Belma Hops

conneryis007 said:

Tried my all Belma pale ale tonight for the first time and I am not a fan of Belma! Tastes like grass covered strawberries and the smell is just not right. Too bad, the rest of the beer came out well!

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That sucks..

Sounds like Belma needs a partner in crime to really mingle well.

Smoked Belma IPA: in bottle 1 week. Tastes like a smoked beer with just enough bitterness to balance, but despite 3 oz Belma in dry-hop, very little aroma, which may or may not come from the Briess cherrywood smoked malt. Tasty brew nonetheless. Just not a smoked IPA. More of a slightly bitter, slightly fruity rauchbier. I'm hoping that as this matures the Belma comes out a little more, but I doubt it will.

Could be that we're so accustom to the C hops and their Pacific Northwest cousins that anything out of the ordinary doesn't work anymore in our APA and IPA's. Racked my all Belma for dry hopping last weekend. Carbed up and chilled about a half gallon to sample. I recognized the flavor, but couldn't put my finger on it. Kind of a citrus fruit but mostly just the zest. Definitely not grassy. Very different, but in a good way. Looking forward to getting this kegged so that I can get a handle on what I tasted.

I dry hopped my Nelson Sauvin/Belma Rye Pale ale on Monday. Maybe it was because they came straight out of the freezer, my Belma leaf smelled very grassy. I don't remember them smelling this grassy before, maybe it's just you guys getting into my head. I might have to change the name from Nelson Belma Rye to Nelson Bahia Rye.

I made a 10 gallon spin-off of Jamil's West Coast Blaster recipe using Magnum to bitter, aroma/flavored with equal weights of Belma/Cascade. My thoughts were to see what an atypical red/amber ale would do for the expected citrus/fruit qualities of a Belma/Cascade combo and two yeasts known to impart fruity yet different esters/phenols.

5 gallons I fermented with Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardiennes, in the other carboy I fermented with Wyeast 1968 London ESB.

Both pitched at 65F, fermented at 65F for 2 weeks in primary, 10 days in secondary, and both dry hopped in secondary with 2oz Belma leaf, 2oz Cascade leaf, and 1 oz Citra pellet (each).

OG on both was 1.068. The 3522 went down to 1.007 and the 1968 hit 1.010.

Tasting notes after 3 weeks in bottle:

Appearance:
3522 - Pours deep mahogany brown cascading well and leaving a nice thick 1 inch dense head of off-white foam that you can damn near rest a penny on. Looks dark brown, but when looked through towards light shows very clear and deep burgundy. No haze.
1968 - Pours brown with good cascading and only a 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick layer of creamy off-white fluffy head. Almost as dense as 3522, but slightly thinner. Haze is apparent, but still shows through deep red/brown up to light.

Aroma:
3522 - Aroma wafts up from the glass at pour, strong berry/citrus notes. Nose in snifter confirms a very strong and predominant sweet berry with a classic cascade twist and some earthy floral on the backend. Some malty undertones but the berry sweetness/earthy may be deceiving me here. Very clean hop aromas with no yeast, spice, or "funk" detected.
1968 - Same aroma wafting from the snifter, strong berry, maybe a little sweeter. Cascade citrus/floral may be muted slightly by the berry, and no earthy tones. Some yeasty element detected, reminds me of a hefe or weis component, almost a bready smell.

Taste:
3522 - Instant sweet grapefruit and berry rush as the liquid touches lips, and soon gives way to a soft bitterness and smooth light malt background. Beers color does not match perceived taste, as this drinks much lighter than it looks. After taste is slightly bitter but smooth with a balanced sweetness that finishes neither dry nor sweet and almost no heat from alcohol.
1968 - Same sweet citrus berry rush and smooth bitterness behind it. There is a yeasty flavor that isn't off-putting, but it's there and actually adds another dimension to the smooth malt background. This one finishes sweeter, but being less dry helps the flavor of the hops linger rather than just the bitterness.

Mouthfeel:
3522 - Very light on the tongue, no over-carbonation tingle, just enough to stay refreshing. Almost too thin for the dark color and strong hop profile, but the sweetness of the berry-ish Belma pairs nicely with something this refreshing.
1968 - Also a light beer at first sip but a lingering creaminess that makes flavors that stay long after swallow give this beer a heavier or thicker perception. Not chewy or heavy, but not exactly refreshing either.

