Simcoe v. Cascade dry hops

Just cracked my double ipa's which I split and dry hopped with simcoe in one, and cascade in the other. 1/2 ounce for each one gallon jug. Thought I'd share some results:

First off, my first impression was that simcoe is way more pungent. Not in a bad way, just far more pronounced. Either that or cascade is very subtle. I can see that too because I really needed to look for the cascade.

Second is the aromas. I have always heard that simcoe is all pine. Pine, pine, pine! Not even close to pine! At least when compared to cascade. All i smell is one big ball of grapefruit. Unmistakeable. Cascade on the other hand is more difficult. Probably due to it's subtlety. My first impression was cinnamon toast. Breaddy but sweet.

Lookwise, for some reason the cascade left far more residue although can probably only blame my racking. No problems with simcoe.

Fun experiment. Looking forward to trying another. :rockin:

simcoe is grapefruit, no doubt. it's a great bittering hops... flavor or aroma, only if you love grapefruit

That's weird that you're not getting a lot from the cascade. Certainly it's less powerful than Simcoe but it's still an above-average hop when it comes to standing out.

Is it possible that the boil hops are interfering? Try tasting it next to something pretty light, like an American wheat or something.

i agree. many of us use cascade a lot, as it's a good, tasty, fairly powerful tasting hops for its' aa. is the cascade old?

lumpher said:

i agree. many of us use cascade a lot, as it's a good, tasty, fairly powerful tasting hops for its' aa. is the cascade old?

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No it was a new pack. The only thing I can I can think ismthat this pack had a far less oil content. Or my other point was that simcoe was so potent that it over shadowed the aroma of the cascade.

Good information to know. I now might have to juggle the two in recipes.

Did one half of the split batch get clearer beer than the other? Hop compounds love to cling to all that stuff suspended in young beer and then it eventually just drops as sediment to the bottom. The clearer the beer the more you'll get out of the dry hops. But I agree that Simcoe is more pungent.

I get a similar thing from Simcoe...plus a cat-pee aroma that I don't like. I like how Cascade sort of morphs from more citrus-y at the beginning to more spicy as it mellows (I like spicy hops).

SpanishCastleAle said:

Did one half of the split batch get clearer beer than the other?

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Not sure what you mean there. The beer was a two gallon batch which was split in two so they were both the same before I dry hopped. I did notice the cascade hops completely dropping out of suspension, while the simcoe left most behind on the top. Not sure if that means anything.

trevorc13 said:

Not sure what you mean there. The beer was a two gallon batch which was split in two so they were both the same before I dry hopped. I did notice the cascade hops completely dropping out of suspension, while the simcoe left most behind on the top. Not sure if that means anything.

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What I mean is that; for example, when I make a 10 gal batch and split it between two fermenters, one carboy gets the first 5 gal out of the kettle (which is crystal clear) and the second carboy gets the last 5 gal. That last 5 gal is clear until I get to the last gallon or so, then I get some trub. So the two fermenters don't get the exact same wort, one is much clearer wort than the other.

It was just a shot in the dark to explain the lack of Cascade aroma.

thanks for posting this... i like seeing the comparison of ingredients in similar beers.

Thank you! Ive never used simcoe and i love that grapefruit in my ipas!

I get pine and grapefruit from simcoe. I find it really nice in anything hop forward. Simcoe and cascade work really well together by the way.