Multi purpose hops

I've recently managed to quire a few 1 gallon demijohns and I was thinking about setting up some ‘trial batches’. Just make up a few one gallon beers of different styles, bottle and taste before I commit myself to using a large amount of ingredients for a beer that I may not like.
I’m just looking for suggestions. I’m dead keen on trying an American IPA. This is apparently the beer that turned the US from the land that wrought CMB on the world to the premier beer country. I was looking for a fine example. Would the All Amarillo be a good example? Reading the thread it seems to benefit from a 25% increase in hops.

Since the volume will be small I thought it might be an idea to try some all grain recipies as well as extract recipies in there, just to (not literally) get my feet wet, but I really don’t know if this would be advisable.

I’ll probably be going for something along the lines of 3 different beers to try initially. And I’m really looking for things that really exemplify the reason for homebrewing; interesting flavourful and different.
PS I realize I could go out and buy a commercial beer that tastes like style X, but that just seems like cheating

It's not cheating. Go to a local wine/beer store and get a Sierra Nevada Torpedo, Bell's Two Hearted Ale, Lagunitas IPA, and Bear Republic Racer 5. The Sierra Nevada gives you an idea what american pales are all about. Granted IPAs are a different gig altogether but it will give you an idea of the difference between a top notch pale ale and a top notch IPA, and tastes great too.

Also I don't believe there is any particular problem w/1 gallon batches from a quality standpoint. You'd be able to make 1 gal batches. The problem is that it would be an incredible pain in the ass, and that's an understatement. You're gonna spend 3-4 hours crafting a specialty beer for a 10-pack? No way. Find a beer you realllly like then make a full batch of it, then tweak from there.

Sierra nevada uses Magnum for the back end bitterness. Centenial is popular also. Cascade embodies all that is American Pale, but you gotta use a lot of it.

I would consider 3 gallon batches instead of 1 gallon batches. cvstrat suggested doing what I generally do, starting with a clone of a beer that I like a lot, and then tweaking it a bit.

koomber said:

PS I realize I could go out and buy a commercial beer that tastes like style X, but that just seems like cheating

Click to expand...

Peshaw... YAC-YAT is my motto.

You
Ain't
Cheatin

You
Ain't
Tryin

I don't know about cheating...cause you aren't going to end up making the exact commercial beer anyway. It just gives you a frame of reference. As far as the quantity, you will be spending a good part of your day creating this masterpiece, so why not make it a full batch. That way, when you love it...you'll have plenty more.