Alternatives for the old Amarillo/Simcoe combo

[unclebrazzie]

Peepz,

I'll be brewing a hoppy amber ale later this year. I've a recipe where good ol' Warrior will bring me in the 60 IBU ballpark, with Amarillo/Simcoe/Columbus souping things up with 10', flameout and dryhop additions in equal amounts.
We're talking about about a 1.070OG beer, with about 10% of various crystals and a smidgeon of wheat malt. Rest is pale & munich, plus a pinch of choco for color. US-05 yeast, 7-8% ABV.

However, I'd like to do something else than the proposed hop combo. Ideally, I'd like it to be a bit more festive, something really fruity and tropical. Nelson Sauvin comes to mind, as does Galaxy.

Doesn anyone have any cool suggestions for a alternative hop combo?

 

[bbrim]

I had great success last summer pairing Willamette/Azacca in roughly equal parts in an Amber Ale with a similar malt bill and gravity. The combo came in fruity with floral components. The fruitiness was really tropical/stone fruit focused. Something about Azacca seems to pair well with significant crystal malt use and higher gravities.

 

[unclebrazzie]

Ta for that!
So happens I have some Azacca in the freezer. Anything besides Willamette I could pair it with?
What hop schedule did you use?

 

[marckw]

Mosaic, Galaxy and Citra come to mind.

 

[bbrim]

1oz Willamette/.75oz Topaz FWH
1oz Willamette/1oz Azacca 15min
1oz Willamette/1oz Azacca Whirlpool 15 minutes (then drop to 175F)
1oz Willamette/1oz Azacca Whirlpool 20 min sub 175F

This was for 10 gallons. I dry hopped 5 gallons of this with 1oz Azacca and it was so fruity and delicious. I'm not sure what I would use to sub out Willamette because the pairing was just special but I would think Fuggles would be a reasonable option.

 

[slym2none]

Mosaic, Galaxy and Citra come to mind.

This. Maybe Comet if you want some danky fruit.

 

[unclebrazzie]

Cheerz y'all!

 

[KyleWolf]

I just did a Citra/Comet/Mandarina Bavaria IPA that turned out amazing. It's a really fun combo.

 

[m00ps]

I try to design all my IPAs to be anythign but the old tired grapefruity flavor. Ive found any combination of the following to turn out well for tropical flavors:
- Belma
- Huell Melon
- Hallertau Blanc
- Azzaca
- Pacific Gem
- Motueka
- El Dorado
- EXP7270
- Enigma
- Mosaic
- Nelson sauvin
- Summer
- Galaxy
- Kohatu
- waimea
- jaryllo
- exp6277
- Dr rudi
- calypso

 

[unclebrazzie]

Excellent. Food for thought, and for the LHBS' cash register.

 

[crusader1612]

Galaxy and Nelson make a killer Dryhop combo.
U could use your more AGGRESSIVE IPA hops in the boil/flameout and Dryhop 50/50 with Nelson Galaxy.

I've done it a few times as I have good access on this side of the world.

I added half an ounce of sorachi to the last one just for s**ts and giggles. In a saison. So we'll see how that one goes.

 

[unclebrazzie]

Sorachi is great but easily overpowers.
Galaxy/Nelson sounds like fun

 

[crusader1612]

Sorachi is great but easily overpowers.

Galaxy/Nelson sounds like fun

Probably true. But couldn't resist.

Galaxy/Nelson is awesome.

 

[drgonzo2k2]

Probably true. But couldn't resist.

Galaxy/Nelson is awesome.

Galaxy/Nelson/Simcoe is also awesome!