Amarillo whole cone hop SMASH

[rtstrider]

My LHBS had Amarillo whole cone hops on clearance so I picked up a few oz's. I just brewed a Citra/Maris Otter SMASH not too long ago and man is that tasty! Anywho I've never used whole cone hops and a local brewer suggested using german pilsner malt with Amarillo for a SMASH. I have a few questions now. I'm working up a recipe and have access to Avangard Pilsen malt. Should I mash say 90 minutes at 147f or should I shoot for something in the range of 153f 60 minutes so I can get some, if any, of the pilsen malt flavor/body? Next question is I've done probably 50 or so batches now and they have all used pellet hops. Are there any special considerations when using whole cone hops? These are in hopunion sealed bags so I'm assuming they're dried? Do I just toss these in the boil like pellet hops or should I use say a muslin/paint strainer bag and toss the hops in that? I've already made adjustments on the brewers friend recipe builder and was shooting for something along the lines of

Brew Method: BIAB
Style Name: American IPA
Boil Time: 90 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 6 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.044
Efficiency: 70% (brew house)
STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.053
Final Gravity: 1.010
ABV (standard): 5.69%
IBU (tinseth): 49.4
SRM (morey): 3.31

FERMENTABLES:

10 lb - German - Pilsner (100%)

HOPS:

0.5 oz - Amarillo, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 8.6, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 15.63
0.5 oz - Amarillo, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 8.6, Use: Boil for 30 min, IBU: 12.02
1 oz - Amarillo, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 8.6, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 15.52
1 oz - Amarillo, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 8.6, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 6.23
1 oz - Amarillo, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 8.6, Use: Dry Hop for 5 days

I will be using the local breweries house yeast strain via a fresh slurry.

I was wanting this to be more hop centric since I've never used Amarillo before but I am more than willing to knock down the ibus if needed!

Figured I'd throw this in for future ideas. My LHBS has Simcoe whole cone on clearance too so I was thinking about picking some up this weekend. I asked and they are just clearancing out the Hop Union stuff to move to another brand and it's not old hops Any Simcoe smash recommendations?

 

[thehaze]

No need to mash 90 minutes. Mash 60 minutes at 149-151F, maybe boil for 90 minutes if afraid of DMS. With leaf hops you need to use a bit more to get the same results as with pellets. Amarillo at 30 and 60 is simply a waste. Move an addition to 20 minutes and add more hops if you have it.

For a smash, the ABV is OK, but 50 IBUs could turn out to be too much. You want to smell and taste the Amarillo, without too much bitterness or water treatment getting in the way.

Amarillo is definitely one of my favourite hops: good alpha acids, great aroma and flavour - sweet tangerines, oranges, grapefruit juice and rind, touch of tropical in the background, it suits many different styles of beer, from Belgian to American IPAs and lagers, wheat beers, etc.

 

[rtstrider]

No need to mash 90 minutes. Mash 60 minutes at 149-151F, maybe boil for 90 minutes if afraid of DMS. With leaf hops you need to use a bit more to get the same results as with pellets. Amarillo at 30 and 60 is simply a waste. Move an addition to 20 minutes and add more hops if you have it.

For a smash, the ABV is OK, but 50 IBUs could turn out to be too much. You want to smell and taste the Amarillo, without too much bitterness or water treatment getting in the way.

Amarillo is definitely one of my favourite hops: good alpha acids, great aroma and flavour - sweet tangerines, oranges, grapefruit juice and rind, touch of tropical in the background, it suits many different styles of beer, from Belgian to American IPAs and lagers, wheat beers, etc.

Mind making og/ibu recommendations? I've never used amarillo or whole cone hops so it's new to me

edit: In the spirit of SMASH I wanted to use a 60 minute bittering addition, 30 minute (within the traditional 45 minute to 30 minute IPA addition), then hop burst at the end to get the actual flavor/aroma from the hops. Of course with a dry hop to get a tad more aroma

 

[thehaze]

OG could be something like 1.052-1.053 and FG can land on 1.010-1.011, resulting in a 5.5% ABV beer. Amarillo is pretty low alpha, so getting 50 IBUs, means you need to use more for bittering, and I think you are best served with lower IBUs and more aroma/dry hops. You'll taste buds will be more pleased with the added aroma and flavour than raw bitterness ( although Amarillo is a very smooth bittering hop ). IBUs are fine around 35-40, for a smash. To enhance the crispness/dryness of the beer, you can add some sulfate. Maybe something like 120-140 ppm in the mash with 50-70 ppm Cl. ( keep Mg and Na low-ish / 10-15 ppm each )

PS: I lean towards lower FG on most of my brews, but that's personal preference. However 1.010-1.011 is an OK final gravity. Not too dry, not too sweet/full.

 

[rtstrider]

OG could be something like 1.052-1.053 and FG can land on 1.010-1.011, resulting in a 5.5% ABV beer. Amarillo is pretty low alpha, so getting 50 IBUs, means you need to use more for bittering, and I think you are best served with lower IBUs and more aroma/dry hops. You'll taste buds will be more pleased with the added aroma and flavour than raw bitterness ( although Amarillo is a very smooth bittering hop ). IBUs are fine around 35-40, for a smash. To enhance the crispness/dryness of the beer, you can add some sulfate. Maybe something like 120-140 ppm in the mash with 50-70 ppm Cl. ( keep Mg and Na low-ish / 10-15 ppm each )

PS: I lean towards lower FG on most of my brews, but that's personal preference. However 1.010-1.011 is an OK final gravity. Not too dry, not too sweet/full.

Thanks for the heads up! Will definitely adjust the recipe! I've got a grain order in for a Karbach Love Street clone but will be brewing the Amarillo SMASH once that's ready