Noble IPA

Can anybody recommend an all noble hop IPA all grain recipe, or a single hop IPA recipe and suggestions of which noble hop you think would be a good substitute? Thanks

If I'm not mistaken, "noble" hops are known for their low bitterness and a more nuetral to earthy quality. I wouldn't think they would make for a great IPA

Noble Pils by Sam Adams is a good beer that I think puts the noble hops on center stage. Its IBU's aren't at the IPA level though. The description on the bottle says it uses all the noble hops. I would see a noble IPA as a amped up version of the Noble Pils which is a good beer. You might use more hops to get the same IBU's but if you like noble hops go for it.

Great points, but I keep going back to the fact that when the British first created this style they didn't have all of the hybrid types of hops we have today. They just added more hops so the beer wouldn't spoil on the way to India. Im just guessing that the hops they did have we're close to noble hops. Am I incorrect?

fluidmechanics said:

Great points, but I keep going back to the fact that when the British first created this style they didn't have all of the hybrid types of hops we have today. They just added more hops so the beer wouldn't spoil on the way to India. Im just guessing that the hops they did have we're close to noble hops. Am I incorrect?

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The hops they had would have definitely been a lot closer to noble hops than most American cultivars are. I've heard of people using noble hops to good end for use in IPAs. A search on this site brings up a number of examples.

I don't know where you're at, but if you're on the east coast, Shipyard makes an all Fuggles IPA. Haven't tried it myself. EKG's might be another option.

Sam Adams made an all-Hallertau Mittelfruh Imperial Pilsner a few years ago that was delicious. Basically, fitting pilsner ingredients into a BIG IPA's numbers. I thought it was great, but quite different than what you think when you hear IPA.

fluidmechanics said:

Great points, but I keep going back to the fact that when the British first created this style they didn't have all of the hybrid types of hops we have today. They just added more hops so the beer wouldn't spoil on the way to India. Im just guessing that the hops they did have we're close to noble hops. Am I incorrect?

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I think you are right. Historic British recipes seem to use quite a lot of
noble hops.

here is one
http://barclayperkins.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/lets-brew-wednesday-1885-ushers-ip.html

many more on this site you might want to look at.

JonnyJumpUp said:

Noble Pils by Sam Adams is a good beer that I think puts the noble hops on center stage. Its IBU's aren't at the IPA level though. The description on the bottle says it uses all the noble hops. I would see a noble IPA as a amped up version of the Noble Pils which is a good beer. You might use more hops to get the same IBU's but if you like noble hops go for it.

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This...I know its not what you are after...but have you tasted it? Its fantastic! Plus there are several recipies out there, you could use it as a starting point and start subbing out the pils malt to the point you like

You don't need to be using high alpha hops to create an IPA, of course you'll just have to add more of what you're using. Maybe people are forgetting English IPAs? Many of them include huge amounts of EKG or Fuggles--technically not noble hops, but many people loosely refer to them as such. I'd say to just use a bunch of what you like to get your IBUs in line with an IPA. I do like the Noble pils suggestion as well; stuff is awesome!

With all the Samuel Adams references, you guys forgot to mention:

Single Hop Latitude "Hallertau Mittelfruh" IPA

I thought it was quite tasty.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ip0f6UI1e...l+Adams+Latitude+48+Hallertau+Mittelfrueh.JPG

bobbrews said:

With all the Samuel Adams references, you guys forgot to mention:

Single Hop Latitude "Hallertau Mittelfruh" IPA

I thought it was quite tasty.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ip0f6UI1e...l+Adams+Latitude+48+Hallertau+Mittelfrueh.JPG

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Oh yummy, that was my favorite of the single hop lat48's!

Check out this thread... a few nobles in there.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/twelve-hopostles-154488/

The Saaz & Hallertau IPAs are fantastic.

With the historical IPAs weren't they really just very large bitterness additions and probably some dry hops in the barrel. There probably wasn't much late hop flavor in those examples I would imagine. I remember seeing a very old english IPA recipe that someone had found and it only had one huge hop addition of EKGs added at the beginning of the boil. That being said I don't think I have ever attempted a noble hop only IPA but a mix of noble hops and american hops yields some good results.

TyTanium said:

Check out this thread... a few nobles in there.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/twelve-hopostles-154488/

The Saaz & Hallertau IPAs are fantastic.

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This was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for posting this.

I would bitter with a high-alpha non-noble and use a lot of nobles at the end. You'd still get the flavor you want, but save a few bucks on hops and lose less to absorption. I suppose you'd end up with something like a doppelsticke alt.

Hey fluid. The variety you want would be the Tettnanger noble variety.
http://beerlegends.com/tettnanger-us-hops

I brewed an attempt at an 1800s IPA a few months ago and while researching I read that when the supply of British hops wasn't sufficient hops would be sourced from Europe and America.

fluidmechanics said:

This was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for posting this.

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Actualy if you go through his comments on what the beers taste like the Saaz one was an unpleasant grass bomb.

...this would be a waste of noble hops as you would need a truckload to make a "noble hop IPA"...don't waste your money...make something else...I think someone recommend a noble Pils....I brewed a 15g noble blond with Saaz 2 weeks ago to experiment with different yeast strands(divided into 5 g each )...I'm waiting on the final results, however, the samples I've tasted are on point...perhaps an experiment on your end is in order....

Sterling? Maybe boost the bitterness with some Magnum.

z-bob said:

Sterling? Maybe boost the bitterness with some Magnum.

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I like the sterling idea. I harvested a bunch this year. Although I'd use hercules or merkur to boost the bitterness.