boiling
First wort hopping
Add hops to the kettle as wort runs off from the mash, before the boil begins, for a bitterness widely described as smoother and better-integrated.
Also called fwh.
What is actually happening
The hops steep in hot but sub-boiling wort for the duration of the run-off, then go through the full boil. Extended hot contact extracts and transforms hop compounds differently from a boil addition alone.
The reported effect — smoother bitterness and better hop flavour retention than an equivalent early addition — is consistently described by brewers, though the mechanism remains less well characterised than the practice.
Related steps and concepts
- The boil — The step it precedes.
- Isomerisation — What extended hot contact promotes.
Also at the boiling stage
Concentrated lupulin products · Late hopping · The boil · Wet hopping
See the whole process in order on how beer is made.
Last reviewed 2026-08-16.