and dry stout kits for example are fine on their own since these styles use only bittering hops.

Just get an ounce to two ounces of an appropriate hop when you get the kit. Then add flavoring hops 10 minutes before boil end and aromatic hops right at knockout (or dry hop, a personal favorite for punch-in-the-nose hop aroma).


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## mattoleriver (Sep 20, 2003)

Spunky,
it doesn't sound like you're using much LME. Do the kits that you use require sugar in addition to the malt? If this is the case you will get substantially better beer---tastier and more "mouth feel"---by adding more malt extract rather than sugar. Sugar boosts the alcohol content but adds no flavor and makes the beer taste/feel "thin".

IIRC the kits that include hopped malt extract require a much shorter boil time and do not require that all of the wort be boiled. If you are not boiling all of the wort I don't know how successful you will be in trying to add hop bitterness or flavor. Ben is right about dry hopping adding great hop aroma.

Options:
1. Add another can of hopped extract. I think your beer will be better but with a little more effort it could be much better.
2. Use unhopped extract, add your own hops and boil the full wort for approx. an hour. This will make a huge improvement but will require a little more work, a little more time and a pot big enough to hold everything. Kits are available from several online suppliers if you don't have a local source. 

Check this site for a free online book that is very highly regarded and commonly recommended to new, and not-so-new, brewers.
http://www.howtobrew.com/

George


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## spunky (Nov 14, 2006)

mattoleriver said:


> Spunky,
> it doesn't sound like you're using much LME. Do the kits that you use require sugar in addition to the malt? If this is the case you will get substantially better beer---tastier and more "mouth feel"---by adding more malt extract rather than sugar. Sugar boosts the alcohol content but adds no flavor and makes the beer taste/feel "thin".
> 
> IIRC the kits that include hopped malt extract require a much shorter boil time and do not require that all of the wort be boiled. If you are not boiling all of the wort I don't know how successful you will be in trying to add hop bitterness or flavor. Ben is right about dry hopping adding great hop aroma.
> ...


 I was just curious, because the last john Bull kit I had was a 20min boil kit. I was suspect of that, but I cant be sure where the off flavor came from because I had a really slow fermentation. I am sooooo rusty on brewing beer, and I should remember that I am a " hop head ", because the kit had zero hop flavor, even with me dry hopping with my own fresh dry hops; it was a porter kit. 

I am off now to the brew store ; think its time for a high alcoholic, hoppy lager. My back porch is at 53 degrees 

Thanks for the replys


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## Aspera (Aug 1, 2005)

It really depends on the type of hop and your preferences as to aromas/bitterness. A stout or porter typically gains much of its bitterness from roasted barley or barley sheaves and has minimal hop aroma. A good lager is the opposite but also less bitter. Try a Dogfish 60 IPA for aroma profile, a Rogue Dead Guy for flavoring hops and an Old Heathen from Weyerbacher for bittering. Each of these probably contain about the equivilant of 1 oz of an aromatic hop added at different boil times (i.e. 5 min, 15 min, 30 min) plus a small amount of a higher alpha acid hop added at the beginning of the boil.


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