WTF!??!! HORSERADISH BEER?! What the heck did I brew?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jdlev

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2010
Messages
667
Reaction score
15
Location
Charlotte
So I haven't been able to recreate my world famous Pedro's Lager correctly. It's the classic case of substituting hops the first time around, and not remembering what I put in there. DOH! The hop schedule was:
(10g batches)
90min .5oz Northern
60min 2.5oz Crystal
15min .5oz Crystal

The dang lager tastes like a piney horseradish! I've tried filtering it, aging it, and nothing has worked. It still tastes like piney horseradish. This hop schedule has been duplicated across 2 separate 10g batches, so I don't believe it has anything to do with contaminants and BOTH taste like Horseradish. Would the Crystal or Northern hops give it that piney horseradishy type of bitterness?

Let me just say...the 15min crystal hops for aroma is DEFINITELY a keeper. It smells like heaven. But when you take a taste...it's just painful the difference :(

Thanks for the help guys! Prost!
 
Northern Brewer hops definitely have an earthy, piney character. I can see some people not enjoying it, but it is one of my favorites.
 
You really think that .5oz of Northern Hops can have that profound of an impact on 10g of homebrew? I suppose the 90m boil time certainly wouldn't help things. I guess that means I tossed 20g of homebrew over 1oz of hops! GRRRRRrrrrr!!!!

I guess the only way to be certain would be to make a tea out of the northern & crystal hops and see if I taste any hints of horseradish.
 
I think you're on to something OClair:

NORTHERN BREWER [LEAF] [PELLET]
7-11% All Purpose
A true dual-purpose hop containing moderate amounts of alpha acids combined with an acceptable aroma profile. Neutral, clean aroma, woody with evergreen and mint overtones and slightly higher-than-average bittering value.
Used For: Good for bittering with strong flavors and very fragrant. Steam beers, English-style Ales, ESB, Bitter, Porter, and German lagers.
Substitutes: Galena, Perle.

I'll let you know if the tea proves it was the northern hops.
 
Back
Top