Belma Hops

[doublehaul]

could the stems contribute to grassy flavors? maybe the hops need pre-pruned

 

[CadillacAndy]

could the stems contribute to grassy flavors? maybe the hops need pre-pruned

Mine, at least, weren't that bad. Some stems, but mostly full cones.

 

[Doublebird]

I am glad for all the feed back so far. I too jumped in with both feet at the low price and got 5lbs. I was planning on trying a single hop IPA but have now been convinced to blend with some C's (not my amarillo), I usually do a light Ame. cream that I will try it with.

 

[HawksBrewer]

Since everyone has been posting aroma notes, I thought I would post mine. Equal additions of belma, citra and cascade and it smelled like Hawaiian Punch when I opened the fermenter. Good stuff.

 

[ong]

Since I wasn't too happy with Belma in a very hop-forward pale/IPA beer, I'm now cooling my next attempt: Belma in a nice dark, malt-bomb porter. Just a bittering addition and a 10 minute flavor addition for around 25 IBUs, with an OG around 1.070. I might secondary with some fruit or vanilla, depending how it tastes.

Edit: oops, make that 1.060. Missed my numbers pretty good there!

 

[acidrain]

Got my Belmapocalypse keg'd today. First taste is super mild... almost BMC-ish, except for the (rather mild) hops notes... really clean up front. Very little aroma. Not too good of a bittering hop IMHO.
Floral, slight citrus, earthy after taste.
I will do a much stronger late addition next time (maybe dry hop), and probably bitter with Centennial instead.

 

[FourSeasonAngler]

Gave away the last remaining bottles of my Belgian Belma Berry Blaster to family for Christmas and was nearly forced to take money to brew another batch.

I've got a zombie dust clone in my fermenters ready to bottle tomorrow and a NZ hop bomb pale on deck after that. Looks like another Belgian Belma is a must brew after those...

 

[FATC1TY]

Got my Belmapocalypse keg'd today. First taste is super mild... almost BMC-ish, except for the (rather mild) hops notes... really clean up front. Very little aroma. Not too good of a bittering hop IMHO.
Floral, slight citrus, earthy after taste.
I will do a much stronger late addition next time (maybe dry hop), and probably bitter with Centennial instead.

What makes you not like it as a bittering hop? Has a nice high AA, and it's a nice fruity bittering hop. If the hop fails at everything in terms of flavor and aroma for folks, I think it really is as a fail safe, a great, cheap bittering hop.

 

[FarmerTed]

Here's my first Belma recipe (brewed it today):

12 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter, Warminster (4.5 SRM) 90.6 %
16.0 oz Acid Malt (3.0 SRM) 7.5 % (added 30 min into a 50 min mash)
4.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) 1.9 %
0.25 oz Belma [11.30 %] - First Wort 60.0 min 9.5 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) -
0.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 mins) -
1.00 oz Belma [11.30 %] - Boil 10.0 min 12.6 IBUs
1.75 oz Belma [11.30 %] - Boil 1.0 min 2.6 IBUs
1.0 pkg Brettanomyces Lambucus (Wyeast Labs #5526) [50.28 ml] -
1.0 pkg French Saison (Wyeast Labs #3711) [50.28 ml] (starter made with both yeasts mixed together)

The O.G was 1.063 (~5.7 gallons), and I pitched the two yeasts at 65 F. Looking forward to drinking this sucker in a few months! The wort actually had a nice little acidic tang to it.
I did a similar saison-brett last year with 3711/Brett B that finished @ 1.002, so this bad boy could end up being 8% ABV when all is said and done.

