Belma Hops

[allenH]

Pretty sure I'm going Rye Pale Ale, Belma FWH, Belma/Nelson Sauvin all the way to dry hop. Terrapin Rye PA for the base, 40IBU total.

 

[othellomcbane]

I got 2lbs in the mail today. It's a very nice hop. Tropical and a little funky/grungy. I get a little citrus, but mostly like over ripe pineapple with some 'funk' to it. And I mean that in a good way.

It's not quite as oily as Citra, but sh**, few hops are. Definitely looking forward to using it.

Pretty spot-on description. Just tasted my first hydrometer sample from my Belma Single Hop IPA, and it's got a very nice(but mellow) fruit character, pineapple, citrus, and some kind of funky guava thing, I think. I'm pretty sure I get subtle strawberry and tropical, too. It's promising.

 

[Hernando]

What are the thoughts on using this in a farmhouse or saison?

 

[tre9er]

Aroma sounds perfect for a wheat beer, blonde, PA, IPA, etc, mostly as late addition. Anyone comment on the FLAVOR, yet?

 

[snaps10]

What are the thoughts on using this in a farmhouse or saison?

Sound like one heck of a fruity saison. Try it. That's what everyone is doing. I'm using it at 10min and flameout for an American Honey Wheat this week.

 

[Crustovsky]

Aroma sounds perfect for a wheat beer

This. Probably going to hop-burst a wheat ale with these to see what they can do. The high AA is going to be a bit of a pain to work around though.

 

[Hernando]

This. Probably going to hop-burst a wheat ale with these to see what they can do. The high AA is going to be a bit of a pain to work around though.

Perhaps a wheat wine then :cross:

 

[TimBrewz]

What are the thoughts on using this in a farmhouse or saison?

My all Belma APA has a faint Belgian character, and I used American Ale yeast at 63f, so I am assuming that comes from the Belma. I think it would make a good farmhouse/saison.

 

[HawksBrewer]

Just bottled my APA last night and the taste samples were out of this freaking world. Almost had a "heady topper" hop juiciness. This will be a mainstay hop and the citra/cascade/belma combo is ridiculous. Couldn't be happier. Only problem is it won't last long once it carbs.

 

[Hernando]

My all Belma APA has a faint Belgian character, and I used American Ale yeast at 63f, so I am assuming that comes from the Belma. I think it would make a good farmhouse/saison.

Yeah! that's what I'm taking about. I'll have to give this a go and update you guys once it's completed.

 

[bobbrews]

Anything with Citra smells like juicy hop tropical goodness. I wouldn't credit Belma with those traits just yet until I use them exclusively in the dryhop. Citra isn't in Heady Topper though... at least I don't think.

 

[HawksBrewer]

Anything with Citra smells like juicy hop tropical goodness. I wouldn't credit Belma with those traits just yet until I use them exclusively in the dryhop. Citra isn't in Heady Topper though... at least I don't think.

I've made apa/ipas w/ citra only, citra/amarillo, citra/amarillo/simcoe and citra/cascade and none of them smelled half as good as this one did. It truly has a wonderfully juicy hop aroma and flavor.

It wasn't that it tasted like heady topper (although if it did I would open a brewery tomorrow), it just had that hop "juiciness" that I've only ever experienced from heady. Eh, who knows.

 

[FourSeasonAngler]

I've got 10 gallons fermenting of a West Coast Blaster spin-off using 4oz Magnum to bitter and 8 oz each Belma/Cascade at late boil. Will be dry hopping with the Belma/Cascade combo as well. 2 separate carboys, one pitched with Wyeast 1968 London ESB and the other with Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes... (there is something about totally disregarding BJCP style guidelines that makes me giddy)

Wort samples after cooling were amazing. Crisp citrus, resinous, a bit tropical and a strong nose of that classic cascade hop aroma. I will report back in 2 weeks how the first early bottles taste.

 

[bobbrews]

I've made apa/ipas w/ citra only, citra/amarillo, citra/amarillo/simcoe and citra/cascade and none of them smelled half as good as this one did. It truly has a wonderfully juicy hop aroma and flavor.

Could be the amounts and locations of the hops, as well as other factors, i.e. the grist makeup, yeast used, ferm. temp, end FG, that you're a better brewer now and have a better understanding of IPAs... could be plenty of other factors. That said, my strongest aroma ever was from Citra & Amarillo late and in the dryhop, Columbus for bittering. Tasted like fruity hop juice too. I'm fermenting a Citra/Belma focused IIPA now with Warrior for bittering, so we shall see how that turns out.

 

[theveganbrewer]

I found the Cascade/Belma mix is very nice but needs 2 weeks of aging to blend perfectly. First week it was OK, 2nd week was perfect.

 

[bobbrews]

Give it a rest. The guy has brewed nearly the same beer repeatedly and is reporting his actual experience, no need to crawl up his ass about it. Most brewers are going to find his post more helpful than your vague objections.

Excuse you, but I was actually saying that many other "specific" factors can come into play when determining overall flavor/aroma rather than deciding what hop combo to use. And then I went on to list a few... hardly being vague.

And he said that he brewed many APAs/IPAs but never said anything about repeatedly brewing the same beer with the exact same amount of different hops to determine the differences.

