Cascade vs. Columbus for dry hopping

So I have 3 x 5 gallon buckets of IPA that I want to dry hop. I have about 6 ounces of Cascade and 6 ounces of Columbus. I've used cascade a lot to dry hop and I like it a lot but find it's all citrus (grapefruit) and perhaps a little "thin". I'm hoping the "dank" descriptions i've read for Columbus is the "depth" I'm craving.

I was thinking I'd dry hop 3 different ways...50-50, 1/3-2/3 and 2/3-1/3 but wonder how much. Initial thought was total of 2 ounces per 5 gallons for 5-7 days in a hop sack.

I'm looking for your thoughts on quantities and "blends". maybe 25-75 splits makes more sense with a 50-50 "control"...?

I don't want to overwhelm the cascade though.

Thanks for answering.

I would do it this way to get a more definitive idea of what you like better:

2oz/2oz
3oz/1oz
1oz/3oz

Edit: Re-read your post, yes I concur a 25/75 split is probably the best way to go.

I just went through a huge columbus kick...dry hopping, late additions...it was everywhere. LOVED the results. Go for it. Don't be afraid to go all columbus either just so you can distinguish the profile for later use in mixing. What hops did you use in the boil?

I used:
2 ounces Cascade (5.9%) in first hot wort (FHW)
2.25 ounces Columbus (15.4%) for 60 minutes and
7 ounces Cascade "whirlpool" hopped at 180* for 10 minutes during cool down.

I use a sort of hop spider bag rig so all hops stay in until drained to the fermenters.

Remember, the batch totals 15 gallons.

Hey Calichusetts, what's your favorite "go-to" IPA? Do you like Harpoon IPA? It takes a lot of flack on these forums but I like it for when I'm drinking more than 3 !

Just asking in case you can shed light on what beers taste like your Colum=bus-hopped brew.

Harpoon is quality and often the best option at most restaurants. I like hop bombs in nearly any form...just had sittin on hop of the world by slumbrew, that is really nice. New England just has so many amazing IPAs that I cant really narrow it down. Just had one from Switzerland with NZ hops that was really subtle but well done. Maybe the best IPA that I've had that just came out is Newburyport's Green Head IPA. That is amazing. In cans too. They are just starting so expect to see them more and more. I don't really have a go to IPA because I never buy beers I've had before unless there is no other option.

Dank (for me) often goes well with resin/pine/airy hops. I really liked it with chinook. New Zealand hops work well but they are so delicate that you can really have the columbus take over if you are not careful. I did a summit, cascade, columbus that worked well. It just depends on what your after

I've been trying to pin down the flavor in an IPA I made last year. I thought it was Citra, bought a bunch, brewed...nope. I also had used Columbus and Cascade at the end, and dry hop. I know Cascade's flavor well enough to think that wasn't it either, at least by itself, leaving Columbus. But the 'dank' adjective has given me pause; however, a different description of earthy with a sweet fruit edge made me think it's the flavor I'd like. So I am thinking of a ColumbuSMaSH APA.
Would a half ounce at 60, another half ounce at 15 and an ounce dry hop be enough, or would another ounce at flame out help? The gravity would be mid-50s (I'm still trying to pin down a consistent extraction rate with a batch sparge).

I did a columbus/cascade IPA a few weeks ago. Dryhop was 2oz Cascade, 2oz Columbus.

Boy are the columbus hops potent. Cascade was a very minor player in aroma. If I wanted it balanced next time I'd do 75% Cascade, 25% Columbus or a 60/40. All that said, I really liked the dankness from the Columbus.

Hop schedule for a 1.063/1.009 beer:

0.5oz Columbus (60min)
0.5oz Columbus (20min),
1oz Cascade (10min),
1oz Cascade (1min),
1oz Columbus (1min)
2oz Cascade, 2oz Columbus (10 days)

I have found that I really like Columbus/Amarillo for IPA. I use Columbus for bittering and the Amarillo for flavor and then for the dry hop.

Really, really love the resultant IPA.

^ Bittering is the traditional use for Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

^ Bittering is the traditional use for Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus...

Cheers!

Click to expand...

This may be true, but it's one hell of a tasty hop! I've made two Columbus SMaSH IPAs with 6 ounces of Columbus pellets, they came out incredible.

WDT said:

I did a columbus/cascade IPA a few weeks ago. Dryhop was 2oz Cascade, 2oz Columbus.

Boy are the columbus hops potent. Cascade was a very minor player in aroma. If I wanted it balanced next time I'd do 75% Cascade, 25% Columbus or a 60/40. All that said, I really liked the dankness from the Columbus.

Hop schedule for a 1.063/1.009 beer:

0.5oz Columbus (60min)
0.5oz Columbus (20min),
1oz Cascade (10min),
1oz Cascade (1min),
1oz Columbus (1min)
2oz Cascade, 2oz Columbus (10 days)

Click to expand...

I brewed an IPA with all Centennial (type) hops which is a blend of 75% Cascade and 25% Columbus, it turned out great so I decided to do the same as you and try a 50/50 split to see the difference. I thought the 75/25 was too citrus and needed a little more Columbus. Maybe 60/40 would be better?

MuddyCreek said:

I have found that I really like Columbus/Amarillo for IPA. I use Columbus for bittering and the Amarillo for flavor and then for the dry hop.

Really, really love the resultant IPA.

Click to expand...

second that. CTZ and Amarillo are great together. Amarillo is my absolute favorite dry hop.

I've done 50/50 splits with cascade, chinook, centennial, summit and citra. All seemed to work well.

I would go with cascade. I LOVE the aroma cascade has. I just brewed a RPA today I will be dry hopping with two ounces of cascade

Calichusetts said:

I've done 50/50 splits with cascade, chinook, centennial, summit and citra. All seemed to work well.

Click to expand...

It's hard to go wrong with a combo of C hops. My first before best ipa was columbus, cascade, and chinook. Blended and divided 60,10, 0,and dry

So I am drinking this beer now (well, I will be during tonight's World Series game 2...GO Sox!) and I must say it is really fun and interesting to have 3 beers that only differ in how they were dry hopped. The one that's 75% Columbus is very grape-fruity. A little too much so for me but a hop-head buddy LOVES it. The one that's 75% cascade is far mellower and almost brings Sierra Nevada Pale Ale to mind. The one that's 50-50 is my current favorite. I am not a super hop-head but I like hoppy IPA's. I'm thinking I might want more Cascade but not less Columbus. So in 5 gallons, dry hop with 3 ounces Cascade and 2 ounces Columbus or something like that. By the way, I dry hop in my secondary in bags with sanitized marbles (takes about 15 to hold most of the bag under the surface. When it comes time to bottle I have a piece of stainless "wire" that I hook and suspend the bag with so it gets a chance to drain a little as I siphon to my bottling bucket. Later I have to stick a knife in and cut the bag to get it all out of the carboy. I recommend trying something like this. It's fun and educational.

Nice. Thanks for the update.