Which Hop To Use?

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rodwha

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I recently acquired 2 small food grade buckets from my local grocer. They ought to handle 2 gals.

I am considering making an ale that is similar to a light BMC for those who prefer their beer in such a way. I plan to make it something like MoreBeer's American Light Ale. I'd try for 8-10 IBU's I suppose. Maybe 0.1 oz @ 60 mins with little DME in the boil (1/2 lb rice DME and 1/4 lb carapils).

I would also make a pale ale and would split 1 oz of hops between the two. The pale I'd make 40-45 IBU's as an introduction to hoppy beer to help along those who don't care so much for an IPA.

I'm not really looking for highly bitter, but a strong hop presence, and so I'm thinking 0.2 oz @ 60+ mins, 0.4 oz @ 15 mins, and 0.3 oz @ 5 mins.

MoreBeer offers Santiam (5-8%), Tettnanger (4-5%), and Vanguard (5-6%). Of those which should I use? I want plenty of flavor in the pale, but not so noticeable in the "mild ale." In this "mild ale" I'd want it something similar to Bud Light I guess...
 
I'm considering much higher AA% hops and using minuscule amounts in this "mild."
How would it work if I were to use a hop such as Columbus with a mere 0.05-0.075 oz as a 45-60 min bittering only addition?

At 45 mins will it still leave some hop flavor? I'm trying to use the 1/4 lb of carapils with the 1 lb of rice DME for the boil, and adding the light DME at flameout to preserve the light color.
 
I was originally looking at "nobleish" hops... But I'm not sure if I care for a hopppy pale made with them as a large portion of the aromatic addition.
 
I used Hallertaus in a light "lawnmower beer" blonde ale I brewed last summer. 1 oz at the 60 min, and 1 ounce at the 2 min. Not bitter at all.

Edit: This is for a 5 gallon boil.

Gary
 
How would an all Apollo or Bravo pale turn out? It states they are generally used only for bittering...
 
@ 45 minutes,their might be a little flavor left,but not a lot to me. For the BMC crowd,I def think Czech saaz or NZ motueka would be good with some German noble hops. The intro to hops one you could use a little American hos like columbus,cascade,or amarillo. But in reduced quantities.
 
I figure a noble type hop would be ideal for this "mild ale", but I'm not so sure it would make a wonderful high IBU pale.

I've been using Liberty, Willamette, Perle, and Mt Hood mostly in my lower IBU beers, and they turn out quite well. I like it in wheats, blondes, and ambers.
 
The beuaty of homebrewing is you don't have to go by the rules. Just because a hop says "aroma" doesn't mean it can only be used later in the boil.

I make a hoppy Amber that uses 7 oz of Cascades. 1 oz additions at 60, 20, 10, 5, and 2 minutes. Then 2 oz for dry hop. Cascades are an "aroma" hop. But this beer turns out with nice hop flavor, and a nice bitterness as well.

Gary
 
Bravo is nice, not overly harsh as a buttering hop. If your looking for a really clean bitterness I suggest magnum or maybe warrior. I have no experience with Apollo so can't help you with that.
 
There won't be any mixing of hops in these. They'd share 1 oz of something...
 
So now I am tossing around Apollo, Bravo, Centennial, and Columbus to use as I like the higher AA% for use in my pale to introduce to hoppy beer. But as long as it doesn't sacrifice the "mild" that I'll try once to say I tried it...
 
Seems like trying to work with the really high AA hops made things kinda weird. I'm now leaning towards Centennial hops.
 
Centenial for the intro to hops would be fine. But haulertauer or saaz for the BMC crowd beer would be the same sort of hops used in commercial examples of the style.
 
Yea. And that's how I felt when I first jumped on the calculator and began working on the "mild", but after considering that the bulk will make up a hoppy pale I kinda wondered if I'd care much for it. Granted it's only a 2 gal batch, but I don't like making crappy beers.

I haven't used any of the low AA hops to make a higher IBU beer before. Yea or nay?
 
In a way this "mild" is to help them transition to "better" beer.
I see some of these people often enough that I can entice them!
 
Although I could certainly balance out the additions, I was designing the pale with minimal bittering hops and slamming the flavoring and aromatic additions reaching for 45 IBU's.
 
For this "mild" I'd only be adding a minuscule bittering addition. Would using Centennial stand out compared to a noble type of hop?
 
Centennials are one of my favorite hops. It's strong citrus overtones may drown out any noble additions. Noble hops like Hallertau and Saaz have a very mild bitterness to them. No comparison to the American style "C" hops.

Gary
 
The idea of using such a small bittering addition (0.075 oz) seems so odd, and not worth a hop bag. Of course I wouldn't bother with a muslin bag.

There wouldn't be any other additions. It would be one bittering addition and nothing more.
 
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