 

[HawksBrewer]

for the record your results were just the kind of thing I was hoping for. I have 2 lbs Belma coming with the citra and cascade at the ready.

I'm pretty sure I posted the hop schedule in this thread, but if you're interested in the full recipe just let me know. Since we did a 10 gallon batch and split it for fermentation, it was interesting to see the differences between 1056 and 1272 w/ regards to the hop character. The 1272 had a fuller, more rounded hop flavor while the 1056 had a nice, crisp hop flavor that finished cleaner.

 

[dbrewski]

I'm pretty sure I posted the hop schedule in this thread, but if you're interested in the full recipe just let me know. Since we did a 10 gallon batch and split it for fermentation, it was interesting to see the differences between 1056 and 1272 w/ regards to the hop character. The 1272 had a fuller, more rounded hop flavor while the 1056 had a nice, crisp hop flavor that finished cleaner.

Sure, I saw the hops schedule but not the grain schedule. I also like to make my IPA's a bit lower ABV than average...my night is pretty short when I'm drinking 7-8% beers. Let's see it.

 

[Crustovsky]

Dear USPS: Please deliver to Canada faster. I want my hops to experiment with.

I'm looking forward to blending these with Chinook in the near future. I've heard people suggest 70/30 Chinook/Citra can give a pretty decent Simcoe substitute, and that got me to thinking. I figure 50/50 Chinook/Belma might be interesting in mixing the big piney/grapefruit flavours in Chinook with the lighter citrus/tropical fruit/spicy flavours from Belma I'm hearing about (although I doubt it will function as a Simcoe substitute, as really what does). We'll see how that turns out when I get the chance to try it.

 

[berebrando]

I'm about 1.5 weeks in to the fermentation on 10 gallons of extra pale ale... Don't have the complete recipe on hand, but from memory, it was:

about 7.5% abv,
simple 75% 2-row, 25% pils grist
...and, drumroll, please

3 oz at 60
3 oz at 15
6 oz at 5
8 oz at 0. All Belma.

Fermenting with a "Nottingham" strain from a local yeast laboratory that is said to kick off some serious pineapple flavors. Should be a great complement.

Subscribed!

 

[HawksBrewer]

Sure, I saw the hops schedule but not the grain schedule. I also like to make my IPA's a bit lower ABV than average...my night is pretty short when I'm drinking 7-8% beers. Let's see it.

I forget the exact amount of 2-row offhand but I think for a 5 gallon batch it would have been:

8 lbs 2-row
1 lb Munich 10L
.5 lbs White Wheat
.5 lbs Crystal 40

As you can see it is nothing special, but serves as a good grain base for building different hop combos.

 

[bobbrews]

As you can see it is nothing special, but serves as a good grain base for building different hop combos.

Idk, 10% Munich is about double what I would say is necessary to adequately highlight hop character especially because you're also using 5% toasty Crystal 40. Essentially more of a hoppy & malty APA with that lower abv.

 

[rgontasz]

Hops Direct may be the best company in the country! I placed a hop order yesterday and didn't see this great deal. I just called them and they were very happy to pull my order and add a pound of Belma! Saved me a heap on shipping! THANK YOU HOPS DIRECT!

 

[RacingRam]

HBT'ers who have Belma in hand - when did you place your order? I ordered on Nov 10 but haven't gotten a shipping confirmation or anything. I assume it's on the way and I'll get it in the next day or two, but I'm dying to try it out NOW!

 

[theveganbrewer]

HBT'ers who have Belma in hand - when did you place your order? I ordered on Nov 10 but haven't gotten a shipping confirmation or anything. I assume it's on the way and I'll get it in the next day or two, but I'm dying to try it out NOW!

I just got mine today. Didn't get a shipping notification, but I didn't sign on to check either. I've never gotten an email from them before. I'd expect most orders place last Friday to arrive today, tomorrow, or Friday. I live very close to them.

 

[Jukas]

After my last round of hop buying from FHB I told myself I was done for the majority of the year, but curiosity got the best of me and I ordered 2lbs of Belma. Only problem now is freezer space!

 

[theveganbrewer]

After my last round of hop buying from FHB I told myself I was done for the majority of the year, but curiosity got the best of me and I ordered 2lbs of Belma. Only problem now is freezer space!

Black Friday coming up, good time to get a new freezer and starting a yeast farm and more hop storage.

 

[Chriso]

HBT'ers who have Belma in hand - when did you place your order? I ordered on Nov 10 but haven't gotten a shipping confirmation or anything. I assume it's on the way and I'll get it in the next day or two, but I'm dying to try it out NOW!

I ordered Monday 11/5 and received Saturday 11/10. Broke down all 4 lbs into vac-bags that day.

 

[FarmerTed]

I just broke down a pound of the pellets (got them yesterday), and I don't know, I get a big onion/garlic/shallot aroma from them. I'm a little worried, to be honest. Am I the only one who smells that?

 

[TimBrewz]

I like my Belma APA more now that it has had about 10 days in the keg. The flavor is quite good, the aroma is decent(dry hopped 1 oz in 2.5 gal batch), but the most remarkable aspect to this beer is the very firm bitterness(not harsh, just solid) I got from a modest hop schedule(1.053/35 IBU). I am thinking this could be a fine dual purpose hop. Glad I made the purchase.