A wild and crazy idea

[alemonkey]

Ok, maybe it's not too crazy, but I've been bouncing around the idea of doing a hybrid type of beer....maybe a Pale or IPA with German noble hops, like Saaz. Has anyone played around with this?

 

[hungsolo]

Yup, I've done a pale ale and a nut brown with saaz. They came out great. I like them slightly better than german hops like hallertau personally.

I don't use them for bittering though. The alpha is too low. Use a clean bittering hop and 2-3 additions of saaz late in the boil.

For an english pale I'll still take EKG over anything. But for the nut brown it was awesome. Or for an apa saaz and cascade go well together.

 

[david_42]

Golden Valley's IPA uses Saaz for finish. His most receint Red Hills Pils is all Saaz. I think he over compensated for the low AA. The next batch, he plans on cutting back a bit, but staying with all Saaz.

I've only used Saaz in Browns and Reds.

 

[hungsolo]

I just used hallertau on a kolsch but I sincerely wish I had used saaz.

 

[uwmgdman]

I made a pale ale with perle for bittering and saaz for flavor/aroma....tasty!

 

[alemonkey]

I made a pale ale with perle for bittering and saaz for flavor/aroma....tasty!

That sounds interesting...might have to give it a try.

 

[hungsolo]

I just sampled a bit of an APA I got going into secondary. I used warrior, perle and cascade.

I'm very impressed with the perle flavor. I might have to try the perle saaz combo.

 

[alemonkey]

I got away from brewing for about a year after my daughter was born, and ever since I started back up I've been trying to do something new in each of my brews - a new grain, different hop, a style I've never done before. I just brewed a Wit and used Saaz for the first time. I really liked the way they smelled - very spicy and aromatic. That's what got me thinking about using them in a beer where the hop aroma is supposed to be more prominent.