Belma Hops

[ipazilla]

interesting - it certainly is a clean bittering hop.

crazy APA you brewed there btw

I should say that as a boil hop I was disappointed as I did not get any of the flavors I mentioned until I dry hopped, the pre dh beer was definitely clean and grassy but not real fruit character came through until the dry hop, I also did this identical recipe with legacy, I will be kegging that this weekend I hope to have both on draft at one time so I can compare hops being that the rest of the ingredients are identical

 

[FATC1TY]

I found it to have good flavor, and decent aroma before dryhopping. Mine is still in primary, and I'll leave it until maybe mid week next week before moving it.

I will say, that being kin to magnum doesn't come as a surprise. It's a fantastic bittering hop from what I've tasted. Potent, yet tosses a nice fruit element in there.

After hearing people say, "spicy", I guess I do pick that up a shade, only because of that dry twang I get from it..

 

[shoreman]

Kegged my Belma/cascade pale ale last night after 3 weeks primary on London ale iii yeast.

Some sort of orange creamsicle coming out of it, still strawberry and a touch of tropical- no spiciness.

I dry hopped with 4 oz of wholes in the keg.

I had added 3 oz of wholes at flameout so well see. I think you need a decent amount with this hop as others have said

I split the batch and hit it with Ardennes yeast - that beer is much more subtle and not any creamsicle flavors

I'm psyched on the pale and the Belgian pale should be a great little session ale

 

[kpr121]

Kegged my Belma/cascade pale ale last night after 3 weeks primary on London ale iii yeast.

Some sort of orange creamsicle coming out of it, still strawberry and a touch of tropical- no spiciness.

I dry hopped with 4 oz of wholes in the keg.

I had added 3 oz of wholes at flameout so well see. I think you need a decent amount with this hop as others have said

I split the batch and hit it with Ardennes yeast - that beer is much more subtle and not any creamsicle flavors

I'm psyched on the pale and the Belgian pale should be a great little session ale

Dry hop with just belma or did you split with cascade?

 

[TNGabe]

Belma Beer Trade thread has been started. RSVP over there with suggestions for the format and timeframe.

 

[shoreman]

Dry hop with just belma or did you split with cascade?

All Belma - the cascade was added at about 20 min left

 

[Brewitt]

Edited:
I thought I had already posted this but I guess I never hit the send button.

Finally got the Belmania IPA bottled last week. It is actually a blend of hops but more Belma than anything else. The recipe for 5 gallons is:

12 lb 2 Row
1 lb Carapilis
0.5 lb Crystal 40
0.25 lb Acidulated Malt
1 lb Glucose

2 oz Magnum 60 min
1.5 oz Belma and 0.75 oz Simcoe at 15 min and 1 min
3 oz Belma, 1.5 oz Simcoe and 1.5 oz Centennial dry hop

I put a couple ounces in the frig overnight to taste. Soft aromatic fruits followed by citrus and bitter. A tiny bit of that piney resin but not like I tasted before the dry hop. Fruitiness is more like sweet strawberries and something subtle like melon as someone mentioned earlier. Not really tropical. Really nice. The dry hop had a big influence. Can't wait til it is carbed up.

 

[bobbrews]

Just bottled my Warrior-Citra-Belma IIPA with a relatively clean grist and London Ale 1028 yeast. 85 IBUs but smooth and dry. Dryhopped 7 days. The dryhopped help the fruity tropical flavors to pop again.

Pre-carbed sample tastes spicy, fruity, tropical, pungent, and grassy. Some pineapple, orange zest, strawberry, and freshly mowed grass in there. Completely different than a Citra-Amarillo mix, where you get more of a dominance of fruity tropical mango and lychee without any spicy peppery grass. I do not recommend Belma for dry West Coast American IIPAs, because it's just too weird of a hop flavorwise for this beer style and not very potent on the nose. I will definitely drink and enjoy all of this... but it's just not an A+ in terms of hop combo.

