Less hops = better ale???

Gentlemen,

I am drinking one of the best tasting ales I have ever brewed.
And I owe it to the hop shortage.
After I started slacking off on hop useage
I noticed a better flavor to my ale.
My recipe is 8 Lbs of DME with speciality grains steeped in,
6 3/4% alcohol.
And whereas I used to use 3/4 oz or 1 oz
of 12%-13% alpha acid hops in the boil,
and 1/2 oz each flavor and aroma hops.
this batch was made with 1 oz of 7.5% Cascade,
and 1/2 oz each flavor and aroma hops.

And at half as much bitterness it is just right.
It is perfectly balanced for my tastes
and not too sweet or too dry.
Not over carbinated and clean good tasting stuff.

I may just drink me another one and then back to work
out in the knife shop.
I am sanding blades and I am fighting rust more than the steel.
The year I spent looking for a lawyer may not have been spent in vain.
But the knives are fine.
I have to sand a little deeper thats all.


Caio Ya'll,


J. Knife

Careful with those knives if you have another brew!

I would tend to agree with you Jack. I have been a hophead for many years, but lately have been cutting back on the IPA's and am really enjoying some less hoppy brews,

I went through an uber hoppy IPA phase as a drinker (before I got into homebrewing) when they first became popular, but I've never had the desire to brew one of those hop monsters, even before the shortage. As a once and awhile thing in a drinking session, fine, but I wouldn't want 5 gallons of it.....I like my beers more balanced...

I'm drinking my basic amber ale recipe, I tried to shoot for a bell's amber clone, and I got it spot on taste wise, but I screwed the pooch on the color....it's 2 srm's darker than bells amber...


6 lbs. Amber Dme.
1.5 lbs. Crystal 60L (Next time I'll go for 30L which will give me the same SRM's as bells....)

I use 2 ounces of 5.9 AA cascade at 60
and 1 ounce at flameout.... It's 40 IBU's but tastes balanced to me...and nothing like the 120 IBU's of Bell's Hopslam....

Hops are important
Flavor good, but bitter sucks
Balance is the key

balance is key, but some people don't undestand that. hopping the **** out of your beers to make them taste better doesn't work.

i'm not a hophead...i used to really indulge in hoppy beers, but i've always liked malty or sweet brews too. i now prefer maltier beers almost exclusively (until i get some more northern brewer hops )

in this hop shortage i often wonder why i see recipes with 100+ IBUs...seems like a waste to me.

JacktheKnife said:

After I started slacking off on hop usage

And whereas I used to use 3/4 oz or 1 oz of 12%-13% alpha acid hops in the boil,
this batch was made with 1 oz of 7.5% Cascade. 1/2 oz & 1/2 oz, flavor and aroma hops, and it is just right.

Click to expand...

Looks to me like you're using 2 oz now where you used to use 3/4-1 oz, unless the flavor and aroma hops applied to both recipes.

About a year ago I found a recipe and tweaked it into my Fat Owl Pale Ale. It uses less hops and is really flavorful but not too bitter.

Moonshae said:

Looks to me like you're using 2 oz now where you used to use 3/4-1 oz, unless the flavor and aroma hops applied to both recipes.

Click to expand...

I was using 2 oz then,
and 2 oz now, but less IBU,
{1/2} In the Boil.


Thanks for pointing that out.

Knife

So, Jack, will this be a permanent change to the 8 lb. Hammerbier recipe?

Brewsmith,

Yes, My 8 Lb hammerbier recipe will have 1 oz of cascade
boiling hops and 1/2 oz each flavor-aroma hops.
This will equal a bit more than half of the amount of bitterness
I have been using.
Specialty grains will be various combinations.


Thanks for asking

Knife

i've always prefered just kettle additions, and maybe a pinch here and there at flame out. bitters and milds are what i've been making the most of, and you can get away without flavor/aroma hops.

Yeah I agree, I used to be a big hophead as well but my beers always tasted way bitter. SWMBO never liked beers that I made (or beer for that matter) because of too much bittering hops. I have since cut my bitter hop additions down and to be honest have made way tastier beers and got the wife to finally like beer. I think there is a point were too much hops really effects the overall profile of a brew, while I still enjoy a good hoppy brew from time to time, I really like being able to taste malts and different additions to beers rather than being overwhelmed by bitter and citrus tones from massive amounts of hops.

I'm not all that experienced as a home brewer, but right off the bat I discovered that I'm a huge fan of heavily hopped beers. There's definitely a balance to be had.

Slightly O/T - Jack is the best poster in this place. Failing to read his stuff is a major sin of omission.