Q: I brewed on a Saturday. It was a perfect brew day and everything was going great! Or so I thought. Three hours later it occurred to me that I didn’t add the hops to the wort. I rushed to my fermenter and threw in one ounce of Cascade. Was this all right or is my perfect brew a wash?
A: A There is not much great news to report on this unfortunate oversight. Hops need to be boiled to convert the insoluble alpha-acids into the soluble iso-alpha-acids. Unless the alpha-acids are “isomerized” during boiling, they will not impart bitterness to beer. Now, if you had added the first hop addition and later forgot to add the aroma hops, then dry hopping in the fermenter would certainly be a viable back-up plan. But unfortunately you forgot the hops entirely. The hop addition is the most anxiously awaited part of the brew day because of the wonderful aroma that gently wafts from the kettle. I think one of the reasons so many homebrewers and microbrewers make really hoppy beers is so they can intensify the smell of the herb during boiling. So explain again: How the heck could you forget to add the hops? I’m pretty forgiving when it comes to mistakes, but you really opened yourself up to some friendly ribbing with this question! If you have the appropriate supplies and tools you can correct your mistake after fermentation by adding a pre-isomerized hop extract to your beer. Some large brewers use pre-isomerized hop extracts for bittering and add them either to the kettle or to the beer after fermentation. Most add them after fermentation to minimize losses. Hop losses occur during fermentation when the bittering compounds stick to yeast cell walls and get lost when the sediment falls to the bottom. Some homebrew supply stores sell these compounds, but use them carefully because they are usually very concentrated and it’s easy to add too much, which can give you “bitter beer face” in a matter of seconds! If you find a pre-isomerized extract that is very concentrated you can dilute it with a neutral grain spirit like vodka to make it easier to measure out.