Bottling the same beer with American Ale yeast tomorrow. Will update with more tasting notes.

The American yeast version was the same recipe, except I used a little less Belma in the dryhop (more Citra). As expected, you get more tropical fruit. But the Belma is still obvious with its spicy wet grass, orange zest, and funky pineapple notes.

 

[Brewitt]

Popped the cap on a bottle of Belmania IPA tonight. Only 6 days in the bottle. However, its carbonated and completely changed. Now it is more subtle but very nice. Citrus and bitter from the Magnum and Centennial (and I guess a bit from the Simcoe and Belma) but mild bitterness. The beer seems light (despite almost 8% ABV) and has a obviously sweet citrus aroma and a mild sweet fruity hop flavor. Definitely sweet but doesn't seem like malty sweetness, more like a ripe fruit. Really nice but surprisingly mild. However, despite the mild flavor, it packs an alcohol punch as I'm getting to the 10th ounce.

Winner but definitely needs the other hops for support.

 

[conneryis007]

Tried my all Belma pale ale tonight for the first time and I am not a fan of Belma! Tastes like grass covered strawberries and the smell is just not right. Too bad, the rest of the beer came out well!

 

[FATC1TY]

Tried my all Belma pale ale tonight for the first time and I am not a fan of Belma! Tastes like grass covered strawberries and the smell is just not right. Too bad, the rest of the beer came out well!

That sucks..

Sounds like Belma needs a partner in crime to really mingle well.

 

[eulipion2]

Smoked Belma IPA: in bottle 1 week. Tastes like a smoked beer with just enough bitterness to balance, but despite 3 oz Belma in dry-hop, very little aroma, which may or may not come from the Briess cherrywood smoked malt. Tasty brew nonetheless. Just not a smoked IPA. More of a slightly bitter, slightly fruity rauchbier. I'm hoping that as this matures the Belma comes out a little more, but I doubt it will.

 

[AnOldUR]

Could be that we're so accustom to the C hops and their Pacific Northwest cousins that anything out of the ordinary doesn't work anymore in our APA and IPA's. Racked my all Belma for dry hopping last weekend. Carbed up and chilled about a half gallon to sample. I recognized the flavor, but couldn't put my finger on it. Kind of a citrus fruit but mostly just the zest. Definitely not grassy. Very different, but in a good way. Looking forward to getting this kegged so that I can get a handle on what I tasted.

 

[allenH]

I dry hopped my Nelson Sauvin/Belma Rye Pale ale on Monday. Maybe it was because they came straight out of the freezer, my Belma leaf smelled very grassy. I don't remember them smelling this grassy before, maybe it's just you guys getting into my head. I might have to change the name from Nelson Belma Rye to Nelson Bahia Rye.

 

[FourSeasonAngler]

I made a 10 gallon spin-off of Jamil's West Coast Blaster recipe using Magnum to bitter, aroma/flavored with equal weights of Belma/Cascade. My thoughts were to see what an atypical red/amber ale would do for the expected citrus/fruit qualities of a Belma/Cascade combo and two yeasts known to impart fruity yet different esters/phenols.

5 gallons I fermented with Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardiennes, in the other carboy I fermented with Wyeast 1968 London ESB.

Both pitched at 65F, fermented at 65F for 2 weeks in primary, 10 days in secondary, and both dry hopped in secondary with 2oz Belma leaf, 2oz Cascade leaf, and 1 oz Citra pellet (each).

OG on both was 1.068. The 3522 went down to 1.007 and the 1968 hit 1.010.

Tasting notes after 3 weeks in bottle:

Appearance:
3522 - Pours deep mahogany brown cascading well and leaving a nice thick 1 inch dense head of off-white foam that you can damn near rest a penny on. Looks dark brown, but when looked through towards light shows very clear and deep burgundy. No haze.
1968 - Pours brown with good cascading and only a 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick layer of creamy off-white fluffy head. Almost as dense as 3522, but slightly thinner. Haze is apparent, but still shows through deep red/brown up to light.

