grassy 2013 Amarillo hops

[14thstreet]

Anyone hear of similar experiences/complaints among "craft" brewers? They usually get first dibs.

 

[SavoryChef]

Anyone hear of similar experiences/complaints among "craft" brewers? They usually get first dibs.

I've had the good fortune to talk to Mitch Steele and Vinnie and they both said their crop was fine. But they also said they inspect their lots before they buy, and home brewers get the last lots.

 

[14thstreet]

Thanks! I was going to say at first we should blame "craft" beer for this but I know "they" are also held hostage by the system.

 

[kchomebrew]

I would say the hops are fine , just different from prior years....but we all just haven't figured out how to utilize it properly. Use lesser amounts than prior years. Can't be a bad thing.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Nagorg]

I haven't brewed with my 2013 Leaf Amarillo hops from HopsDirect yet. But I can confirm that the smell isn't what I was expecting. I can almost associate "grassy" to the aroma but dull would have to go along with it. This does make me want to brew a small test batch before committing to 10 gallons of "grassy"....

 

[Beezer94]

I haven't brewed with my 2013 Leaf Amarillo hops from HopsDirect yet. But I can confirm that the smell isn't what I was expecting. I can almost associate "grassy" to the aroma but dull would have to go along with it. This does make me want to brew a small test batch before committing to 10 gallons of "grassy"....

In my experience if the hops do not have much aroma (and/or not pleasant aroma) than they are going to disappoint in the brew. I've learned this the hard way a few times. I have had 2009-2013 amarillo and 2010 was the best I ever got by far. When it's good it is one of my favorite hops, but for 6+ more sad years it'll be luck of the draw (patent should expire then).

The breweries with the largest hop orders get first dibs, then filters down to last place homebrewers. Amarillo is the worst because it all comes from only one farm that is making way too much money for offering no consistency.

I still dream of duplicating Columbus Brewing Creeper which was a SMaSH DIPA; OG over 1.100 that was just Pilsner and Amarillo with almost all the IBU's coming from last 15 minutes. Was so ridiculously good that I keep praying that I win the Amarillo lottery and that is the only reason I keep spending money on that hop. Some day

 

[atom]

I got my 2013 amarillo from label peelers...i've only used em in a wookey jack clone so far, but i wouldn't describe them as grassy. i guess it varies.

 

[kchomebrew]

I got my 2013 amarillo from label peelers...i've only used em in a wookey jack clone so far, but i wouldn't describe them as grassy. i guess it varies.

Interesting. That's where I got my Amarillo from and id say it's grassy. Maybe different lots or bales. Who knows.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[And1129]

Hey, i'm i bit late to this party, but i'd better chime in here. I stopped by P.F. (Hops Direct) at the very beginning of their harvest season when i was over there for the HopUnion Hop and Brew school. I got a pound of Amarillo and a pound of Cascade from there at the very beginning of their harvest. I've brewed with the Amarillo several times since then, my pound is almost gone, and I've used Amarillo exclusively in the kettle and have never dry-hopped with them. I haven't noticed a great deal of the grassy flavor, even in my cascade-amarillo IPA that i've brewed twice so far, but I always dry-hop with cascade. One thing i have noticed however is the Amarillo imparts a subtle sweetness into my beers that i didn't expect. I put that together when i recently tried a single hop Amarillo beer which had the same "sweet" quality. Well attenuated beers, but something in the Amarillo specifically gives that slight sweet flavor. About the grassy notes, it could be that later in the harvest they switched to a different plot of land which was different, or it could be hop aging as if you're using pellets those are produced later in the season after harvest is done and they've sold the first harvested stuff as whole hops. So, i have 2013 Amarillo from the same source and i really haven't noticed it, but i'll look again when my next IPA is done.

 

[brettg20]

I also bought a pound from HD and just kegged a DIPA that had Amarillo (among others) dry hopped. It doesn't seem as floral/citrus as my last batch, not bad at all but damn last years crop was so good I was really starting to fall in love with this hop.

 

[brettg20]

No doubt I am getting more grassy notes when smelling the beer

 

[wyobrewer1]

I brewed an amarillo/MO smash just after thanksgiving. I haven't ever used amarillo before so i don't have anything to compare it to But this is probably one of the worst beers I've ever tasted. I do get grassy, but also just bad flavor and smell in general.

 

[alane1]

Anyone hear of similar experiences/complaints among "craft" brewers? They usually get first dibs.

I just started a thread about a nasty tasting Mayflower Spring Hop, it tasted like fresh cut basil...gross!!! This makes complete sense after reading this thread.

