Hops question while formulating a recipe.

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Shaneoco1981

Shaneoco1981

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I am going to be attempting to make a Smokey pale ale. I am basically going to be taking a standard pale ale recipe, and subbing in some smoked malt for 2 row. I am thinking that I am going to be going with about 20% of my grain bill with the smoked malt. I am thinking that a nice earthy tone hop would be better then a floral or citrus hop. Any thoughts on a good one to use?
 
to try and answer the question, i can see earthy being a better sub for citrus/pine flavors but i would think that if you are doing a smokey pale ale that finishing gravity and mouthfeel are going to be crucial. you want a yeast that won't attenuate so far that ALL you taste is smoke. you also want to make sure that you mash high enough (if you are all grain) to keep some sweetness around to balance the smoke.
 
How about willamette hops? Not terribly earthy like fuggles, but still really nice when you want to get away from citrusy.

Northern brewer hops would be great, too. Not really piney, but sort of woody and almost but not quite minty.

US saaz would be nice, too. Not quite spicy like the Czech saaz, but sort of like that with a hint of floral but not really flowery.
 
cox8611 said:
to try and answer the question, i can see earthy being a better sub for citrus/pine flavors but i would think that if you are doing a smokey pale ale that finishing gravity and mouthfeel are going to be crucial. you want a yeast that won't attenuate so far that ALL you taste is smoke. you also want to make sure that you mash high enough (if you are all grain) to keep some sweetness around to balance the smoke.
Click to expand...

I plan to mash around 156-158 range. I want to keep a nice balance of smoke and malty sweetness, but I am also some what of a hop head. I am shooting for a IBU range around 45 to 50. Williamette is a great hop yooper and I was going to use some to finish with. I thought Williamette was pretty much only used for finishing or dry-hopping. Is it good to use for flavor and bittering as well?
 
Shaneoco1981 said:
I plan to mash around 156-158 range. I want to keep a nice balance of smoke and malty sweetness, but I am also some what of a hop head. I am shooting for a IBU range around 45 to 50. Williamette is a great hop yooper and I was going to use some to finish with. I thought Williamette was pretty much only used for finishing or dry-hopping. Is it good to use for flavor and bittering as well?
Click to expand...

Sure. I'm not a huge fan of it by itself (too "English-y" for me) but you could use it for bittering and flavor as well. I use it for bittering for my oatmeal stout.
 

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