Aroma:
3522 - Aroma wafts up from the glass at pour, strong berry/citrus notes. Nose in snifter confirms a very strong and predominant sweet berry with a classic cascade twist and some earthy floral on the backend. Some malty undertones but the berry sweetness/earthy may be deceiving me here. Very clean hop aromas with no yeast, spice, or "funk" detected.
1968 - Same aroma wafting from the snifter, strong berry, maybe a little sweeter. Cascade citrus/floral may be muted slightly by the berry, and no earthy tones. Some yeasty element detected, reminds me of a hefe or weis component, almost a bready smell.

Taste:
3522 - Instant sweet grapefruit and berry rush as the liquid touches lips, and soon gives way to a soft bitterness and smooth light malt background. Beers color does not match perceived taste, as this drinks much lighter than it looks. After taste is slightly bitter but smooth with a balanced sweetness that finishes neither dry nor sweet and almost no heat from alcohol.
1968 - Same sweet citrus berry rush and smooth bitterness behind it. There is a yeasty flavor that isn't off-putting, but it's there and actually adds another dimension to the smooth malt background. This one finishes sweeter, but being less dry helps the flavor of the hops linger rather than just the bitterness.

Mouthfeel:
3522 - Very light on the tongue, no over-carbonation tingle, just enough to stay refreshing. Almost too thin for the dark color and strong hop profile, but the sweetness of the berry-ish Belma pairs nicely with something this refreshing.
1968 - Also a light beer at first sip but a lingering creaminess that makes flavors that stay long after swallow give this beer a heavier or thicker perception. Not chewy or heavy, but not exactly refreshing either.

Overall
3522 - A very enjoyable and unique beer experience. I don't think I've ever had a hop-berry-red before, or even such a smooth drinking red. I can't keep my nose out of my glass and even find myself smelling empty bottles before I wash them out. Just a great aroma from the Cascade/Belma combo that I will definitely try to incorporate into other styles... wheat ale, APA, & maybe even a stout!
1968 - While I did not hate anything that I got from this beer I feel that whatever yeasty/haze that got pulled into the bottles left something less desirable. Aroma and tastes were great and very enjoyable, but I think another yeast variety could help bring out other malt notes that didn't seem to take away from the refreshing quality of a beer this quaffable.


I'll be brewing a Belgian Golden Strong with Belma/Cascade/Simcoe next.

 

[SixStringBeer]

Just curious about why you decided to keep the fermentation temperature on the 3522 so low for this beer? I find that strain can be pretty neutral to the point of defeating the purpose of using it without ramping up the temperature or at least under-pitching appropriately. Would have been interesting to hear how the spicey, clovey notes and the light stone fruit esters I associate with that yeast would have worked with that hop combination.

 

[TNGabe]

I dry hopped my Nelson Sauvin/Belma Rye Pale ale on Monday. Maybe it was because they came straight out of the freezer, my Belma leaf smelled very grassy. I don't remember them smelling this grassy before, maybe it's just you guys getting into my head. I might have to change the name from Nelson Belma Rye to Nelson Bahia Rye.

I think Nelson/Belma is a money combo so far, although it'll be another 4 to 6 weeks before the beer I brewed with those is ready.

 

[FATC1TY]

So I kegged my Belma's Galaxy IPA tonight. Smelled great going into the keg.

I dry hopped with with a bit of everything I used in the boil.. Belma, Cascade and Galaxy. Roughly 3oz of hops to dry hop it with.

I'm looking forward to a week from now, and giving it a taste. I think Belma really, really gets along well with Galaxy and Cascade... GREAT combo so far.

 

[porky_pine]

I've had a Belgian IPA fermenting with Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardiennes for a month and I'm gonna bottle it the day after tomorrow. It's flavored with belma, citra, cascade and amarillo with twice as much belma as the others. It fermented at 68 degrees because that's the temperature of my house. The sample I took the other day tasted like strawberry fruit with some clove and. We'll see, I kind of wish I would have brewed ten gallons and used an American Ale yeast on the other five.