 

[Beernik]

I didn't get any grassy character in my Vienna lager. I used Amarillo and Calypso with 10 minutes left in the boil.

Spiciness, though, that took some time to age out. It was brewed on 01/05/14 and bottled on 02/22/14. Last night, the flavor finally came together the way it was supposed to .

 

[mtnagel]

I am not getting any grassy flavors and none of the people that have tried it have said so either in the Wookey Jack clone I made which has a healthy dose of Amarillo (and citra) hops.

 

[241]

Going to be doing a 10 gal vienna malt smash with amarillo and wlp810 - split 5 gal out and dry hop the crap out of it. Will report on grassiness if any

 

[loetz]

I split a pound of Citra from HD with a friend and when we were splitting the pound I noticed a definite garlic (maybe onion) aroma in them (sulphur I suspect).

I just sniffed 2012 and 2013 Amarillo side-by-side and I got a bit of garlic in the 2013. I'm not sure about grass.

 

[gandelf]

I brewed 4 batches of APA and IPA from my one pound package of 2013 Amarillo leaf; it's not grassy for me. I would say check your process. For me, I get grass from long dry hopping. I never liked that flavor. I have been Torpedoing for about a year and a half and would not go back. I converted a whole house filter. I have a loop; keg at 60 t 65 F, pump, torpedo (2 to 4 oz in a fine mesh sack) and then back to keg for 1 day. NO OTHER PROCESS COMPARES TO IT! I have tried them all. A side bonus is it filters hoppy ales very well.

 

[Nagorg]

I'll have an APA ready in ~4-5 weeks that has quite a bit of 2013 Amarillo leaf hops in it, including a dry hop. Will report the results.

 

[Nagorg]

I'm happy to report NO GRASSY notes in my Pale Ale. I used 2013 Amarillo Leaf Hops from Hops Direct. Guess mine are good!

 

[tagz]

Curiously label peelers is doing a BOGO on pounds of Amarillo. Strange for such a high demand hop. Perhaps it's the rough crop.

 

[grathan]

I wonder if it isn't karma for people charging $4/oz last year.

 

[Nagorg]

Curiously label peelers is doing a BOGO on pounds of Amarillo. Strange for such a high demand hop. Perhaps it's the rough crop.

That's not really such a great deal... Per their 29.99/pound price (pellet) you get 14.99/pound plus tax and shipping which works out to ~20.00/pound.

By comparison, a pound of pellet Amarillo hops from HopsDirect (sold out) was 18.40/pound plus tax and shipping.

So, it's not a bad deal from Label Peelers but it's not exactly like they are dumping a "rough crop"....

As I mentioned in my last post, the last brew I used 2013 Amarillo hops is not grassy at all; in fact it's FANTASTIC!!!

 

[stpug]

Just opened my pound of 2013 Amarillo from HD that's been sitting at -20F for almost 9 months and there is a definite "lackluster" quality to them (and I'll let the 9 months take a small amount of the blame). I do not think of the aroma as "grassy" but maybe a "light toast" as if they had been kilned a bit too long. There is an underlying Amarillo-esque aroma to them but it's mostly masked by the toast aroma. I get some floral hop notes but I'm missing the tropical-citrus notes, and the floral notes I'm getting are a bit earthy (I think). I'm hoping the toast doesn't impede true nature of this hop but I'll know better in a couple weeks.

 

[Nagorg]

there is a definite "lackluster" quality to them

Agreed with "laskluster" as compared to 2012 Amarillo... However, my personal experience is that brewing with them did not produce grassiness. Not the same aroma for sure but still a nice beer!

 

[Calichusetts]

Agreed with "laskluster" as compared to 2012 Amarillo... However, my personal experience is that brewing with them did not produce grassiness. Not the same aroma for sure but still a nice beer!

I'd actually say several hops had better 2012 harvests than 2013.

 

[stpug]

Agreed with "laskluster" as compared to 2012 Amarillo... However, my personal experience is that brewing with them did not produce grassiness. Not the same aroma for sure but still a nice beer!

After getting to taste my beer with these hops I will concur that while I don't find them "grassy", per se; they definitely are not the typical "juicy" hop I'm used to. Much more subdued on all fronts - but still good.

 

[loetz]

I asked Stan Hieronymus about this and he said that Amarillo is a beautiful hop and that people are always trying to talk trash about it.

 

[stpug]

Okay.

 

[loetz]

Yea it was kind of a non answer, but it seemed like he knew what I was talking about. He gave a pause before saying that, so maybe he was trying to think of a way to not say anything liableous.