Hop Pairing for an IPA?

[FatDragon]

I've been working on clearing out some various hops in some APAs and IPAs lately. Ahtanum and Calypso made a decent APA, but nothing spectacular. Nelson and Kohatu hit my last IPA out of the park. The Amarillo/Equinox APA was bottled five days ago but smelled terrific. The next IPA is in the planning stages.

Here's what I've got, most of them in decent amounts (4-6 oz), but stock's lower on a couple of these: Ahtanum, Azacca, Caliente (1.5 oz), Equinox, Fantasia, Huell Melon, Lemon Drop, Pacifica, and Sorachi Ace.

I'm currently thinking Sorachi and Lemon Drop, but I'm far from convinced as that sounds more like something that should be fermented on a saison yeast and I've banned myself from getting too experimental this school year (I'm a teacher so I measure years from August to July). Another idea is Azacca, Equinox, and the rest of the Caliente.

However, I'm an idiot when it comes to hops, so I'm hoping someone who's not as stupid as me has a good suggestion. Thanks!

 

[scallopking]

interesting, lol, I have a lot of these same hops too. with an Azaaca IPA recipe in the works, I know it's not on your list but I've been thinking about a mostly Azaaca IPA with Citra at the end and in the dry hop. but please take what I say with a grain of salt because I am no authority to speak by any means. I just come up with recipes and try them out. sorry gonna also piggyback on your thread here and see what people say.

 

[FatDragon]

interesting, lol, I have a lot of these same hops too. with an Azaaca IPA recipe in the works, I know it's not on your list but I've been thinking about a mostly Azaaca IPA with Citra at the end and in the dry hop. but please take what I say with a grain of salt because I am no authority to speak by any means. I just come up with recipes and try them out. sorry gonna also piggyback on your thread here and see what people say.

Yeah, my intention for now is to do my next few beers without buying any new hops in order to clear inventory and freezer space, then I can start buying stuff by the pound and start to nail down some solid repeatable recipes. In the meantime, my main focus is on malt bills, while I'm watching the hops in case something really stands out that I'd like to get into regular rotation (like the Nelson/Kohatu combo).

 

[Snicklefritz]

Huge fan of Azacca. Maybe try a variation of my recipe? Would need to substitute for the Mosaic.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=455689&page=8

 

[FatDragon]

Huge fan of Azacca. Maybe try a variation of my recipe? Would need to substitute for the Mosaic.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=455689&page=8

Very interesting doing two whirlpool additions - presumably to get some in while the temperature is hotter where you'll isomerize more alpha acids, and some when the temperature has chilled a bit and you're just getting massive flavor and aroma compounds. You're basically taking the concept of bittering versus late-boil hop additions and applying it to the whirlpool, where even hops added at flameout when the beer's still at boiling temps will contribute a decent amount of flavor and aroma. I love the concept and I'll probably try it out on this next IPA, though I'll have to look into IBU calculations so I can at least get my bitterness in the right ballpark.

I double dry-hopped the Nelson/Kohatu IPA like you're doing as well - half of the dry hops went in on day 11, the second half went in on day 14, and all of the dry hops stayed in until bottling on day 18 - and it's got the best aroma of any IPA I've made so far in my homebrewing career. Maybe it would have been even better if I had tossed in the entire dry hop on day 11, but I'll be sticking with this schedule for this upcoming brew, if not more down the road.

 

[Calichusetts]

Hoppy wheat. Sorachi/lemon drop hop bomb. Toss in some lemon and lime peel at flameout. I do something similar for my "white sky wheat" which started as a blue moon clone years ago and has morphed into some all on its own. I use lemongrass at flameout FWIW.