 

[jheld00]

I've had a Belgian IPA fermenting with Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardiennes for a month and I'm gonna bottle it the day after tomorrow. It's flavored with belma, citra, cascade and amarillo with twice as much belma as the others. It fermented at 68 degrees because that's the temperature of my house. The sample I took the other day tasted like strawberry fruit with some clove and. We'll see, I kind of wish I would have brewed ten gallons and used an American Ale yeast on the other five.

I love pairing 3522 and Amarillo(in my mind they were meant for each other). I bet mixing in some Belma would be very tasty. Thanks for the idea.

 

[shoreman]

So I've been drinking me Belma/Cascade pale ale this week - it's dry hopped with Belma in the keg London ale III yeast.

It's not bad but in the future ill probably check out how clean of a bittering hop it is - at $5 alb can't complain but it's not outstanding

 

[kpr121]

and both dry hopped in secondary with 2oz Belma leaf, 2oz Cascade leaf, and 1 oz Citra pellet (each).

Thanks for the thorough review. I think I need to up my dryhop charges to get a similar aroma in my IPAs/other hoppy beers.

 

[othellomcbane]

For anyone interested, I have a thorough break-down of my Belma single hop IPA on my blog.

The short version: I fermented this with Conan yeast, which is basically steroids for hops, and as a result this is one of the most intensely fruity IPAs I've ever tasted. The aroma and flavor is dominated by strawberry — like, intensely, specifically, strawberry. I thought I was going crazy when I opened my first bottle; I've honestly never had another beer like it in my life. Very clean bitterness. Too straightforward to win any awards (it hardly tastes like an IPA), but a fascinating beer and very nice to drink.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

I am brewing a multi-malt single hop (mmash?) with belma Saturday. I have 5 lbs now, so I hope its good. I like the idea of strawberry, and if it come through, it'd be a good hop for hot peppering. I'm calling it Belma Lugosi's Dead Ale.

 

[shoreman]

Nice post.

 

[conneryis007]

Tried my all Belma pale ale tonight for the first time and I am not a fan of Belma! Tastes like grass covered strawberries and the smell is just not right. Too bad, the rest of the beer came out well!

Ok so in an attempt to salvage this beer I dry hopped the keg with an ounce and a half of magnum. Its only been 6 hours or so but wow. What a difference the pairing made. The grass taste is mostly gone, the aroma is no longer gross. It is still a VERY unique tasting beer, but much better now! If you were to give this to somebody in a blind taste testing they would swear by the smell and taste that there are fresh cut strawberries at the bottom of the pint!!

 

[LabRatBrewer]

Nice post.

Thanks (i hope I'm not missing sarcasism).

I think Im going to spilt it into 5 one gallon batches and leave one as pure belma and dry hop the other four with various companion hops (I have a lot of hops...damn u nikobrew...)Ill step up my starter tonight for the 5x spilt.

 

[FATC1TY]

I purge the yuck of the bottom of my kegs that I filled last night, and took a taste of a clean pull.

The Belma and Galaxy are a perfect match.. PERFECT. Man it's so fruity. It's a great balanced fruit, nice and dry, but crisp and clean... red berries a bound, orange, lemon, slight grassy, melon, and baby bit of pine from the galaxy.

Delicious. Glad I have 2 pounds of Belma, she likes company.

 

[Chriso]

I tried a taste of my Velma SMaSH tonight. It's pretty good! It's a little grassy tasting but it has only been in the keg for a few days... It needs another week on carbonation before it will be where I want it. I like the notes of strawberry & cream that I can already taste in there, though!

Cray to think that I used 5oz in this thing and it still tastes SO mild!

 

[nukebrewer]

I just got my pound of Belma in today (along with Legacy, Magnum, Calypso, Super Galena and Motueka) and I am going to brew a Belma/2-row SMaSH with it. I've seen the posts saying Belma isn't good by itself, but I need to find out for myself. Will report on my take on it.