Citrus Hops: Cascade, Centennial, Citra ?

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Jayhem

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I'm brewing a C-Hop APA within a month and the hops I want to use are:

Columbus: Bittering
Cascade, Centennial, Citra for flavor and aroma.


If I want a nice tropical fruit flavor & aroma how would you use these 3 hops and how much of each for a 5.5 gallon batch of American Pale Ale at OG: 1.052? I am thinking equal parts Citra/Cascade/Centennial: 1/2 oz each in last 10 min of boil, 1/3oz each for dry hop.
 
I agree with daksin, dont be shy about the dry hops. An ounce each would be lovely on the nostrils!!
 
how in the world do you guys figure out what hops to use and when to use them?...ive been trying to learn as much as i can and thats something i really want to understand better
 
Junkbrew said:
how in the world do you guys figure out what hops to use and when to use them?...ive been trying to learn as much as i can and thats something i really want to understand better

I struggled with this at first too. It's based on the alpha acids in the variety of hops. Some hops are best for bittering some for aroma and flavor. For example chinook is a high AA hop and because of that it adds a lot of bitterness. It's best to add them early to temper them with the boil. Then late hop additions and dry hopping in your fermenter generally are done with low AA hops and provide flavor and aroma. So doing some research on what the AA of the hop is will tell you where it will be best used. The level of AA remaining, is where you get the IBU (international bitterness unit). This is calculated by what hops you add and when in the boil and what AA are remaining at the end. Hop flavor can vary batch to batch based on the intensity of your boil, so that's why a steady slow rolling boil is important. The AA will dissipate in the steam of you boil. I hope this helps. How to brew by John Palmer is a great resource, it has all the info you need to learn how to brew well, has recipes, and DIY build examples for simple stuff.
 
right on. yea ive got several books and such but most are kinda vague for someone who isnt 100% on the termanolgy and stuff. all of my beers so far have just been following the recipe and instructions but i really wanna get to get so i understand how to make a recipe and have it turn out tasting great. thats a long ways off though
 
how in the world do you guys figure out what hops to use and when to use them?...ive been trying to learn as much as i can and thats something i really want to understand better

This is the dilemma. And it's a bigger dilemma the more you learn. You soon realize the more you learn the less you know. The pool of available hops is incredible. You start with this idea like, "C hops work in IPAs". Yes, that is true. But then someone comes along with something off the wall and makes a fantastic beer with seemingly incompatible hops that just shines.

Certain combinations work, and some don't. It's like cooking. Certain spice combinations work well. Look at pumpkin pie. It's spiced with clove, allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon. They blend beautifully but on their own each is fairly different. Using just allspice wouldn't have the right flavor. You need all of them, but in the right amounts or it sucks.

But if you piggyback on what you know works, you can make some presumptions about additional spices that might work. Grains of paradise might work in pumpkin pie in lieu of allspice since both have a tingly /spicy quality to them. Or adding some black pepper into the mix instead of clove since both are aromatic and spicy. Ginger adds a nice spicy zing that could replace the cinnamon maybe.

Take that metaphor and think of it like that for brewing, which is really like an elaborate form of cooking.

What I would do is look at beers you like. Try to find a recipe and take some notes on what they use for hopping schedules. Look at a lot of recipes. Northern Brewer generously puts recipes for all their beer kits online which lists the hopping schedule. Brewing Classic Styles has a wealth of recipes some of which are a loose clone of commercial beers.

Email breweries you like and ask what they use for hopping schedules. It's our hometown brewery, so I'm biased, but Boulevard is super homebrewer friendly going so far as to tell you an entire recipe, hop amount and time, grain bill, and mash temp if you ask. Avery publishes recipes on their website.

From the original post:
"If I want a nice tropical fruit flavor & aroma how would you use these 3 hops "

The way the question is framed is perfectly. This is how I think you make a great beer. Start with the end in mind. Then find hops that will do this. In most cases, the descriptions available on websites selling hops will describe the flavors somewhat. Reading about the lineage of a hop variety helps establish some common features.

Reading will only take you so far. So be prepared to make some mistakes. You'll learn a lot from the big screwups. I do.
 
very helpful advice...it seems like the hardest part of learning this stuff is figuring out where and how the easiest way to learn it. btw im a big fan of boulevard myself, bout 3 hours from my house, they make some good ****!
 
For a smooth, tropical, highly aromatic APA...

*Bitter with Columbus to 15-25 IBUs.
*Add enough Cascade & Centennial at 10-5 min. to get you to the appropriate IBU count.
*Warm Aroma steep 160-100 F with 1.5-2.0 oz. total Centennial & Citra after the boil.
*Dryhop another 2 oz. Centennial and Citra for 7 days.

For added complexity, sub some Columbus in there later on. And for an IPA, bump up all of these amounts slightly.
 
For a smooth, tropical, highly aromatic APA...

*Bitter with Columbus to 15-25 IBUs.
*Add enough Cascade & Centennial at 10-5 min. to get you to the appropriate IBU count.
*Warm Aroma steep 160-100 F with 1.5-2.0 oz. total Centennial & Citra after the boil.
*Dryhop another 2 oz. Centennial and Citra for 7 days.

For added complexity, sub some Columbus in there later on. And for an IPA, bump up all of these amounts slightly.

Thanks! So the "warm aroma steep" is that the same thing as what I've heard as "hop whirlpool"?
Can I leave that 1.5-2 oz of hops in the wort or should I leave them in a hop bag and pull them out once the wort is <100F? If they aren't going to hurt to just toss into the wort (pellets) I'd rather do that.

That makes sense as if you put all your aroma hops in at flame out you are putting hops into 210 degree water which will drive off a lot of aroma.

I'm going to give this a try with your suggestion! :tank:
 
Yes, it is a warm aroma steep / hop whirlpool. Somewhat different than your typical flameout addition. The main goal is that you want these hops to steep at "warm" temperatures, which offers something different than a boiling hot or a cold steep.

I avoid racking the whirlpool hops to primary after warm steeping period of 20-30 minutes. Slightly longer won't hurt, but whether bagging them or not, I don't typically transfer the whirlpool hops into the primary.

But certainly, leave all of your whirlpool hops in the kettle until you rack to primary. No reason to remove them once it hits 100 F.... wait until you're at the low 60's to remove them. Just be very sanitary in your practices as to not cause infection.
 
I struggled with this at first too. It's based on the alpha acids in the variety of hops. Some hops are best for bittering some for aroma and flavor. For example chinook is a high AA hop and because of that it adds a lot of bitterness. It's best to add them early to temper them with the boil. Then late hop additions and dry hopping in your fermenter generally are done with low AA hops and provide flavor and aroma. .

I'd say this is traditional theory but not the whole story. American citrusy IPA's are my favorite style and IMO Chinook, Citra and Simcoe (all high AA) are some of the best hops to use for late and dryhop additions. I have one on tap now that has Simcoe and citra at 10 min, chinook and citra at flameout, and a combo of the three for dryhopping. Yummy.

Columbus is another high AA hop that plays well with the others in late additions like bob mentions. His schedule sounds good to me, OP!
:mug:
 

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