Commercial Simcoe Beers

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alexdagrate

alexdagrate

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What are some widely available beers with Simcoe hops in them?

I've started making some fantastic IPAs and CDAs with this hop and I've enjoyed New Belgium Ranger, Russian River Pliny the Elder, and Port Brewing Wipeout. Are there other commerical beers with Simcoe that I can find in the PNW?
 
alexdagrate said:
What are some widely available beers with Simcoe hops in them?

I've started making some fantastic IPAs and CDAs with this hop and I've enjoyed New Belgium Ranger, Russian River Pliny the Elder, and Port Brewing Wipeout. Are there other commerical beers with Simcoe that I can find in the PNW?
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Hopslam is dry hopped with Simcoe and carries that flavor quite strongly, but beer on the shelves now is past its prime (and I'm not sure they distribute out your way).
 
Not sure if Weyerbacher makes it all the way to the left coast, but if you ever have the chance grab some double simcoe IPA. It is pure hop candy!!
 
Magic Hat makes Roxy Rolles, it's a "hoppy amber ale". They use Simcoe for the flavoring hop. Too bad it's only around in the autumn...
 
alexdagrate said:
What are some widely available beers with Simcoe hops in them?

I've started making some fantastic IPAs and CDAs with this hop and I've enjoyed New Belgium Ranger, Russian River Pliny the Elder, and Port Brewing Wipeout. Are there other commerical beers with Simcoe that I can find in the PNW?
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How's the NB Ranger? It sounds good...Simcoe, Chinook and Cascade seems like a great hop combo!
 
alexdagrate said:
How much for an 1/8 of a bale, including shipping?

Do they sell bulk amounts of pellets as well? What's the minimum order? 25 lbs or so?
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You have to call them. They are very nice and mostly deal with craft brewery sized customers but they will sell their min's to anyone with $ :)

I don't know how much it costs because I met them last week at the Chicago Beer Expo and they gave me 3#'s of free hops, one lb was Simcoe :) So I don't know prices, just that they have a crud load of it to sell...
 
pava said:
Not sure if Weyerbacher makes it all the way to the left coast, but if you ever have the chance grab some double simcoe IPA. It is pure hop candy!!
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I've found it 2 different places in the past 2 weeks. The first was so disappointing that I thought it must've been a bad bottle, but the second was equally insipid.

I definitely wouldn't call it hop candy. It has a heavy malt attack at the outset, and a kind of oily, syrupy mouthfeel. It finishes with a lot of hop bitterness, but the cloying sweetness always dominates--and the hops sadly lack any real Simcoe character or really any flavor or aroma, bordering on an almost aspirin-like generic bitterness.

I'm tempted to put it in the category with Dogfish Head 120 as a "how the heck do they put that many hops in something and still have it be saccharine sweet and lacking in hop flavor?" enigma, but unlike Dogfish I haven't had it fresh on tap so I'm waiting until I do before passing final judgment.
 
mullenite said:
That doesn't sound at all like the Double Simcoe I know and love. I think you might be getting old bottles.
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I got the bottles from 2 different places, but both on the East coast so it's possible. Like I said, I haven't had it fresh on tap so I'm waiting until I do before passing final judgment.
 
Big Sky Brewing Company's IPA is hopped with Simcoe and I believe EKG's. Look for it on draft as it tastes much different than the bottled version.
 
I live in PA (within 2hrs of the brewery) and have gotten old bottles before that don't resemble the fresh version of this beer so I know what you are talking about. Older bottles are definitely no where near as good as this beer can be when fresh. Here's hoping that you will have the opportunity to try some fresh.:mug:
 
SumnerH said:
I got the bottles from 2 different places, but both on the East coast so it's possible. Like I said, I haven't had it fresh on tap so I'm waiting until I do before passing final judgment.
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I find most double IPAs to be too sweet. The Weyerbacher Double Simcoe, though, seems a better balance of not being too sweet. Maybe you've had old bottles or maybe double IPAs might be too sweet for you. I know if I'm looking for a real hop monster, I reach for an IPA.
 
SumnerH said:
I've found it 2 different places in the past 2 weeks. The first was so disappointing that I thought it must've been a bad bottle, but the second was equally insipid.

I definitely wouldn't call it hop candy. It has a heavy malt attack at the outset, and a kind of oily, syrupy mouthfeel. It finishes with a lot of hop bitterness, but the cloying sweetness always dominates--and the hops sadly lack any real Simcoe character or really any flavor or aroma, bordering on an almost aspirin-like generic bitterness.

I'm tempted to put it in the category with Dogfish Head 120 as a "how the heck do they put that many hops in something and still have it be saccharine sweet and lacking in hop flavor?" enigma, but unlike Dogfish I haven't had it fresh on tap so I'm waiting until I do before passing final judgment.
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That was not the beer I drank. Yours must've been old.
 
Wait a sec., I thought hop monsters can last years and in fact will get better over time? You guys think these old IPA's got skunked or suffered from road sickness (shaken over and over)? Or does the bottled version of these beers just not make it?

I had the opposite experience with Pliny the Elder by the way. I had a bottle of it and that was perhaps one of the most amazing beers I've ever had. It is also Simcoe(y) but it has many other dry hopped hops to flavor around and in addition to the Simcoe. Like Warrior, Columbus, and Centennial, oh and Chinook even but that's in the main boil... But the combo of the Simcoe, Columbus and Centennial make up about 7oz of hops for the dry hop.

That said, in general I've not had too many IPA's in bottles that I liked at all. DFH90 is an exception - never had the 120 but the 90 tasted pretty good to me. I was drinking it whilst consuming spicey blue crabs so that may have contributed to the whole experience. IPA's really have a way of going with food, this in itself may shed some light on some bad IPA tastings. Personally if I am tasting a bunch of different beers and there are IPA's in the mix, the hop character can mess my tongue up so much the subsequent tastings are biased from there on until I can really clear the pallet.
 
Netflyer said:
Wait a sec., I thought hop monsters can last years and in fact will get better over time? You guys think these old IPA's got skunked or suffered from road sickness (shaken over and over)? Or does the bottled version of these beers just not make it?
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Hops degrade with age. Dry-hopped beers especially are best consumed young.

That said, in general I've not had too many IPA's in bottles that I liked at all. DFH90 is an exception - never had the 120 but the 90 tasted pretty good to me.
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DH 90 and 60 are both good beers. Try blending them--they do that at their brew pub and call it a 75.
 

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