Overall
3522 - A very enjoyable and unique beer experience. I don't think I've ever had a hop-berry-red before, or even such a smooth drinking red. I can't keep my nose out of my glass and even find myself smelling empty bottles before I wash them out. Just a great aroma from the Cascade/Belma combo that I will definitely try to incorporate into other styles... wheat ale, APA, & maybe even a stout!
1968 - While I did not hate anything that I got from this beer I feel that whatever yeasty/haze that got pulled into the bottles left something less desirable. Aroma and tastes were great and very enjoyable, but I think another yeast variety could help bring out other malt notes that didn't seem to take away from the refreshing quality of a beer this quaffable.


I'll be brewing a Belgian Golden Strong with Belma/Cascade/Simcoe next.

Just curious about why you decided to keep the fermentation temperature on the 3522 so low for this beer? I find that strain can be pretty neutral to the point of defeating the purpose of using it without ramping up the temperature or at least under-pitching appropriately. Would have been interesting to hear how the spicey, clovey notes and the light stone fruit esters I associate with that yeast would have worked with that hop combination.

allenH said:

I dry hopped my Nelson Sauvin/Belma Rye Pale ale on Monday. Maybe it was because they came straight out of the freezer, my Belma leaf smelled very grassy. I don't remember them smelling this grassy before, maybe it's just you guys getting into my head. I might have to change the name from Nelson Belma Rye to Nelson Bahia Rye.

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I think Nelson/Belma is a money combo so far, although it'll be another 4 to 6 weeks before the beer I brewed with those is ready.

So I kegged my Belma's Galaxy IPA tonight. Smelled great going into the keg.

I dry hopped with with a bit of everything I used in the boil.. Belma, Cascade and Galaxy. Roughly 3oz of hops to dry hop it with.

I'm looking forward to a week from now, and giving it a taste. I think Belma really, really gets along well with Galaxy and Cascade... GREAT combo so far.

I've had a Belgian IPA fermenting with Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardiennes for a month and I'm gonna bottle it the day after tomorrow. It's flavored with belma, citra, cascade and amarillo with twice as much belma as the others. It fermented at 68 degrees because that's the temperature of my house. The sample I took the other day tasted like strawberry fruit with some clove and. We'll see, I kind of wish I would have brewed ten gallons and used an American Ale yeast on the other five.

porky_pine said:

I've had a Belgian IPA fermenting with Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardiennes for a month and I'm gonna bottle it the day after tomorrow. It's flavored with belma, citra, cascade and amarillo with twice as much belma as the others. It fermented at 68 degrees because that's the temperature of my house. The sample I took the other day tasted like strawberry fruit with some clove and. We'll see, I kind of wish I would have brewed ten gallons and used an American Ale yeast on the other five.

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I love pairing 3522 and Amarillo(in my mind they were meant for each other). I bet mixing in some Belma would be very tasty. Thanks for the idea.

So I've been drinking me Belma/Cascade pale ale this week - it's dry hopped with Belma in the keg London ale III yeast.

It's not bad but in the future ill probably check out how clean of a bittering hop it is - at $5 alb can't complain but it's not outstanding

FourSeasonAngler said:

and both dry hopped in secondary with 2oz Belma leaf, 2oz Cascade leaf, and 1 oz Citra pellet (each).

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Thanks for the thorough review. I think I need to up my dryhop charges to get a similar aroma in my IPAs/other hoppy beers.

For anyone interested, I have a thorough break-down of my Belma single hop IPA on my blog.

The short version: I fermented this with Conan yeast, which is basically steroids for hops, and as a result this is one of the most intensely fruity IPAs I've ever tasted. The aroma and flavor is dominated by strawberry — like, intensely, specifically, strawberry. I thought I was going crazy when I opened my first bottle; I've honestly never had another beer like it in my life. Very clean bitterness. Too straightforward to win any awards (it hardly tastes like an IPA), but a fascinating beer and very nice to drink.

I am brewing a multi-malt single hop (mmash?) with belma Saturday. I have 5 lbs now, so I hope its good. I like the idea of strawberry, and if it come through, it'd be a good hop for hot peppering. I'm calling it Belma Lugosi's Dead Ale.

