help with hop blends

making an imperial IPA.

20lbs 2 row
1lb crystal 40L

dough in is planned to be about 155.

I have 4oz summit, 8oz simcoe and 4 oz citra. my original plan was

1oz simcoe @80
1oz citra @15
1oz simcoe @ 15
2oz simcoe @ 10
2oz citra dry hop @ 6 days out from kegging.

am i on the right path here? the idea is a fruitier double that finishes with a light sweetness. from what i've dug up simcoe has a funk to it that might go well with citra's "dank" funk. summit is also known for a funk but i'm less familiar.

as for the rest of this beer, i don't want to hop the mash because i'm going to partigyle a second running and think up something with the remainder of hops. leaning towards turning this hop bill inside out and going with a citra flavored pale ale with simcoe for aroma. though aroma could be a job for summit. with the current simcoe limitations i'd rather not take a highly sought after hop and waste it on just aroma.

I suggest bittering with Summit and moving the Simcoe to a 5 minute or flameout addition. Simcoe will get lost as a bittering hop. You can also throw in some Summit at flameout. I have never used Summit with Citra, but Summit and Simcoe play well together.

That's a lot of 2-row for a 5 gallon batch, if that's what you're making. High mash temp too. I'd rather use some carapils or wheat and mash lower, but it's up to you. You definitely could mash lower and still having juicy hop sweetness you're striving for by utilizing the bulk of your Simcoe and Citra for a post-boil aroma steep as well as a dryhop. 1 oz. per gallon of beer ratio for the dryhop. And slightly less for the post-boil addition.

Citra doesn't have a dank funk. It's a tropical hop, reminiscent of lychee fruit with a backnote of grapefruit. It's very juicy and fruity. Simcoe has some tropical notes that serve as a backnote to its piney musk. Summit is primarily tangerine with some dank resin in there that some say is akin to onion. I would bitter with Summit, add another mid charge of Summit or Simcoe, and then pound it out at post-boil and dryhop. Maybe add a 10 minute addition in there if you have hops to spare and want to use them, but this isn't exactly necessary. Your IBUs should be high enough without 20-15-10-5 minute additions. And the character given by the loads of Simcoe and Citra added at 0 & DH will be quite substantial.

Make sure you smell the Summit hops before using them. They are an interesting hop. Picked at the right time and stored properly, you'll get tangerine citrus. But picked too late and/or improperly stored you get onion and garlic. Trust me - I've had the onion/garlic version. If they smell good in the package I would say use them as planned. If they don't smell right in the package, they won't be right in the beer andmI, personally, would avoid using them entirely.

Thanks for the responses. I'll be sure to give those summit a whiff. If i do get the onion version can i still use them to bitter or does the onion/musk not cook off? These are pellet hops most likely from hopunion. Haven't received my NB order yet.

How do I do a post boil steep? Right now my plan is to walk the kettle off the flame and directly to the wort chiller so I can crash it ASAP. Do I leave the kettle sit at 200+ for a few minutes before crashing it?

Yes this is a 5 gallon batch. I'm shooting for 10%+ with an OG of 1.110. Attempting a partigyle which is turning out to be a citra based APA from the second gyle. hoping for around 1.050 from the second runnings. I went this way because I figured if i wanted more sweetness I'd mash higher which will then bring my efficiency down bit. I was going to do the second running at a lower mash temp (~148) to get as much as I can off the residual grain.

Unfortunately my grain bill is already crushed so i'm sort of locked in.

RonPopeil said:

Thanks for the responses. I'll be sure to give those summit a whiff. If i do get the onion version can i still use them to bitter or does the onion/musk not cook off? These are pellet hops most likely from hopunion. Haven't received my NB order yet.

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Honestly, I don't know. I've been very tentative to use Summit since my bad experience.