Guideline for Chinook

[Helloworld]

I'm curious if anyone has a guideline for how much Chinook is too much for a 5 gallon batch IPA. I'm trying to brew something similar to Stone IPA and their website lists the hops for that beer as Magnum, Centenniel, and Chinook. I tried an all Chinook IPA in the past and it was awful so I'm curious if someone has a guideline. I was thinking of limiting it to 1 oz in the boil and 1 oz in dry hop.

 

[Fedora]

Beersmith is your friend.

 

[CorporateHippie]

How many hops are too much for an IPA???...HMMMMM



THERE IS NO ANSWER!!!

 

[Helloworld]

Beersmith is your friend.

Beersmith can't calculate taste though. When I did an all Chinook IPA my IBUs in the program were spot on but the flavor was too much.

 

[QuercusMax]

I made a Chinook Session IPA and it was killer. Chinook tends to be fairly harsh for bittering, but it can work if you have the malt to back it up. Arrogant Bastard is all Chinook and it's delicious, but also pretty big on the malt.

10lb Avangard Pale Ale
.5lb Caracrystal Wheat
1.048 OG

.6oz Magnum 14.1 @60
1.5 Chinook 11.4 @10
Irish Moss @10
1.5 Chinook @0
Dry hop 2oz Chinook in keg.
41 IBU

WLP007 yeast - OG 1.014.

 

[Brew_G]

Beersmith can't calculate taste though. When I did an all Chinook IPA my IBUs in the program were spot on but the flavor was too much.

If you thought the bitterness was right but the flavor was overwhelming, then try taking away some of the late additions and adjust for the bitterness lost from that by making a slightly bigger bittering addition earlier in the boil.

The other thing, as others have said, is to make sure you have the malt backbone to handle lots of hops.

 

[mrmop520]

I've had success using it as a 15/20 min addition for some nice bite and flavor, and then dry hopping as well. Works well as a support hop! For an IPA maybe
15-0.75oz Chinook
Dry Hop- 1oz Chinook
Then fill in the rest with whatever hop you want to take the lead (in this case centennial?)

 

[Yooper]

Beersmith can't calculate taste though. When I did an all Chinook IPA my IBUs in the program were spot on but the flavor was too much.

That's the thing though. My taste is totally different than yours. For me, 4 ounces of chinook in a 5 gallon batch isn't too much- but for someone else, 1 ounce may be overkill. Chinook can be considered 'harsh' or rough tasting, but I love it.

You may like it better as a dryhop than as a flavoring hop, but I wouldn't guarantee that. Your idea of 1 ounce in the boil and 1 ounce in the dryhop is a good guess, and a good place to start but it could still be too much for you if you're not a huge fan of chinook.

 

[TrickyDick]

Agree that chinook can be harsh. I think it's the signature hop in arrogant bastard. I think it's also used in founders all day IPA. Flavor really jumps in the founders, which isn't anywhere near the malt bill and OG that arrogant bastard has. I think the flavor is there in AB as well, but just balanced a little more with the extra malt. It's kind of hard to say how much is too much, because everybody has different likes and dislikes. Only way to figure it out is make a batch and adjust for the next one if its not right.

TD

 

[joyceman]

The Stone IPA recipe that Ive seen calls for .5 chinook as part of the dryhop. The majority of hops in that beer are centennial.

Heres a link to the byo clone recipe.

https://byo.com/stories/item/1721-brewing-in-the-stone-age

 

[beergolf]

Chinook can be a little harsh, but in combination with Centennial and it is awsome.

I am brewing my favorite Rye IPA tomorrow and it uses 3 1/2 oz Chinook and 3 oz Centennial. YUM.