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Hello all. First post/just brewed question

Woodman

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I am currently brewing my first beer (an Irish stout) and on the directions it said to add the bittering hops into the brew and then boil for 45 minutes. Well I grabbed the bag of hops and threw them in and didn't notice until about 5 minutes later that the kit doesn't include bittering hops. Just aroma hops and the step after that on the next page was for the aroma hops. Is it going to effect the taste of the beer in a negative way?
 
I can't imagine an irish stout not having bittering hops.  If you could post the recipe, we'd be much better able to answer your question.

However, the longer you boil hops, the more bitterness you extract from the hops.  Boiling hops for 45 minutes will yield little to no aroma.
 
Sure. It's the True Brew ingredient kit by BSG.







Actually if I look at the front of the paper it says to add them and boil for 45. It was the hop packaging itself that said aroma. So I guess that's where I got confused on it. So I assume its both? And I also thought aroma hops are always at the end which is why I posted this. Excuse my ignorance this is my first brew.
 
East Kent Goldings (EKG) is an aroma hop but is also used as bittering hops for a lot of styles of beer when added for the full length or so of the boil.  In your case, they are the bittering hops.  HTH!
 
Looks like the bitterness was supposed to come from the hopped extract, while the hops themselves were supposed to be added at the end for aroma. You'll have an extra bitter beer without much aroma. No big deal. It will be fine.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. The whole thing is finished and now I will wait for a few weeks. But I have a question regarding why a kit would come with a LME and a DME?
 
why a kit would come with a LME and a DME?

Experienced extract brewers generally use all light extract and then add specialty malt for color and flavor. The DME meant less specialty grain to work with. My first extract kit was a red, and it came out pretty good. Since then I've switched to all-grain and never looked back.  The analogy I use is that extract brews are like Folgers Crystals, while all-grain is like grinding your own beans. One is not unlike coffee, while the other is comparable what you might get at a coffee shop.

Do a few more extract brews and see how they come out. If you like what you're making, and you have the space, consider all-grain. It may look intimidating when you read about it, but in practice it's really easy. All you do is add hot water to grain, give it time to convert the starch into sugar, wash the sugar off the grain, and then you're starting where you would be if you had just diluted the extract. Only it doesn't taste like something that was dehydrated and then rehydrated.

Smooth aleing!
 
I will definitely transition into all grain but admittedly it probably won't be for a few more batches. I figure I would like to get more comfortable with brewing in general. Not to mention I need to make some room in the house for that :)
 
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