 

[TNGabe]

Here's my first Belma recipe (brewed it today):

12 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter, Warminster (4.5 SRM) 90.6 %
16.0 oz Acid Malt (3.0 SRM) 7.5 % (added 30 min into a 50 min mash)
4.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) 1.9 %
0.25 oz Belma [11.30 %] - First Wort 60.0 min 9.5 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) -
0.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 mins) -
1.00 oz Belma [11.30 %] - Boil 10.0 min 12.6 IBUs
1.75 oz Belma [11.30 %] - Boil 1.0 min 2.6 IBUs
1.0 pkg Brettanomyces Lambucus (Wyeast Labs #5526) [50.28 ml] -
1.0 pkg French Saison (Wyeast Labs #3711) [50.28 ml] (starter made with both yeasts mixed together)

The O.G was 1.063 (~5.7 gallons), and I pitched the two yeasts at 65 F. Looking forward to drinking this sucker in a few months! The wort actually had a nice little acidic tang to it.
I did a similar saison-brett last year with 3711/Brett B that finished @ 1.002, so this bad boy could end up being 8% ABV when all is said and done.

Cool! One of the more interesting recipes in the thread so far. Post again as it evolves. I'm getting into discovering the flavors created by the combination of yeasts and hop compounds. With the hundreds of chemicals in hops and the unknown metabolic processes of different yeast strains there is a lot of trippy potential.

 

[kpr121]

Here's my first Belma recipe (brewed it today):

12 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter, Warminster (4.5 SRM) 90.6 %
16.0 oz Acid Malt (3.0 SRM) 7.5 % (added 30 min into a 50 min mash)
4.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) 1.9 %
0.25 oz Belma [11.30 %] - First Wort 60.0 min 9.5 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) -
0.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 mins) -
1.00 oz Belma [11.30 %] - Boil 10.0 min 12.6 IBUs
1.75 oz Belma [11.30 %] - Boil 1.0 min 2.6 IBUs
1.0 pkg Brettanomyces Lambucus (Wyeast Labs #5526) [50.28 ml] -
1.0 pkg French Saison (Wyeast Labs #3711) [50.28 ml] (starter made with both yeasts mixed together)

The O.G was 1.063 (~5.7 gallons), and I pitched the two yeasts at 65 F. Looking forward to drinking this sucker in a few months! The wort actually had a nice little acidic tang to it.
I did a similar saison-brett last year with 3711/Brett B that finished @ 1.002, so this bad boy could end up being 8% ABV when all is said and done.

That sounds tasty. Can I ask what temperature you mash at?

 

[FarmerTed]

That sounds tasty. Can I ask what temperature you mash at?

I mashed at 152 F, but it was cold out, and when I added the acid malt and gave the tun a stir, the temp reading was down to ~142, so I heated the tun back up to 152 and let it sit another 10 minutes. Everything ran clear, so it looked good. There's no way I could've mashed at a lower temp very easily when it was around 20 F in my garage, lol.

 

[scottland]

Here's my first Belma recipe (brewed it today):

12 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter, Warminster (4.5 SRM) 90.6 %
16.0 oz Acid Malt (3.0 SRM) 7.5 % (added 30 min into a 50 min mash)
4.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) 1.9 %
0.25 oz Belma [11.30 %] - First Wort 60.0 min 9.5 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) -
0.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 mins) -
1.00 oz Belma [11.30 %] - Boil 10.0 min 12.6 IBUs
1.75 oz Belma [11.30 %] - Boil 1.0 min 2.6 IBUs
1.0 pkg Brettanomyces Lambucus (Wyeast Labs #5526) [50.28 ml] -
1.0 pkg French Saison (Wyeast Labs #3711) [50.28 ml] (starter made with both yeasts mixed together)

The O.G was 1.063 (~5.7 gallons), and I pitched the two yeasts at 65 F. Looking forward to drinking this sucker in a few months! The wort actually had a nice little acidic tang to it.
I did a similar saison-brett last year with 3711/Brett B that finished @ 1.002, so this bad boy could end up being 8% ABV when all is said and done.

I did a something similar last week. Lower gravity, less Acid malt, and 1.5lbs of Munich. Also a little Citra in there as well, and no brett.

Ok, it's nothing similar to that =). I'll try that again. I also brewed a Saison with Belma. There. That's better.

