Chinook Ale, please critique

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The Soft Underbelly

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Okay, I have quite a few Chinook hops that will be ripening in the next few days, and many more there after, I should have enough to do this recipe.

My idea is to brew one batch with each of my three home grown hops with the idea that this will give me an idea of flavor, aroma and bittering properties.

My goal is an American Style Pale Ale. For those of you who have experience with these things, please critique my recipe and let me know what you think might be improved. Naturally the AA% is an estimate. I've read somewhere on this forum that those who use home grown for bittering can take the median range and use it rather effectively assuming decent growing conditions etc...

7lbs Amber LME

1/2 lb Crystal 40L steeped 15-20 min prior to boiling

1.25 oz Chinook (13%) @ 60 min

.5 oz Chinook (13%) @ 20 min

.5 oz Chinook (13%) @ 5 min

Safale US-05

I'd be using a 2 gallon boil.

Ive never brewed with Chinook before and from what I've read here, it seems to be a love it or hate it type hop, so any feedback on what an ale like this might taste like would be welcome as well.

Thanks in advance.
 
arrogant bastard is all chinook. here's a couple clone recipes:

* 11.5 pounds pale two-row malt
* 1.5 pounds crystal 120
* 1.25 oz chinook pellets (12.5 aa%) (15.6 AAUs) @ 90 min
* 1.0 oz chinook pellets (12.5 AAUs) @ 30 min
* 0.5 oz chinook pellets (6.25 AAUs) @ flame out
* 1 tsp Irish moss
* White Labs WLP007 or WLP001 (English Ale Yeast)


Grains

15.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row)
0.50 lb Aromatic Malt
0.50 lb Biscuit Malt
0.50 lb Caramunich Malt
0.50 lb Special B Malt

Hops
1.00 oz Chinook [13.00%] (60 min)
1.00 oz Chinook [13.00%] (45 min)
1.00 oz Chinook [13.00%] (2 min)
 
those recipes look like something i might try. That seems to be a good deal of malt though, any idea if those are 5 gallon recipes?
 
Arrogant Bastard is a fairly big beer- that's a 5 gallon batch there. I'm not one to drink big beers real often, but 5 gallons of the Bastard would be a great thing to have on hand.
 
I'll dry the hops before using. I wont be brewing for a week or two anyway, but wanna get my recipe in order before doing anything. Is the fact that Arrogant Bastard (very apropos since I've been called that many times) such a big beer related to the fact that Chinook is a very bitter hop? in other words, does all that malt compliment the "harshness" described above?

I've read in a separate thread on this board that 1 lb grain = .75 lb LME = .6 lb DME... so in the recipe that calls for 11.25lbs of grain, I'd use 8.4lbs of LME? Then just steep the crystal at the same rate? Or is converting that recipe more complicated than that?
 
Your conversion looks good. I think the big maltiness of Arrogant Bastard provides a counterpunch to the intensity of the Chinook hops, giving you the opportunity to use a decent amount of them and get a lot of their flavor without overwhelming a lighter-flavored beer. AB comes in 22 oz bottles here, so maybe you can pick one up locally before you brew up a batch.
 
Okay, I have quite a few Chinook hops that will be ripening in the next few days, and many more there after, I should have enough to do this recipe.

My idea is to brew one batch with each of my three home grown hops with the idea that this will give me an idea of flavor, aroma and bittering properties.

My goal is an American Style Pale Ale. For those of you who have experience with these things, please critique my recipe and let me know what you think might be improved. Naturally the AA% is an estimate. I've read somewhere on this forum that those who use home grown for bittering can take the median range and use it rather effectively assuming decent growing conditions etc...

7lbs Amber LME

1/2 lb Crystal 40L steeped 15-20 min prior to boiling

1.25 oz Chinook (13%) @ 60 min

.5 oz Chinook (13%) @ 20 min

.5 oz Chinook (13%) @ 5 min

Safale US-05

I'd be using a 2 gallon boil.

Ive never brewed with Chinook before and from what I've read here, it seems to be a love it or hate it type hop, so any feedback on what an ale like this might taste like would be welcome as well.

Thanks in advance.
I like the Chinnok hop for bittering in a beer. I brewed a 10 gal batch of an IPA that I dry hopped with Chinook instead of the usual Cascade. It gives the IPA much more of a harsh bittering flavor compared to Cascade. My personal vote would be to use another hop for your flavor and aroma additions.
 
Your conversion looks good. I think the big maltiness of Arrogant Bastard provides a counterpunch to the intensity of the Chinook hops, giving you the opportunity to use a decent amount of them and get a lot of their flavor without overwhelming a lighter-flavored beer. AB comes in 22 oz bottles here, so maybe you can pick one up locally before you brew up a batch.

Arrogant Bastard is one of my favorite brews. I leave a couple miles from Stone Brewery so I get to drink it off the gap locally. "Big" means it packs a ABV and a flavor punch. I love this beer. If you follow the recipe shown above, I'm sure you will be satisfied. Good luck!
BTW, what are the chances you can share that Chinook?:fro:

Cheers!:mug:
 
Arrogant Bastard is one of my favorite brews. I leave a couple miles from Stone Brewery so I get to drink it off the gap locally. "Big" means it packs a ABV and a flavor punch. I love this beer. If you follow the recipe shown above, I'm sure you will be satisfied. Good luck!
BTW, what are the chances you can share that Chinook?:fro:

Cheers!:mug:

BTW, WLP007 is what Stone Brewery uses for this beer.
 
I've brewed a few AB clones in my day, and in my experience the "grassy" taste doesn't really go away until about 3 months in the bottle. But well worth it, its a damn fine brew!
 
I'm gonna have to go find that beer. The local mega liquor mart, Binny's, ought to have it, god know they have everything else under the sun. As for the hops, I still can bring myself to harvest the damn things, patience is seldom a virtue of mine, but here it seems to be....
 
Arrogant Bastard is a great beer and all Chinook can make a great beer.
However i do think it needs more malt backbone than an APA usually has.

The Brown and Hoppy in my Recipes is an all Chinook beer that I really liked.

Now I might have to use some of my fresh Chinook hops that will be ready soon to make an AB type beer. :D

Good luck

Craig
 
That's too many hops (for me at least) at the beginning. I like to go easy on them at the beginning and really lay 'em on during the last 20 minutes to get a good balance of bitterness/flavor/aroma. Also, a little wheat malt (0.5-1 lb) never hurts to improve body and add head.
 
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