Centennial Hops Substitute

[yimmyyames]

I am attempting to venture away from the kits and make my first batch on a recipe I found on the site. I went to my local home brew store and was disappointed to learn they currently are out of Centennial Hops. What would be the closest hops to replace this? The recipe calls for .25 oz Centennial at 55 min and again at 35 min and then .25 oz Cascade at 20 min and agait at5 min. The guy at the store said that Cascade is the closest hop to Centennial and it wouldn’t much matter in this case as the hops at the end of the boil are most crucial. Can anyone support what I was told? Any suggestions on what to do would be helpful.

Thanks!

 

[pvtschultz]

Cascade would be my choice, you may need to adjust the amount of hops to maintain the correct bitterness.

 

[Yooper]

It looks like centennial is only used for bittering hops, so it doesn't really matter which variety you pick. Magnum is a good neutral bittering hop, and you'd need less of it than cascade, but that would work as well.

.25 ounce of hops for bittering is a minute amount- are you certain of the times/amounts?

 

[BigBlueDog]

Think "C" - cascade, columbus, or chinook

 

[TrubDog]

http://www.brew365.com/hop_substitution_chart.php

 

[hogwash]

Looks like Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde. I would think it would be pretty tasty with all cascade if not a little one dimensional. But it's a pretty simple, light beer so it's not a complex flavor profile and since the centennials are bittering additions it won't make much of a difference. Just be sure to adjust your amounts so you still match the ibus.

Great choice on the recipe. I just brewed this a little while back and had my first one the other day. Very nice summer quaffer.

 

[yimmyyames]

Wow, thanks as always for the responses. Yes, it is the Centennial Blonde recipe. I’ve been reading great things about it and it sounds like the perfect summer beer (actually making it for 4th of July weekend for people that aren’t such a fan of my “hoppier” home brews).

So it sounds like I’ll go with all Cascade. Can you clarify what is means to “adjust your amounts so you still match the ibus?” The original recipe was:
0.25 oz. Centennial (9.50%) boil for 55 min
0.25 oz. Centennial (9.50%) boil for 35 min
0.25 oz. Cascade (7.80%) boil for 20 min
0.25 oz. Cascade (7.80%) boil for 5 min

How should I adjust this if using only Cascade?

Also was the guy at my home brew shop being truthful that there is currently a shortage of Centennial hops or was he covering his butt for not having it in stock?

 

[copyright1997]

If using Cascade, you would use .25 oz * 9.5/7.8 = 0.30 oz Cascade.

What your LHBS is telling you is partially true, they seem to be in somewhat short supply. I bought a couple #'s in the last couple of months, and now see that they are no longer available by the # (see below).

I bought a # of Centennial at Hopshack, but I see they are now out of stock. Farmhouse brewing has them in 4 oz packages, see here: http://www.farmhousebrewingsupply.com/scripts/hopsList.asp?idCategory=21# ($5 for 4 oz = $1.25/oz + shipping). I bought a # there (whole), but see they now are only selling pellets, limit 4*4 = 16 ounces.

Ritebrew has them by the ounce (unfortunately, can't buy em by the #), $1.59/oz: http://www.ritebrew.com/product-p/824253.htm

Labelpeelers.com http://labelpeelers.com/hops-centennial-hops-c-1_64_69.html seems to be sold out.

I'm not sure I would use Cascade for the 55 minute addition. For bittering, you should be able to sub just about any "clean" hop (e.g. Magnum or even Galena), and save that Cascade for aroma! (The 35 minute addition is borderline, but still think Magnum/Galena would work fine.)

 

[hogwash]

If using Cascade, you would use .25 oz * 9.5/7.8 = 0.30 oz Cascade.

I would add that you'll want to use the actual AA% of the cascades that you're going to use. Most that I've gotten recently are 6.something, but use whatever number it says on the pack.

So in other words, multiply the weight by the AA% in the original recipe then divide by the AA% of the actual hops you'll be using and you'll have your corrected amount. It's a good idea to do this for all recipes even if you're using the same hops because AA%s vary from crop to crop.

And use grams if possible.

 

[pvtschultz]

This is where a software package like BeerSmith really comes in handy! Since the additions are fairly small, I would buy 2 oz of cascades and the sub them in for Centennial using:

(Cascade oz) = 9.5/(Cascade IBU)

 

[DaSocialGuy]

That sub chart is a awsome resource. I had to use it yesterday.

 

[yimmyyames]

I would add that you'll want to use the actual AA% of the cascades that you're going to use. Most that I've gotten recently are 6.something, but use whatever number it says on the pack.

So in other words, multiply the weight by the AA% in the original recipe then divide by the AA% of the actual hops you'll be using and you'll have your corrected amount. It's a good idea to do this for all recipes even if you're using the same hops because AA%s vary from crop to crop.

And use grams if possible.

HAHA, OK, you guys lost me a little on the math.

So the package of Cascade I purchased reads Alpha 6.4%.

So when substituting the Cascade for 0.25 oz. Centennial (9.50%) I would calculate: 9.5/6.4 * .25 = .37 oz of Cascade

And since my Cascade hops are 6.4 to compensate I'd calculate: 7.8/6.4 * .25 = .30 oz of Cascade

So my recipe would then read:
0.37 oz. Cascade (6.40%) boil for 55 min
0.37 oz. Cascade (6.40%) boil for 35 min
0.30 oz. Cascade (6.40%) boil for 20 min
0.30 oz. Cascade (6.40%) boil for 5 min

This kinda makes sense to me. I'm right or way off...haha.

 

[hogwash]

You got it right.