Nice post.

conneryis007 said:

Tried my all Belma pale ale tonight for the first time and I am not a fan of Belma! Tastes like grass covered strawberries and the smell is just not right. Too bad, the rest of the beer came out well!

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Ok so in an attempt to salvage this beer I dry hopped the keg with an ounce and a half of magnum. Its only been 6 hours or so but wow. What a difference the pairing made. The grass taste is mostly gone, the aroma is no longer gross. It is still a VERY unique tasting beer, but much better now! If you were to give this to somebody in a blind taste testing they would swear by the smell and taste that there are fresh cut strawberries at the bottom of the pint!!

shoreman said:

Nice post.

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Thanks (i hope I'm not missing sarcasism).

I think Im going to spilt it into 5 one gallon batches and leave one as pure belma and dry hop the other four with various companion hops (I have a lot of hops...damn u nikobrew...)Ill step up my starter tonight for the 5x spilt.

I purge the yuck of the bottom of my kegs that I filled last night, and took a taste of a clean pull.

The Belma and Galaxy are a perfect match.. PERFECT. Man it's so fruity. It's a great balanced fruit, nice and dry, but crisp and clean... red berries a bound, orange, lemon, slight grassy, melon, and baby bit of pine from the galaxy.

Delicious. Glad I have 2 pounds of Belma, she likes company.

I tried a taste of my Velma SMaSH tonight. It's pretty good! It's a little grassy tasting but it has only been in the keg for a few days... It needs another week on carbonation before it will be where I want it. I like the notes of strawberry & cream that I can already taste in there, though!

Cray to think that I used 5oz in this thing and it still tastes SO mild!

I just got my pound of Belma in today (along with Legacy, Magnum, Calypso, Super Galena and Motueka) and I am going to brew a Belma/2-row SMaSH with it. I've seen the posts saying Belma isn't good by itself, but I need to find out for myself. Will report on my take on it.

LabRatBrewer said:

Thanks (i hope I'm not missing sarcasism).

I think Im going to spilt it into 5 one gallon batches and leave one as pure belma and dry hop the other four with various companion hops (I have a lot of hops...damn u nikobrew...)Ill step up my starter tonight for the 5x spilt.

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Nope I really enjoyed it - I've brewed 3 beers that have Belma in them so far and it's nice to see what others are thinking / you had a very throughout review

othellomcbane said:

For anyone interested, I have a thorough break-down of my Belma single hop IPA on my blog.

The short version: I fermented this with Conan yeast, which is basically steroids for hops, and as a result this is one of the most intensely fruity IPAs I've ever tasted. The aroma and flavor is dominated by strawberry — like, intensely, specifically, strawberry. I thought I was going crazy when I opened my first bottle; I've honestly never had another beer like it in my life. Very clean bitterness. Too straightforward to win any awards (it hardly tastes like an IPA), but a fascinating beer and very nice to drink.

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I wish I could get my hands on some Conan yeast. I'm dying to brew with that delicious lil critter! Any chance you would be willing to do a beer or brew for yeast trade?

FourSeasonAngler said:

I wish I could get my hands on some Conan yeast. I'm dying to brew with that delicious lil critter! Any chance you would be willing to do a beer or brew for yeast trade?

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Conan does sound like the perfect yeast. It sure makes me wonder how it was developed though.

I love Conan. I'm not sure I'd use his yeast though....oh wait, we're not talking O'Brian are we?

Super attenuator and peach like flavors sound awful close to Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire, although 1469 drops out like a rock when it's done, but I wonder what these yeasts would taste like in a side by side.

duckmanco said:

Super attenuator and peach like flavors sound awful close to Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire, although 1469 drops out like a rock when it's done, but I wonder what these yeasts would taste like in a side by side.

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I just picked up some West Yorkshire. Maybe I'll split a batch to compare them.

duckmanco said:

Super attenuator + Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire

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Eh, wyeast have the AA listed as 67-71% (pretty low, even by English standards) for that yeast, while Othello is reporting AA of 80%+. Pretty big gap between the two there. Would be interesting to compare the two side by side either way mind you. Maybe split a batch 3 ways and compare it with wyeast 1318 as well (which fits the profile a bit better in my mind).

