Single Hop Apollo IIPA

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BuckettOfBeer

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I just bought 9 ounces of Apollo Hops (they listed them at 18 - 21% AA) from Northern Brewer. I thought I'd might as well try to get a little bold and go for a decent strength single hopped double IPA. Here's the recipe:

5 gallon
OG: ~1.077
IBU: some high number

6 lb Northern Brewer Pilsen LME
3 lb Briess Pilsen DME
1 lb Crystal 20L
1 lb Honey

Apollo additions

1 oz "FWH"
.5 oz at 60 min
1 oz at 20 min
1 oz at 10 min
2.5 oz flameout
3 oz dry hop

1 L starter of Wyeast 1056

Now here's the kicker. I've never used Apollo hops before. Why would I plunge into the unknown? Well, they're high alpha, cheap, and have a bad ass name! (and also #yolo :rockin: )

But seriously, I'm looking to see if any one has experience with this hop. It's obviously a potent bittering agent, but how's the flavor and aroma? Will this beer kick ass or fall flat? Sorry about the yolo earlier too :D
 
Apollo smells nice. It's pretty dank, and there's some citrus in there too. That should be a good beer (I'm assuming the honey is actual honey, not honey malt)

And please refrain from saying yolo unless you're a 19yr old girl. Haha
 
I agree with scottland.

I would brew this beer via a full volume boil with no top off water...

Personally, I think it would be better with 2-row DME, a traditional 60 min. bitter addition of 40 IBUs in place of FWH, more honey in place of some extract, and another hop or two for added complexity. Minor things really. Just be sure you're not adding the honey to hot wort or those delicate aromas will be destroyed.
 
I definitely think this beer might be "better" in conjunction with other hops but the point is really to show off the Apollos. When would you add honey to get the most from it. Chilled wort before pitching? During fermentation?
 
The honey's main purpose should be to dry out the beer. You won't taste much honey, if at all. If you want honey flavor use a little honey malt. Maybe 4oz. Don't use much, it gets overwhelming quickly.

Make sure it include some simple sugar whether it be honey or dextrose, it will help dry the beer out.
 
scottland,

I've encountered pleasant honey aromas by pitching 10-15% of good quality honey during the tail end of active fermentation and also by adding it to pre-100 F wort before pitching the yeast... Had a tad more aroma with the former practice. As long as the rest of the grist and yeast do not accentuate a ton of malty flavors, and the hop aroma and bitterness is not overbearing, then you should get some aromatic character from the honey.

Honey malt is more of a nutty honey flavor, not so much aroma. But I agree on using small amounts of honey malt to achieve that goal.
 
I have been using apollo a lot lately. I swear it has a little bit of a gasoline/kerosene kinda thing going on. I would describe it as a grapefruit dipped in a bit of gasoline. In a good way if that makes sense.
 
Thanks for the replies, guys! I've heard dank is the most apt description - the gasoline description is uhhh interesting haha. Now I've just got to find the time to brew!
 
I made an Apollo/MO SMaSH that I like. Did a hop burst from 20mins on every 5 mins. Target 48 IBUs in 3 gallons only used 1oz or hops. Dry hopped a week with another ounce. All pellets. Turned out pretty good.
 
I thought this was an interesting hop. Used it almost exclusively in an IPA and noticed that it really changed in the bottle over about 6 weeks. Started out with a lot of orange oil and spice aroma, and as time went on it evolved to more of a dank funk Columbus-like thing. Given the price point I'm definitely interested in trying it against another grain bill.
 
I know someone who did this, and they were happy with the results. I'm sorry I can't be more descriptive. And I also would like to reverse Scott's comment that you should never ever say YOLO. Or use hash tags.
 
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