Can 5 different hops be used?

Ok the question is can I use 5 different hops in the same brew. Of course putting in the right hops for the joband the proper timing. Reason is the name of the beer needs 5 differents ones in it, dont ask me why LOL. Thanks

No,

You might offend the hop gods.

Of course you can. I've got five different ones in an IPA right now. It's dry hopping as we speak. And I don't ever get smited for it. Or smote? Whatever the hop gods aren't mad at about it.

Bottleworks 13th anniversery had 13 types of hops. So Use as many hops as you want. Just make sure they dont clash with their flavors too much.

I've seen a few recipes using a lot of different hops. Some varieties of hops may overpower others so you will get most from one and not the other.

I doubt anything bad would happen unless you use a bittering hop for flavor and a flavor hop for bittering etc.

Then again even that might create something great!

There's no right or wrong answer here. Most of what we do is experimentation, so I say, "Do it and see what happens."

Which 5 do you have in mind?

Sure you can do 5. I'm a huge fan of simplicity in brewing. My grain bills tend to be short lists and my hop schedule tends to be pretty straightforward. You can certainly use 5 hops - but be aware that over-thinking recipes can lead to muddled, mediocre beer. The right combination of ingredients can lead to depth and complexity, the wrong combination can lead to muddled beer.

As a suggestion, most of the Pacific northwest hop varieties go well together - Cascade, Amarillo, Centennial, Williamette, Chinook, Nugget, Citra, Columbus, Warrior. Just make sure you put each one where they would fit best.

Warrior, Columbus, Nugget, Chinook are best as bittering.

Centennial, Williamette, and Amarillo are best as flavoring additions.

Cascade and Citra are best as aroma additions.

Of course, some of these are versitile and can be used in other roles, but this is where they shine best.

Good luck!

TopherM said:

Stick to 5 hops that have similar profiles, i.e., all fruity/citrusy hops or all earthy hops, or all spicy hops, or throw in a few neutral hops as the bittering additions (i.e., saaz) and you'll have a much better chance of a successful blend.

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Good advice. +1 to this for sure.

I've used piney/dank hops for bittering, citrusy hops for late additions, tropical hops for whirlpool, and piney/dank hops for the dryhop.

7 varieties made one of my best IPAs - Columbus, Summit, Apollo, Amarillo, Citra, Centennial, Simcoe

Brooklyn BLAST is a very good commercial IIPA that uses 9 different hops - Admiral, Ahtanum, Centennial, Simcoe, Fuggles, East Kent Goldings, Challenger, Palisades, Willamette

It's not absurd... you just gotta know what you're doing.

Choose your flavor/aroma/dry hops based on the beer you actually want to drink. Mix however many more varieties you need as your 60-minute bittering hops. It's not exactly cheating; it's more of a loophole. Or buy some 7C's and put in 5/7 of the pack.

Sounds all cool to me. I was planning on using the following but not sure on amount just yet.Might go in the area of a belgian IPA or wheat type. Still in the planning stages .Any thought on this with these hops?

Amarillo
Northern Brewers Falconer 7 c's blend
Liberty
Millennium
German Opal

Joseph524 said:

Might go in the area of a belgian IPA or wheat type. Still in the planning stages .Any thought on this with these hops?

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I'd go:

Sorachi Ace
Cascade
Amarillo
Willamette
Crystal
Santium
Sterling
Tettnang

You don't have to use them all, or go overboard with the amounts.

Keep it light, lemony, herbaceous, floral... not juicy, tropical, piney, or fruity.

Well this doesnt have to go belgian or wheat. I want an IPA and like it to be hoppy and have good aroma. There is a specific reason I would like to use thoses because the letter they start with. Like a family blend so to speak. But if it doesnt work I will just move on. Thanks for the help and thoughts.

Sure, I've used up to 7 hops in a batch. 3CPA uses five, with a blend of Cascade, Perle and Amarillo for flavor, aroma and dry hopping.

Joseph524 said:

There is a specific reason I would like to use thoses because the letter they start with. Like a family blend so to speak.

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??? Makes no sense ???

Maybe they're the first letters of all the names in his family or something.

the 7 c's blend is already 7 "c" hops so puts you over the 5

Beezer94 said:

the 7 c's blend is already 7 "c" hops so puts you over the 5

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Truth.

I always avoided the blends like 7c's because they are like a Frankenstein strain made from the leftover hops and hop debris that couldn't be neatly packaged and sold on time.

How about:
Nugget - for bittering
Amarillo - dryhop
Motueka - flameout
Galena - 10 min
Liberty - 5 min

FWIW, Danish brewery Mikkeller did an IPA with 17 different hops. It was very tasty too

Yes it was for family memebers names and was just trying to work it out by using the 5 . I am sure there are hops out there that may work better. Thought it would be cool to try it. Here is the letters I need

M
L
O
A
F
I know it may not make sence, but that is what home brewing is, try something and see if it flies. But I dont want 5 gallons of crap either.

lol....


LMFAO, anyone catch onto that?

Magnum for bittering, it's clean, neutral, can't go wrong. The backbone of your beer.
Ahtanum, Amarillo, Admiral, Apollo
Fuggles, First Gold, Falconer's Flight (instead of 7 Seas?)
Liberty
Opal hops, either that or an "Organic" hop of your choice

The hops in blue will yield more of an American, fruity, citrusy, resiny IPA than the other hops will. A few of the others, like Liberty and Admiral, will still be good in an AIPA depending on where you put them and how much you use.

I like all of those and seem to go with what I am looking for. All seem to be ok with an american ale. Then I would have to pick grains and an extract for this. Thank for your help, have not been brewing long but really enjoying it so far. I dont mash grains yet so I go the extract route for now.

bobbrews said:

lol....


Lmfao, anyone catch onto that?

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yup!

Absolutely. I am just now drinking my first IPA that I brewed with Centennial, Citra, Simcoe, Cascade. THat's only four, so why not FIVE!

It is perhaps one of the BEST beers I've ever had.

Black Pug IPA


Batch size = 6 gallons
Estimated OG = 1.067
Bitterness = 61.4 IBUs
Color = 7.6 SRM
Estimated ABV = 7.4%

Equipment
All-electric system
148-degree mash for 75 min, fly sparge
90-minute boil
90% estimated brewery efficiency

Adjuncts
Salts/minerals added for British ale profile
Whirfloc tablet at 15-minute boil

Grain Bill
9.5 lbs Pale Malt (79.16%)
1.5 lbs Munich Malt-10L (12.5%)
0.5 lbs Crystal Malt-40L (4.17%)
0.5 Wheat Malt (German) (4.17%)

Hop Schedule
0.75oz Simcoe- 60min
0.5oz Centennial- 30min
0.5oz Citra - 10min
1.0oz Amarillo Gold- 5min
1.0oz Centennial - Flameout - steep 5 minutes
0.25oz Simcoe - Flameout - steep 5 minutes
2.0oz Amarillo - 14 day dry hop
1.0oz Simcoe- 7 day dry hop

Yeast
Wyeast #1450 (Denny's 1450)
1.5L starter, 24 hours in advance