A hop stand involves adding hops to partially chilled wort after the boil then letting them steep for 20 minutes or so to enhance the aroma. More conventional brewers have claimed 170˚F/77˚C is the optimal temperature to perform a hop stand, though there’s some debate, with some believing cooler temperatures extract more desirable characteristics while others find no notable impact regardless of wort temperature. We decided to test it out by comparing IPAs that were identical with the exception of the hop stand temperature!