THis was no help at all. haha

I did a single hop pale ale using all Belma (lots and lots of late hop additions), and I'm really not loving it. Thinking of adding some other dry hop to the keg to try to spruce it up a little. There's surprisingly little aroma and flavor from the Belma, considering I added about six ounces of hops over the last 10 minutes. The grain bill is mostly Maris Otter with some Munich and crystal.

Had a single hop Belma APA at a friend's tonight. Enjoyable, but not the sort of flavor most people want in a pale ale, I think it would be great in a mild. Definitely get strawberry, which as a watery fruit, I feel is a flavor that give the impression of less mouthfeel than you'd get otherwise.

Kegged Belma single hop petite saison yesterday. I'm not sure it will be a hit at the solstice parry I kegged it for, but the brett and oak flush out the Belma background well, although another hop would have flushed out the beer.

Pulled a sample on Belma hopped wheat wine, it's about equal with Brewer's Gold & Nelson Sauvin - Yum! Boozy and bitter, the oak should catch up soon and then ready to cellar. Won't suck in a couple months, but should be sublime by next xmas.

Just kegged my Nelson/Belma Rye Pale. Hydrometer sample tasted pretty good, although I am not an expert at tasting flat beer. I was happy that the grassiness was gone. It should be carbed by next weekend.



It's the first time I have dry hopped with 2oz of leaf, I probably should have checked it sooner and stirred the hops in.

ong said:

I did a single hop pale ale using all Belma (lots and lots of late hop additions), and I'm really not loving it. Thinking of adding some other dry hop to the keg to try to spruce it up a little. There's surprisingly little aroma and flavor from the Belma, considering I added about six ounces of hops over the last 10 minutes. The grain bill is mostly Maris Otter with some Munich and crystal.

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Just keg-hopped with a couple ounces of 2011 Cascade I wanted to get rid of. We'll see how that changes that aroma.

I just pulled a pint of the Belma/Galaxy IPA. Dry hopped with Galaxy, Belma and Cascade.

Holy crap it's good... It's a medley of citrusy fruit flavors with a hint of the earthy grass note in there to balance it. I really like it with the Galaxy.. I can pick the the subtle berry earthy notes, and the citrusy notes from the Galaxy. Nice and dry finish on the beer.

I'm brewing my Belma SMaSH IPA tomorrow. Can't wait to see how it comes out.

Okay..

Verdict is in early.. It's got maybe less than a week on the gas and in the keg. Dry hops are still in there, will be slower to work in the cold.

However.. The beer is really good. I've got some of the most amazingly smooth and fruity bittering from the Belma. It's bitter on the front, and that oh so wanted smooth bitter on the after taste.

Strawberry, red berry, pineapple, grass clippings, slight sweet pine. All are present in the nose and the taste. Paired with the Galaxy, I'm getting the serious citrusy passionfruit, way over ripe pineapple, and some cantaloupe. The cascade I recognize in there, and I think it tones down the earthy dirt, piney/grassy, almost white pepper notes of the Belma. The berry note from Belma is loud though, atleast in my beer. It's the first thing you taste and then it goes AWOL for the rest of the flavors to develop.

Anyways.. it taste good. It's not SOOOO out there and loud that you put it down and go "WTF?", but it's subtle and smooth enough that mingles well with the Galaxy and pinch of Cascade to really get the party going. Good change up from the Pine or Citrus you see in IPA's. It straddles both and gives a slightly different angle.

In any case, it looks good, and good lord at the great lacing this early.



And......


YUM.. Wish I could have about 4 of these tonight, but at 7.5%, and being Monday, I'll refrain.

FATC1TY said:

Okay..

Verdict is in early.. It's got maybe less than a week on the gas and in the keg. Dry hops are still in there, will be slower to work in the cold.

However.. The beer is really good. I've got some of the most amazingly smooth and fruity bittering from the Belma. It's bitter on the front, and that oh so wanted smooth bitter on the after taste.

