Columbus subing for Chinook

I brewed today but forgot I had finished my Chinook so I substituted Columbus which I have not used before. It had a less than pleasing aroma when I tossed it into the boil. What are your thoughts on this hop?

IMO, there really isn't a substitute for Chinook. It's one of those hops that has its own distinctive vibe. That said, Columbus is one of my favorite hops in general. It forms the backbone of my Pale Ale recipe, and I bitter almost everything with it.

I find it like Cascade but more pungent and rough. It's a good aroma hop and a bittering hop with a solid bite. Simcoe is more like Chinook.

Conroe said:

I find it like Cascade but more pungent and rough. It's a good aroma hop and a bittering hop with a solid bite. Simcoe is more like Chinook.

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Do you think so? Perhaps more like it, but I find that I love Chinook, and am not too fond of Simocoe. It can be ok (in 60 and 90 min) but I wouldn't have thought that they are really all that similar... Maybe I don't know what I'm tasting... but I thought Chinook, Columbus, and Simcoe were all pretty distinct.

When I was buying the ingredients for my third batch of beer, an IPA from my own recipe, the HBS didn't have Chinook plugs which I wanted to use for my bittering hop. They suggested Columbus as a substitute so I went with it simply because I really really like using hop plugs. This recipe was bottled three weeks ago and is carbonating up nicely and the flavor is excellent (Columbus for bittering with Cascade for the flavoring).

I do want to try this same recipe with the Chinook as well to see the difference but I'm quite please with the Columbus so far.