Amarillo Hops any good for bittering?

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StarCityBrewMaster

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Me and my wife are expecting our first baby (it's a boy!!!) in about 2 months! I am now thinking about brewing something up that the entire family can celebrate with!

I am leaning towards a pale ale or even a blonde with a citrusy backbone so it will hopefully meet most everyone's taste buds for enjoyment.

I would be aiming for a session beer around 4 - 4.5% abv and 20-30 IBU's most likely. The Amarillo has 10.9% AAs so I was thinking of this type of recipe:

Will call it Stork Blue Pale Ale :tank:

9 lbs 2 row
1 lb Vienna
4 oz Crystal 40

.25 oz Amarillo 60 mins [10.2 IBU]
.75 oz Amarillo 15 mins [15.2 IBU]
1 oz Amarillo Flame out

Expected OG 1.048
Expected FG 1.014
Color 5.3
IBU: 25.4
ABV: 4.46%

Anyone made an all amarillo ale before? How did it turn out? Would you add citra to this or is that possibly overkill?

Thanks!
 
I love all-amarillo! I did an amarillo SMaSH a while back.

9 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 81.82 %
2 lbs Toasted Malt (27.0 SRM) Grain 18.18 %

1.00 oz Amarillo [9.50 %] (60 min) Hops 31.2 IBU

0.50 oz Amarillo [9.50 %] (15 min) Hops 7.7 IBU
0.50 oz Amarillo [9.50 %] (5 min) Hops 3.1 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo [9.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops

OG 1.061
IBUs 42

You're a little light on the bittering hops, but if you only want to use .25 ounce of bittering hops for some reason, that will be ok.

I'm not a huge fan of citra (too mango/tropical for my taste) but if you want to add it that would be fine.
 
Your right Yooper I am very light on the bittering hops and believe me I'd want this beer to be in the 60 to 80 IBU range if it were to be consumed by me only but I am trying to make this for our families to enjoy, all of which are light beer drinkers.

I figured if I kept this brew "safe" around 25 IBUs I can probably turn a few heads (and tongues) in the right direction without scaring them off after the first taste of a higher IBU beer.
 
Your right Yooper I am very light on the bittering hops and believe me I'd want this beer to be in the 60 to 80 IBU range if it were to be consumed by me only but I am trying to make this for our families to enjoy, all of which are light beer drinkers.

I figured if I kept this brew "safe" around 25 IBUs I can probably turn a few heads (and tongues) in the right direction without scaring them off after the first taste of a higher IBU beer.

You'll be getting more IBUs from the 15 minute addition, which means the beer will taste "hoppy" to some. For a more blonde-like beer, I'd up the bittering additions and decrease the later additions. Unless your light beer drinkers like hoppy beers, this one may have too much in the way of hops flavor and aroma in it. That's what I was trying to say (badly).
 
This is why I love this site so much!!! That makes perfect sense Yoop!

I may now just go with 1 oz of Amarillo total and do half at 60mins and the other half at 5mins which puts it at 24.7 IBUs and with a little one on the way it makes it a very inexpensive batch as well ;)

This will be about 15 IBUs higher than any light beer but hopefully will leave it more balanced and less on the hoppy side.

Sound about right?
 
Anyone made an all amarillo ale before? How did it turn out?
Done several batches of an Amarillo Wheat that has been enjoyed by both craft and BMC drinkers. Mine is a bit heavy on the late hop additions, but that's personal preference instead of catering too much to the American Lager crowd.
 
I love all-amarillo! I did an amarillo SMaSH a while back.

9 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 81.82 %
2 lbs Toasted Malt (27.0 SRM) Grain 18.18 %

1.00 oz Amarillo [9.50 %] (60 min) Hops 31.2 IBU

0.50 oz Amarillo [9.50 %] (15 min) Hops 7.7 IBU
0.50 oz Amarillo [9.50 %] (5 min) Hops 3.1 IBU
1.00 oz Amarillo [9.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops

OG 1.061
IBUs 42

I have 05, 04 and notty on hand. Which of these would compliment the Amarillo the best, Yooper? I'm going to try this in a couple weeks with Belgian biscuit instead of toasted malt.
 
I made an all amarillio ipa once. Was pretty nice, it works well with other hops and I would use citra as well. I decided as the batch aged that it probably would work well with some other hop character. I think citra is alot stronger or more hop potent in my experience. I think either way it should be a good beer. I bet youll get a lower fininsh than intended.
 
I am about to do a Pale Ale based on my first brew which turned out pretty well. Trying to improve on that but not change it too much.
I was going to use 2oz of Cascade as bittering hops but they were out of it at the Brew Shop so I decided to use Amarillo instead. Wondering what a proper comparable ratio of Amarillo might be to replace 2oz. of Cascade.
Original Recipe was this:
2oz. Cascade (60mins)
1oz. Citra (5mins)

New recipe, I'm thinking this:
X oz. Amarillo (60mins)
1oz. Citra (5mins)
1oz. Citra (dryhop)
 
The amount of alpha acid is the determining factor and that will change from year to year and from variety to variety. Look at the alpha acid of Cascade and of Amarillo and decide if they are comparable or if you need to change the amount of hops to get the proper bittering.

For instance, my Cascade hops show an alpha acid of 6.9% and the Amarillo has 8%. I might reduce the amount of Amarillo that I use for bittering to match the bitterness or I might just accept the difference in bitterness and use the same amount. Sometimes I would appreciate the extra bittering.
 
Amarillo is going to be the main hop in my hop bomb I am making soon.

along with simcoe and citra.

I normally just use amarillo in my wheat beers to add a little character.
 
I have no opinions on Amarillo that would trump the excellent advice above, but I do want to suggest a name change.

Reverse blue and stork.

So you'll end up with Blue Stork Pale Ale.

Just a thought. Congratulations, and if I might offer the only advice I give new parents: Let it be a magical time. Because it is. :)
 
Interesting that this thread was dug up and originally posted in 2010. That would make this little boy almost 5!
 
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