Changing hops in a recipe?

What's up y'all I am still a newbie and haven't messed with changing ingredients. I have left over hops in the freezer that I want to use rather than buying more and wasting money. I am making the White House Porter recipe which calls for 1oz Target and 1oz Hallertau. In the freezer I have 1oz of both Willamette and Columbus hops. Can I substitute these in the recipe and if so which is better for bittering and aroma? Thanks!

Here's a really good blog with all the common hops, their alpha acids content, and whether they are bittering, for flavor and aroma, or dual-purpose. http://therulingglass.blogspot.com/p/a-drinkers-guide-to-hops-archive.html?m=1

How alpha acids work is that if you have a hop with 15% AA (which is very high) you will need a lot less of it than if you used a 5% AA hop. You also have to be careful not to over-bitter the beer. The hops are there to balance the malt and if you throw the balance too far off, the beer will either be too bitter or too sweet. You also have to balance the hops with the alcohol. A lower gravity beer does not need as many hops as a high gravity beer.

Search for a recipe calculator. Put your grain bill and hop schedule in and see what you get as far as OG, ABV, and IBUs.

You could probably sub Willamette for either of the original hops, but the Columbus isn't an easy sub for either, IMO. Now, it's your beer - toss the numbers into a recipe calculator (Beersmith or one of the online free programs) and see what you come up with. Could be awesome.

Ok here is the recipe. Does this look good?

Looks pretty tasty and "balanced." You want the sweetness to shine through on this one. Your numbers look good.

masskrug said:

Looks pretty tasty and "balanced." You want the sweetness to shine through on this one. Your numbers look good.

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I couldn't find Gold LME in the software. Does what I chose look ok? Is Briess LME Golden Light the same as Gold LME? The original recipe calls for 6LBS of Gold LME, but I couldn't find that generic name in the software.

Columbus is dank and a bit harsh- I'd not use that for the late addition if that is what that says - it's pretty small on my little screen!

You could bitter with it (about 1/2 ounce or maybe even less, depending on the AAUs) and then use the willamette at the end.

I say go for it and see what you get. Like others said "your numbers look good". You will make something that is all yours.

Yooper said:

Columbus is dank and a bit harsh- I'd not use that for the late addition if that is what that says - it's pretty small on my little screen!

You could bitter with it (about 1/2 ounce or maybe even less, depending on the AAUs) and then use the willamette at the end.

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Well for that to work it would have to be 0.3 oz of columbus hops. I guess this is a strong hop. I will try this and add the willamette later in the boil.

454k30 said:

I say go for it and see what you get. Like others said "your numbers look good". You will make something that is all yours.

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I can't wait