First time Amarillo

[wingnutbrew]

Yeah where have I been right?

Anyway just trying out Amarillo hops for the first time, I was tempted to blend but no harm using them solo.

Simple IPA Recipe 1.059 planned OG (will bump it up with late primary sugar additions)
152F Mash
10# 2Row
2# Munich
.5# Crystal 80
1tsp Gypsum in Mash

1.5oz Columbus -60min (my standard bittering hop)
1oz Amarillo -10min
2oz Amarillo -Steep 30min around 170F-180F
2oz Amarillo -Dryhop 6 days

M44 - West Coast Yeast (pacman'ish some say)

I guess this should give me a good idea as far as flavor & aroma for this "new to me" hop. I've used cascade mostly for a hop of this type (fruity, citrus). And looking forward to seeing how they compare. Reviews are leading me to believe more orange than lemon so we'll see.

I've got at least 3 more to test out in a single hop recipe before I begin blending with others. Mosaic, Huell Melon and Ekuanot are next on the list for a single hop ale.

 

[ncbrewer]

Looking forward to seeing the results. Thanks for posting.

 

[kristiismean]

looks good! Amarillo is one of my favorite hops. I use it to lightly hop my wheats, and just did a borderline pale ale/ipa (on the line) with amarillo, citra and galaxy. hopefully turns out good.

 

[wingnutbrew]

Mash went great. I incorporated a 100F rest to adjust pH and try to keep my sparge from gumming up on me.

Came out with an OG at 1.062 and final runnings were about 1.022 so I think I will spend the extra 30 min on the mash from now on to see if that stays consistent. This was the highest efficiency I have ever had and will probably skip the late sugar addition depending on how the yeast perform.

 

[wingnutbrew]

FG: 1.012 (80+% Attenuation) Took 4 days to drop to 1.014, Secondary to harvest yeast after 12 days, dry hopped 10 days

I wish I had dialed back the bittering addition to only 1oz but I am adding this to one of the more successful brews I have had. The pic may not have captured the beer perfectly but the orange color from the munich comes through well but malt character is minimal.

Getting mild grapefruit characteristic on the nose with more orange peel but much more of an orange/melon as far as taste, though the bitterness is masking it a bit but this should blend out nicely in a couple weeks. I did have to add an additional 1oz of dryhop at 6 days as the first 2 oz I added dropped like a rock and the majority fell out of suspension in 3 days. Had 10 days total dryhop time.

The M44 is going to be my new strain for most of my American IPAs and APAs. I started with one packet and have done 3 brews so far with around 300ml of yeast still in the fridge and this doesn't include the thick slurry I have settling out of a White IPA that I did last weekend. Every time I reuse it I am getting better attenuation and the one I have fermenting now is likely to go from 1.062 to 1.010 or 1.009 and this is mashing @152F and starting fermentation in the mid 60s.

I am very happy with this "new to me" hop and now ready to start blending it with others I already know. My next single hop recipe will be using Ekuanot which may not just be a new to me hop!

 

[kristiismean]

looks good! So far I have only mixed amarillo with simcoe (for a pale ale, turned out good) and a recent not ready yet amarillo/citra/galaxy. Amarillo seems to really play well with others and brings out the best, and not the worse of other hops.