Fav hop combos for a pale ale?

[brokebucket]

Brewing a recipe that started as a mirror pond clone. Original was all cascade, but I have been trying a few different things with it the last few times. Right now, I have bulk amarillo in the freezer, and some old columbus...but any hop is on the table. I personally like the citrus and piney american hops...not into the cat piss/funky stuff. Dank is good as well.

Here is the last brew of this recipe:

11 lbs 8.00 oz Pale Ale Malt
1 lbs British Crystal 45L
4.00 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine
1.00 oz Cascade [6.9%] - First Wort
1.00 oz Cascade [6.9%] - Boil 30 min
1.00 oz Cascade [6.9%] - Boil 5 min
1.00 oz Cascade [6.9%] - Boil 0 min
WLP 002
1.00 oz Cascade Dry Hop 5 days
1.00 oz Chinook Dry Hop 5 days

OG 1.055
FG 1.012
IBU 40

 

[plazola86]

Amarillo & Simcoe - Perfect match for a classic west coast flavor
Citra & Mosaic - Super fruity combo

IMO Amarillo pairs well with any classic "c" hop. Citra or Mosaic pair well with any of the newer fruit forward varieties.

 

[shecallsmeblue]

Centennial and Cascade are in mine. Good, citrusy combo.

 

[Owly055]

Nelson Sauvin / Motueka

Mosaic with Willamette

........ You can't go wrong with the Zythos blend. Everybody seems to like it.


H.W.

 

[bigplunkett]

Im a simco citra fan or keep it old school chinook and centennial

 

[brokebucket]

Went with Amarillo/Simcoe. Tasted pretty solid going into the fermenter.

 

[madraso_]

Columbus or Summit @ 60, Simcoe, Amarillo, Mosaic and Centennial in damn near any combination after that.

 

[carloslavin]

Nelson Sauvin / Motueka

Mosaic with Willamette

........ You can't go wrong with the Zythos blend. Everybody seems to like it.


H.W.

That's funny, I have half a pound of Zythos in the freezer and most of the reviews I read about it are lukewarm at best. Haven't given me enough push to use it in an APA.

Guess I should just go ahead and make up my own mind about 'em.

 

[NCSU_Brewer]

Centennial and Cascade are in mine. Good, citrusy combo.

This is my go-to as well, partly because I love the citrus, and partly because I bought a pound of each.


I also like to dry hop an ounce of Citra in my house pale ale.

 

[Revvy]

There's a whole bunch of awesome two hop combination in this thread.

 

[Owly055]

That's funny, I have half a pound of Zythos in the freezer and most of the reviews I read about it are lukewarm at best. Haven't given me enough push to use it in an APA.

Guess I should just go ahead and make up my own mind about 'em.

I'm not talking specifically about homebrewers liking it...... We all think our own blends are better than any "professional blend". The truth is that the average person I share beer with likes a Zythos pale ale...........it's a well balanced blend. I think most detractors of this blend would say the same of any pre-blended hop pellet. We tend to be pretty arrogant bunch. If the brewing gods came down on me and said I had to empty my freezer and could only use a single hop, this would probably be my choice.

Another rather unconventional "blend" in homebrewing is Columbus, with Columbus, with Columbus in a pale ale....... all the freshest cone hops you can get, and LOTS of it from boil through whirlpool through dry hop. Columbus is not a particularly popular hop these days with all the newfangled hops coming along, but it can make a superb single hop beer if you are generous. It's also CHEAP. At $8 a pound typically, you can afford to throw half a pound in a 5 gallon brew.

I'm doing more of this sort of thing as the hops I'd like to be using are up around $30.... They'll come down (relatively), and the thundering herd moves on to the latest and greatest.


H.W.

 

[brokebucket]

I have over a pound of columbus that I have always been nervous to use because a buddy is particularly sensitive to it and scared me off of using it. Unfortunately, I don't have the AA% on this, but I need to start using it as a late addition and dry hopping. Maybe next batch...