Single Hop Beer

I just kegged, and therefore sampled, my Double Alt, which is hopped with all Spalt hops. I am pretty happy with the flavor, color etc., but I must confess I was surpised that I immediately noticed the lack of hop variety, especially given the grain bill and yeast (WY1007).

Admittedly, I did this somewhat as an experiment because I wanted to see to what extent you can extract different flavors and characteristics at different stages of boil out of a single variety of hop. I think the answer is that, while you can discern the different characteristics from the 60 minute hop additions versus the last five minutes hop additions, there is definitely a certain one-dimensionalness in the aftertaste that I am not used to and didn't really expect. I have only done one other beer with a single hop variety, and that was a fairly mild amber that I did with all Willammette with no regrets. But with a heavier and more complicated beer, I think the lesson is that a combination of hops really does add an extra dimension of flavor and balance to the finished product that a single hop can't provide, even with lots of interval additions during the boil.

I'm not really sure what possessed me to do it, but it was a good learning experience.

That's really interesting. I was planning on doing a light blonde ale early next year, and I had devised a schedule of all Crystal hops, added at pretty short intervals throughout the boil. Perhaps I should throw something else in there.

I just brewed an Imperial Pale with all (3oz) chinook 12% hops. It's still in the secondary, so I can't vouch for taste, but it smells like the best beer ever just in transferring to the carboy. If all goes well, chinook might become my staple hops in most brews, although I too am now concerned about the lack of multiple hop flavors.

I'll try and update this when mine's done.

Most of the Fresh Hop ales served at the last fest in Portland were single hop as well. I think it was more than 80% single hop ales. The one I liked best was all Nuggett.

Jeffg, what hop schedule did you use? I've done a total of 6 single hop beers now, three of which are fermenting now. I put in hops at 60, 30, 15 and 5 minutes and dry hopped as well. I wouldn't say the taste was one-dimensional. There was bitterness, flavor and aroma in there, each beer being slightly different.

One of my favorite beers is BRUTAL BITTER by ROGUE. It is a single hop. Crystal. Verrrrry tasty!!! Maybe the problem with your beer is you just aren't impressed with that variety of hop?

I wouldn't go so far as to say all beers need a mulitple hop addition. I make a mean blonde ale with nothing but amarillos. Mmmm, good stuff. Like said above, maybe you just weren't impressed with the hop variety you used.

I've got an APA headed for the keg this weekend that was brewed with only Columbus hops. I haven't tasted it since just before I dry-hopped it, but I was definately pleased with it.

-walker

Grimsawyer said:

One of my favorite beers is BRUTAL BITTER by ROGUE. It is a single hop. Crystal. Verrrrry tasty!!! Maybe the problem with your beer is you just aren't impressed with that variety of hop?

Click to expand...

That is entirely possible. I tried it again last night after starting this thread and I still feel like something is missing. It is certainly possible that Spalt is simply not dynamic enough to carry an entire beer, yet combined with Saaz or Tettnanger it is tremendous. It is only 4.8%AAU, so it required a significant amount to balance out the 12-14 lbs of grain used. I could see stronger domestic hops like Centennial or Nugget being slightly more dynamic, or even Chinook, which I love, but a lot of people find harsh as a flavoring hop. my schedule was something to the effect of 60, 30, 20, 10, 5 and no flame out.

It's not the end of the world and I certainly don't want to discourage people from expermimenting with single hop beers--I think I am more surprised at the fact that it really is so noticeable. I do plenty of beers with three varieties of hops and have often specualted that it might be overkill and that if I went to two
(or even one) it would not make THAT much difference, but apparently it does.

Double Alt is also a fairly big beer so it was probably not the best choice to engage in this little experiment, but the results really are interesting.

That's encouraging. My little blonde is going to be relatively light in color, body, and maltiness, so a mild hop character will be just fine as well. It's going to be, hopefully, a homebrew SWMBO can enjoy. Small word of advice: porters and christmas ales don't convert!

I suspect the problem was more a matter of the hop, Spalt isn't a hop I would put in a complex, malty ale. Like any of the noble hops, it would take a huge amount of Spalt to make a Double anything. It probably would have been fine in a Pilsner.

At the other end of the scale, I've had an all Columbus IPA. As much as I love it as a bittering hops, I found the result rather harsh.

Since it's kegged, you might try dry hopping with Tettnanger or Saaz. Bottle a few first for later comparisons.

david_42 said:

I suspect the problem was more a matter of the hop, Spalt isn't a hop I would put in a complex, malty ale. Like any of the noble hops, it would take a huge amount of Spalt to make a Double anything. It probably would have been fine in a Pilsner.

At the other end of the scale, I've had an all Columbus IPA. As much as I love it as a bittering hops, I found the result rather harsh.

Since it's kegged, you might try dry hopping with Tettnanger or Saaz. Bottle a few first for later comparisons.

Click to expand...

Well, to be somewhat true to the style, a german Alt should have noble hops, and it is actually plenty bitter. I do have have an ounce of Saaz sitting around though and now you have really got me thinking about chucking it in the keg.

Would I need to sink the hops (whole, not pellet) in the keg in order to get the flavor to diffuse throughout (the beer is drawn off the bottom to the tap)?

Thanks!

There is enough circulation in the keg to spread the hop oils around. Bag the hops and put the bag in the keg for about a week. I'd do 1/2 oz. for a week, then if necessary, the rest for a second week. Nice thing about it being in a keg is you can draw a pint & say, "Perfect!", then pull the bag. I epoxy small hooks inside the lids to make it easy to remove the bag, even though they almost always stay near the top.

Beware of foam-outs while inserting the bag.

I have also done an all Spalt brew and found little to no hop presence. A somewhat boring hop. Probably won't use it again. I like German Hallertaur for any german or euro type beer. Good flavor.

I make loads of brews with a single hop variety. I think they are great. The question I have is why do the every 5 minute kind of schedule to see what different additions would do? I think you will get better information by using different schedules on different brews, so one gets 60, 30 and 5 minute hops, the next 60, 30 and end. By changing and controlling a single variable you can really get a better idea of what is going on.

My reason for trying it is that Dogfish Head does it with their 60 and 90 minute IPAs, and I'm curious to try the continuous hop addition method, to see what it's like. I thought the idea was that doing it in that way would give you a smooth spectrum of flavors, from pure bitterness, through every mid-range of flavor, all the way to the most delicate aroma. With most beers I just add hops twice, but I've got a couple planned that will use the almost continuous hop addition.