If you are first wort hopping with specialty grains, do you leave the hops in during the boil also (if they are not to be the bittering hops) or pull them out?

The way I do it is, instead of adding bittering hops during the boil, I use them as a first wort addition. I don't think I'd bother taking out the hops before boiling because a good portion of the hops oils will already be in the wort, which is what you're wanting, anyway.

Cheers,
Dave

I'm not clear on what is meant by "First Wort Addition". Is this adding your hops to the run-off before boiling? I still learn so much...

You've got it Curlyfat. Instead of waiting to add your hops to the boil, you add your first wort hops addition to the runoff while you're sparging. Then you just carry them over into the boil. It's supposed to make for a less harsh bitterness, and increased hop flavor. Here's one of many articles on FWH'ing:
http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2008/03/1 ... echniques/

Give it a try sometime! I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Cheers,
Dave

I know it's a small little thing to do, but I'm a little shocked I'd never heard of it. I'll try it this next week. I'm planning on a batch of IPA, sounds like a perfect one to try it on!

Would this be in the same "less harsh" category as boiling the bittering hops for longer then an hour? I know after a certain point you can't extract any more bitterness from the hops and actually start to loose some of the bitterness. I wonder if that's the same science behind this strategy?