 

[nukebrewer]

Put in the dry hops for my 2-row Belma SMaSH today and also took a gravity sample. Obviously I'll have to wait for the final beer to give my assessment, but for now the aroma I get is strong pineapple and strawberry. The flavor is also fruity, but with less discernible difference between the individual flavors. Unfortunately I had a brain fart and in the interest of trying a new hop schedule, I did all late hops and no bittering charge, so I don't have an idea of how it performs as a bittering hop. It's yet to be certain, but I don't think I'd use this as a bittering hop anyway, so hopefully it's a moot point.

 

[FourSeasonAngler]

There are better bittering hops, but none cheaper. With Belma being confirmed by many of us as a "mild" strength hop without any harsh flavor characteristics, its safe to assume Belma in fact is a great candidate for bittering and aroma/flavor.

 

[bellmtbbq]

So.. what do you guys think.. worth $16/LB after shipping?

 

[AnOldUR]

You bought one pound of Belma and nothing else?

Buy in bulk. You're doing it wrong. :cross:

 

[FATC1TY]

So.. what do you guys think.. worth $16/LB after shipping?

Ehh. No. I'll be honest, it's not. It's a flavorful, great dual purpose hop. Buying hops in bulk is only really worth it if you buy more, and it cuts down on the shipping and you have the ability to store it.

 

[bellmtbbq]

You bought one pound of Belma and nothing else?

Buy in bulk. You're doing it wrong. :cross:

I'm primarily a one gallon brewer... So thats more like 5 lb of hops. I use Palisades a lot, maybe I could also order a pound of them if hopsdirect have them in stock along with belma


Thanks for feedback I'll pass on Belma

 

[bleme]

I went in with 3 other guys from the local brew club for a total of 9 pounds. That made shipping $13.50, which is a HUGE difference.

 

[porky_pine]

I drank one of my Belma Belgian "IPA's" tonight after almost three weeks in the bottle. I added two ounces of Belma and one ounce of Citra at flame out and then dry hopped the same. Wyeast Belgian Ardennes 3522 yeast. This beer tastes like tropical fruit punch. I actually really like it, it's refreshing and different then my other beers which are mainly American IPAs or Barleywines. SWMBO doesn't like it but she doesn't like Belgian yeasts.

 

[acidrain]

Oh man, my Belmapocalypse is still a little green, but this is really turning out freak'n delicious!

 

[Cbaddad]

Oh man, my Belmapocalypse is still a little green, but this is really turning out freak'n delicious!

Did you post this recipe? I didn't see it and I am always interested in delicious. Got 2 pounds of Belma to use.

 

[CityOChampBrew]

I really hop these turn out well, if not belma will turn into a really cheap bittering hop for me. Hope to brew with them in a week or so myself. Either way 5 bucks for 20 oz of a nice bittering hop is a win any way you look at it

 

[jimkaren99]

i have been drinking my belma pale ale for last 2 weeks and love another homebrew buddy who has been brewing since 1983 also has tried and liked it so much he immediately ordered some. smooth flavor with a very nice berry flavor

 

[CityOChampBrew]

i have been drinking my belma pale ale for last 2 weeks and love another homebrew buddy who has been brewing since 1983 also has tried and liked it so much he immediately ordered some. smooth flavor with a very nice berry flavor

this post here is the reason that punctuation is really important!!!

Glad your beer turned out well

 

[acidrain]

Did you post this recipe? I didn't see it and I am always interested in delicious. Got 2 pounds of Belma to use.

Found it here: http://www.brews-bros.com/topic/70189-belmapocalypse-ipa/
It's a very light IPA... would go down really good on a hot summer day chilled to about 34F.

 

[Gear101]

I order 3#

 

[FATC1TY]

Found it here: http://www.brews-bros.com/topic/70189-belmapocalypse-ipa/
It's a very light IPA... would go down really good on a hot summer day chilled to about 34F.

You'll mute most of the flavor if you drink it that cold... Thats pretty darn cold.

 

[bink00]

Found it here: http://www.brews-bros.com/topic/70189-belmapocalypse-ipa/
It's a very light IPA... would go down really good on a hot summer day chilled to about 34F.

Cool... I was thinking that American ale II would be perfect for this hop