Chinook?

I'm looking at my first all grain; a simple SMASH.
whats your opinions on chinook?
I've read a lot aboutit being harsh....
What y'all think?

My local brew pub has a chinook smash thst is piney and delicious.

Looks good to me. I did an all-chinook IPA a while back and it was great.

Northern Brewer sells a Chinook IPA kit. I brewed it as an all grain recipe. It was NOT harsh. I liked it a lot.

That Northern Brewer kit was the first beer I ever made. It's the one that got me hooked on this hobby.

Harsh is not a fair descriptor. Dank, piney, maybe. I brewed a SMASH with my Chinooks (I have two plants), and while it is not a "complete" hop (I truly think it is best with complementary hops), brewing a SMASH will help you appreciate it in the many many beers containing Chinook.

I made this one too, very refreshing and tasty!

JonM said:

That Northern Brewer kit was the first beer I ever made. It's the one that got me hooked on this hobby.

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Looks good. Any dry hop additions?

Chinook hops are my favorite hops. So much so that I named my Boston Terrier Chinook! I always get notes of citrusy grapefruit from it in my IPA's

Chinook is great for flavor and aroma (I get a lot of fruit and pineapple from it) - pinyness for me comes only when I let the hops boil for a bit. I would NOT use this hop to bitter with - it can be quite harsh/dirty (similar to columbus)

I definitely agree that Chinook provides a very sharp bitterness when used as a bittering charge. But I kinda like that, so use it as a bittering hop only if you like that kind of stuff.

Like others have said, it's only harsh as a bittering hop. I have a strong ale that has finally mellowed a bit that was bittered with Chinook, and while I wouldn't say it was a mistake, it's not something I would serve to many people unless I knew they were into that kind of thing. It's sort of like sipping on liquor with the booziness and bite. That being said, Chinook always seems to find its way in my shopping cart and I love it's pine and grapefruit quality. I haven't done a one hundred percent Chinook beer yet, but I will in a month or so. I'd say go for the SMaSH.