2 - 1 gallon experiments

[b-radbrew]

So instead of participating in Black Friday I'll be doing Brew Friday. I have 2 experimental hops of Lime and Chocolate. Because they are new this year the grower doesn't have any specs on them yet other than the flavor part. So the first batch is going to be just 2-row with a little centennial for bittering and the lime at 15 and 5 min. The other will be kind of an ESB with 2-row, munich and victory, same bittering with centennial and same 15 and 5 min additions of the chocolate. My thing though is how much should I do for those addtions? First I thought 1/2 oz for each addition. Now I'm unsure the more I think about it. I don't want it to be completely overwhelming but enough of it there to understand the flavor. Any thoughts?

 

[youreanimpulse]

.5 oz for one gal is like 2.5 oz for 5 gal, so I'd probably cut back unless you want IPA level hoppiness. If it was me I'd use known examples of hop amounts for style on a 5 gal batch and divide by 5 to get my real additions. My guess is closer to .1 oz per addition, maybe .2 for the later addition? Even then that's like 1 oz in 5 gal, which may not be what you want. I do a lot of 1-2 gal batches for tests and usually end up weighing in grams to be a little more exact. Good luck!

 

[b-radbrew]

I figured that 1 oz total was going to be a lot but I wanted to get a good vibe from them at the same time. For bittering I'm using about 7 grams. Maybe I will look at some more recipes and see what I can find. I looked at a few so far but not a lot. I'd like the beer to be somewhat balanced but allow these flavors to come through enough.

 

[youreanimpulse]

So I looked at my notes on a Vienna/Green Bullet Belgian SMaSH I did in a 1 gal batch and could pick out the malt and the hop contribution equally. I used 3.4g for bittering (19IBU), 3.4g at 15min (9IBU) and 7g at flame out. Got good flavor and aroma from the Green Bullet, which smells a little like lavendar, very floral. This was with an OG of 1.042 so that makes a difference. This corresponds to about 1.25 oz at flame out in a regular sized recipe, so probably good for an ESB.

 

[b-radbrew]

Sweet thanks! I finally was able to find out the aau's on the lime and they are 6.9. So I played with the numbers and was going to do 3g centennial @ 60, 5g lime @ 20 and 5g lime at 5. I'm going to just guess that the chocolate is either close to that or under by just a little bit so I'll probably stick with the 5g additions with that on the ESB. I think my OG is going to be right around 1.051. Maybe I might go with the 15 and flame out additions instead too

 

[youreanimpulse]

Sounds good either way!

 

[b-radbrew]

So I was pretty happy with the brew day. I did 2 BIAB/no chill batches in just a hair under 5 hours. Here are my results so far:

1st batch: Lime Blonde
2.5lbs 2-row
4 oz C10
Mash @ 152 60 min

3g Centennial @ 60
5g Lime @ 20
5g Lime @ 5

O.G - 1.052
Exp F.G. - 1.015
77% Efficiency
US-05

Batch #2: Chocolate ESB
2lbs 2-row
11.5oz Munich 10
7oz Victory
Mash 154 @ 75 min

6g Centennial @ 60 min
5g Chocolate @ 15
5g Chocolate @ 5

O.G - 1.064
Exp F.G. - 1.018
85% Efficiency
S-04

So far these were my highest efficiency batches and I believe most of that jump is because I crushed my grains with a corona type of mill rather than having the brew shop double crush. I used to be in the mid 60's before. I also added to dunking the bag several times after the mash, lifting, draining, dunking, stirring and then finally squeezing while the kettle heated. Pitched yeast Saturday morning and had fermentation kicking off 6 hours later. Both are fermenting at 62 degrees. I didn't notice any distinct flavors from either hop right off the bat so we'll see how it goes in the next month here. So far pretty happy with everything.

 

[m00ps]

So I was pretty happy with the brew day. I did 2 BIAB/no chill batches in just a hair under 5 hours. Here are my results so far:

1st batch: Lime Blonde
2.5lbs 2-row
4 oz C10
Mash @ 152 60 min

3g Centennial @ 60
5g Lime @ 20
5g Lime @ 5

O.G - 1.052
Exp F.G. - 1.015
77% Efficiency
US-05

Batch #2: Chocolate ESB
2lbs 2-row
11.5oz Munich 10
7oz Victory
Mash 154 @ 75 min

6g Centennial @ 60 min
5g Chocolate @ 15
5g Chocolate @ 5

O.G - 1.064
Exp F.G. - 1.018
85% Efficiency
S-04

So far these were my highest efficiency batches and I believe most of that jump is because I crushed my grains with a corona type of mill rather than having the brew shop double crush. I used to be in the mid 60's before. I also added to dunking the bag several times after the mash, lifting, draining, dunking, stirring and then finally squeezing while the kettle heated. Pitched yeast Saturday morning and had fermentation kicking off 6 hours later. Both are fermenting at 62 degrees. I didn't notice any distinct flavors from either hop right off the bat so we'll see how it goes in the next month here. So far pretty happy with everything.

I just ordered me some chocolate, armadillo (not amarillo), and otto supreme. Can you comment on the chocolate hops? I'm wondering what I want to use them in and what other flavors they had going on

 

[b-radbrew]

I just ordered me some chocolate, armadillo (not amarillo), and otto supreme. Can you comment on the chocolate hops? I'm wondering what I want to use them in and what other flavors they had going on

I still have both batches in primary right now so I'm not sure yet. I'll be bottling those up probably a day or 2 before xmas next week. I wasn't sure what to expect from them anyways so I'll see if I can get an idea when I try it at bottling and let you know.

 

[b-radbrew]

So I took my first gravity readings tonight since brew day. The lime hop in the Blonde is a little on the dry side and doesn't quite have a distinguished flavor. There is a little bit of citrus/fruity finish. It's OK so far. The chocolate hop in the ESB on the other hand worked out very well with the grain bill I used. Its got a nice smooth, slightly spicy/earthy flavor. That's what i get from them anyways. I'll bottle these up next week and see how they are after carbing and refrigerating. So far my favorite is the ESB.

View attachment 1418781935462.jpg

 

[b-radbrew]

Well finally cracked these open the other day. I didn't know what to expect at all from the beginning but I do need to make some adjustments. I don't think there was enough in the flavor and aroma additions to get a really good sense of the hops. There is a slight fruityness with the Lime hops and slight spice from the chocolate. I'd have to say though that the ESB with Chocolate is my favorite and one of the better beers I have done so I will be making a 5 gallon batch of it soon with a bump on the late hop additions with maybe a dry hop too. The blonde needs a little more work. It wasn't bad but not what I was wanting.

mOOps, when you get around to using the chocolate I'm interested in your run with them too and also the armadillo

 

[m00ps]

Well finally cracked these open the other day. I didn't know what to expect at all from the beginning but I do need to make some adjustments. I don't think there was enough in the flavor and aroma additions to get a really good sense of the hops. There is a slight fruityness with the Lime hops and slight spice from the chocolate. I'd have to say though that the ESB with Chocolate is my favorite and one of the better beers I have done so I will be making a 5 gallon batch of it soon with a bump on the late hop additions with maybe a dry hop too. The blonde needs a little more work. It wasn't bad but not what I was wanting.

mOOps, when you get around to using the chocolate I'm interested in your run with them too and also the armadillo

I made a Sandshrew IPA with my 8oz Armadillo hops and its great. Similar to Amarillo (to further confuse people) but less floral and more rounded fruit character. I get some melons and stuff as opposed to just citrus