Bravo Red, What do you think?

[Beerrific]

I am going for a big American Red/Amber ale. I think I am pretty happy with the malt bill. I just got the Bravo hops from Hops Direct and thought this would be a good way to try them out. I will probably adjust the dry hop amount depending on what I think it needs when I keg it. I am going to mash at 152F and use US-05.

Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[Chriso]

That's a lot of high-AA hops. I have not tried the Bravo variety yet, but your recipe looks tasty.

 

[ChrisKennedy]

I say bump up the Munich to around 15%, but that is just me, I love me some Munich.

The hop bill sounds slightly risky, since you don't really know if you like Bravo yet, but after reading some reviews of a couple single hop Bravo IPAs, it sounds like it is a solid multi-purpose hop, so you may very well have a gem on your hands.

 

[Beerrific]

bump....I am brewing this tomorrow....

 

[BrianP]

I like the name.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Looks interesting. You should have a very sweet, malty profile with that munich and all that caramel. Let me know how you like the Bravo hops.

 

[BierMuncher]

bump....I am brewing this tomorrow....

Well...?

Out with it man...

How's this beer shaping up?

I'm researching the Bravo Hops and need to know...

 

[Beerrific]

Well...?

Out with it man...

How's this beer shaping up?

I'm researching the Bravo Hops and need to know...

Thanks for reminding me about this thread.

I think the beer came out very nice. The Bravo hops are not overwhelming in their taste, so the malty profile is very evident but balanced by the bitterenss. I dry hopped with .5oz, the aroma is present but not overwhelming.

I gave a couple of the beers to Brewiz, maybe he will chime in on what he thinks too.

I like the Bravo hops. I will probably not do another beer with it alone, but would not hesitate to use it for late additions to any American style hoppy beer. It is somewhat citrusy, but not anything close to Cascade, Amarillo, etc. It has more of a mild spicy, earthy flavor. I think it would blend well with other American hop varieties if you are looking to make something that is not a grapefruit bomb.

 

[mendlodc]

any other with experience with bravo?

any updates on this recipe?

i have a lb in the fridge and trying to decide what to do.

 

[Beerrific]

I thought it was a pretty good beer. It was bitter. The hop flavor was there but not overwhelming. If I had it to do again I would probably use another hop variety in the last few minutes of the boil in addition to the Bravo (like Centennial or Cascade).

 

[mendlodc]

thanks.

so you are suggesting maybe switching out the 5 minute and knock out additions?

 

[Beerrific]

thanks.

so you are suggesting maybe switching out the 5 minute and knock out additions?

Or backing off the Bravo additions and ad the other hop in addition.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

Funny, I just brewed one a couple of weeks ago with nearly the exact same grain bill, except I used 12.4# 2-row instead of 13, and 3 oz pale chocolate instead of 2 oz regular chocolate. Everything else is identical. I took my grain bill from Jamil's red rocket clone. I ended up with 5.5 gallons at 1.066.

I couldn't get all of Jamil's hops so I used:

1 oz Horizon (10.9) for 60 minutes
1 oz Columbus (12.2) 10 minutes
1 oz Cascades (6) 10 minutes
1 oz Columbus (12.2) 0 minutes
1 oz Cascades (6) 0 minutes

Comes up to 61.9 IBU.

It's still in the fermenter now.

 

[Beerrific]

Funny, I just brewed one a couple of weeks ago with nearly the exact same grain bill, except I used 12.4# 2-row instead of 13, and 3 oz pale chocolate instead of 2 oz regular chocolate. Everything else is identical. I took my grain bill from Jamil's red rocket clone. I ended up with 5.5 gallons at 1.066.

Yeah, the grain bill was based of Jamil's red ale recipe with a few minor modifications. I thought it would be a good recipe to try out the Bravo hops.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

Yeah, the grain bill was based of Jamil's red ale recipe with a few minor modifications. I thought it would be a good recipe to try out the Bravo hops.

Well, I'm hoping it's a tasty brew. I followed his grain bill to the letter and hit his gravity to within .001...of course he spec'd 6 gal at 75%, and I used the same grains to make 5.5 gal at 70%. I fudged his hops a bit but shot for the same IBU's. If nothing else, it's got a nice color.