First time using Columbus... and we're going big.

[Skelator]

A few buddies and I have been brewing for a few years between all of us. We've done some hoppy beers (80, 95, 125, 130 ibus) and we've done some high abv beers (8.8, 9.9, 10.2) but for the hell of it, we want to go bigger. Not only do we want to go bigger but we want to use Columbus (a hop only 1 guy has used... and only one time in a small amount) as the main contributor. However, i've read and heard that you can easily overdo the Columbus, so the question is... how much is too much? Being a hophead, and surrounded by the like, you could say 'dont worry, if you like hops, you'll be fine' but i ask because a lot of people almost talk like they fear the end result. Anyways, take a look below and let me know what ya'll think.

We're thinking something in the neighborhood of 12-13%, ibu's around 180 (bu:gu 1.4-1.5).

13.5# Light DME
1.0# Crystal 60
1.0# Dextrose

2.00 Columbus @ 60
2.25 Magnum @ 60 (to help clean up some of the bitterness)
1.00 Columbus @ 20
0.25 Centennial @ 10 (to break it up a little bit)
0.50 Chinook @ 10
1.00 Columbus @ 10
0.25 Centennial @ 5
0.50 Chinook @ 5
1.50 Columbus @ 5

0.25 Centennial @ 14 days
0.25 Chinook @ 14 days
1.50 Columbus @ 14 days

0.25 Centennial @ 7 days
0.75 Columbus @ 7 days


Too much? Too little? Will it get lost in the other hops? More dry hop?

 

[booherbg]

remember that above 100 ibus isn't really possible to calculate so you may as well load the extra bittering hops into the late-additions so that you get more taste than bitting. does that make sense?

looks delicious to me. have you used that extract / crystal / dextrose combination before? I really want to know how it turns out! What yeast are you thinking about?

also columbus is apparently used with Anderson Valley's hop Ottin' which I love.

good job on using magnum for clean bittering, i hardly hear anyone say they use it as taste or aroma hop. chinook is good, too, used exclusively in arrogant bastard. cascade is the obvious one although my leafs apparently are weak because i can't get **** out of them for some reason.

 

[weirdboy]

You really don't need the dextrose. EDIT: ah I take it back. If you are going for more of an IPA, then stick with it. In fact in my recipe (see Master Exploder in my recipes) I add TWO pounds of sugar to help dry it out a bit, and add it after all the maltose is basically fermented out. When I first looked at the recipe I thought you were going for a barleywine.

Also I am a big fan of Columbus and it's a good choice to feature in this type of beer.


One last thing. In my first attempt at this beer, I think I dry hopped too early. That is, I let it ferment for a week, added sugar, let it go another two weeks, and then started the two rounds of dry hopping. The issue was that after packaging a couple weeks later, carbonating, etc. it was still akin to hoppy jet fuel. Then I brought it to NHC last year, approximately 3-4 months after brew day, and the jet fuel was gone and I was left with a huge 12% hop monster. So my suggestion is let it ferment out, then delay dry hopping for maybe another 4-8 weeks. That way you will get more aromatic punch when the beer is a bit more drinkable.

 

[Skelator]

remember that above 100 ibus isn't really possible to calculate so you may as well load the extra bittering hops into the late-additions so that you get more taste than bitting. does that make sense?

looks delicious to me. have you used that extract / crystal / dextrose combination before? I really want to know how it turns out! What yeast are you thinking about?

also columbus is apparently used with Anderson Valley's hop Ottin' which I love.

good job on using magnum for clean bittering, i hardly hear anyone say they use it as taste or aroma hop. chinook is good, too, used exclusively in arrogant bastard. cascade is the obvious one although my leafs apparently are weak because i can't get **** out of them for some reason.

I understand what you're saying with the 100+ ibu calculation, we were thinking we wanted to give it a solid bitter base/flavor rather than overloading the columbus in the aroma additions. We've been told you can easily make the beer TOO 'dank' by adding 2oz's or more in each of the late additions. We'd like it to be a 'smoother' bitterness with an emphasis on aroma rather than just overwhelm you with aroma since we are double dry hopping with 3 ounces. But what you say does makes sense, its actually what i like to do with a citra/cascade/magnum ipa.

I havent used this exact ratio of malt/crystal/sugar. I've used the same crystal and sugar with 9# lt dme and it still leaves a decent malt backbone but not so much to be sweet (thanks sugar!). Since this will be around 13% (fingers crossed we can ferment low to get 14%), we're simply upping the malt to try and give it a slightly more malty base. We're going to use Safale us-05. I've used it in many ipa/dipa's and i love it. It really lets the hops do their thing, imho.

In the citra/cade/mag ipa i mentioned before, i use the magnum alone in bittering, and very small amounts in the aroma and dry hop. Why? no idea, i had the hops and figured 'what the hell?' Turned out good.

 

[Skelator]

Also I am a big fan of Columbus and it's a good choice to feature in this type of beer.


One last thing. In my first attempt at this beer, I think I dry hopped too early. That is, I let it ferment for a week, added sugar, let it go another two weeks, and then started the two rounds of dry hopping. The issue was that after packaging a couple weeks later, carbonating, etc. it was still akin to hoppy jet fuel. Then I brought it to NHC last year, approximately 3-4 months after brew day, and the jet fuel was gone and I was left with a huge 12% hop monster. So my suggestion is let it ferment out, then delay dry hopping for maybe another 4-8 weeks. That way you will get more aromatic punch when the beer is a bit more drinkable.

Hmmmm... good food for thought. Thanks! i, personally, haven't gone quite this high with the hops, i'll definatley take this into consideration.