I'm brewing an extract brew from NB called Waldo Lake Amber. I've never seen this in their instructions before. It is requesting that I add 1 oz of Cacade hops "directly into the boil kettle" immediate after the instruction to "collect and heat 2.5 gallons of water." After this hop addition I am to add the specialty grain until the water reaches 170*, then at boiling I am to add the malt syrup as normal. Once it begins to boil again, the hop schedule starts at this point.
It has never asked me to add hops prior to the normal hop schedule. What is the purpose of this?
In addition, the hops get all over the specialty grain steeping bag.