Strawberry, red berry, pineapple, grass clippings, slight sweet pine. All are present in the nose and the taste. Paired with the Galaxy, I'm getting the serious citrusy passionfruit, way over ripe pineapple, and some cantaloupe. The cascade I recognize in there, and I think it tones down the earthy dirt, piney/grassy, almost white pepper notes of the Belma. The berry note from Belma is loud though, atleast in my beer. It's the first thing you taste and then it goes AWOL for the rest of the flavors to develop.

Anyways.. it taste good. It's not SOOOO out there and loud that you put it down and go "WTF?", but it's subtle and smooth enough that mingles well with the Galaxy and pinch of Cascade to really get the party going. Good change up from the Pine or Citrus you see in IPA's. It straddles both and gives a slightly different angle.

In any case, it looks good, and good lord at the great lacing this early.

And......


YUM.. Wish I could have about 4 of these tonight, but at 7.5%, and being Monday, I'll refrain.

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Yum.... What recipe you go off of sir?

Belma's Galaxy IPA


Amt Name Type # %/IBU
11 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 86.3 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 2 5.9 %
8.0 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 3 3.9 %
8.0 oz Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 4 3.9 %
0.50 oz Belma [12.10 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 5 19.2 IBUs
1.10 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 6 -
1.00 oz Belma [11.30 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 7 13.0 IBUs
0.50 oz Galaxy [14.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 8 8.1 IBUs
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 7.0 min Hop 9 2.1 IBUs
1.00 oz Belma [11.30 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 7.2 IBUs
0.50 oz Galaxy [14.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 11 1.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Belma [12.10 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 min Hop 12 0.0 IBUs
2.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 13 -
1.00 oz Belma [12.10 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 14 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 15 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Galaxy [14.00 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 16 0.0 IBUs

1.067 OG, 1.010 FG

Mashed at 152* for 60minutes according to my BS notes.

Came out nicely. The malty biscuit note really supports the hops. It's not a west coast style, but a bit more balanced for someone who likes a little sweet and a little bitter to mingle.

FATC1TY said:

Okay..

Verdict is in early.. It's got maybe less than a week on the gas and in the keg. Dry hops are still in there, will be slower to work in the cold.

However.. The beer is really good. I've got some of the most amazingly smooth and fruity bittering from the Belma. It's bitter on the front, and that oh so wanted smooth bitter on the after taste.

Strawberry, red berry, pineapple, grass clippings, slight sweet pine. All are present in the nose and the taste. Paired with the Galaxy, I'm getting the serious citrusy passionfruit, way over ripe pineapple, and some cantaloupe. The cascade I recognize in there, and I think it tones down the earthy dirt, piney/grassy, almost white pepper notes of the Belma. The berry note from Belma is loud though, atleast in my beer. It's the first thing you taste and then it goes AWOL for the rest of the flavors to develop.

Anyways.. it taste good. It's not SOOOO out there and loud that you put it down and go "WTF?", but it's subtle and smooth enough that mingles well with the Galaxy and pinch of Cascade to really get the party going. Good change up from the Pine or Citrus you see in IPA's. It straddles both and gives a slightly different angle.

In any case, it looks good, and good lord at the great lacing this early.

And......


YUM.. Wish I could have about 4 of these tonight, but at 7.5%, and being Monday, I'll refrain.

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Awesome! Glad to hear it came out well. I am excited to try mine, but I just brewed it today so I have a while to wait.

Okay, brewing an IPA Saturday.

Plan on Bravo for bittering, and Columbus and Citra for flavor/aroma additions

Splitting the 10g batch and DHing one with Belma, and one with Citra, maybe some Columbus or Wilamette, or Cascade. I haven't decided yet.

Anyhow, will report results in a few weeks.

Thanks for the preliminary info on the hop's character.

Schnitzengiggle said:

Okay, brewing an IPA Saturday.

Plan on Bravo for bittering, and Columbus and Citra for flavor/aroma additions

Splitting the 10g batch and DHing one with Belma, and one with Citra, maybe some Columbus or Wilamette, or Cascade. I haven't decided yet.

Anyhow, will report results in a few weeks.

Thanks for the preliminary info on the hop's character.

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Sounds good, but might want to look into what people commented on about Belma for just dry hop.

I'd suggest using it in the beer to get a flavor, not just an aroma.

Works fantastic as a bittering hop however. If someone wasn't crazy about the flavor or aroma, it's a killer fruity bittering hop.