I Have 1LB of Centennial....

[chewyheel]

Just came into a big bag of Centennial and am toying with what to do with it. I've done a Bell's clone before, and as much as I love it I can have it any time. Also, I'm not the most experienced when it comes to brewing hop forward beers so your help will be appreciated.

My idea is to do something of a hybrid of pale ale/NEIPA. I want some assertive bitterness upfront but plenty of hop flavor on the back end, I'm not necessarily looking for 'juiciness' or an opaque beer but enough flavor to let you know it's there. I'm assuming a hopstand would be in order? Dry hopping too?

I'm thinking of a pretty simple grist of 70% 2 row and 30% Vienna for a 5 gallon batch since I have those handy, but I could be talked into adding some crystal if it will help. Thanks!

 

[Leapsandbounds]

I made a pretty tasty IPA using Columbus, cascade, and centennial. It was only 41 IBUs though so not super bitter. My wife actually liked it which was surprising. Not sure if any of this helps.

 

[Carolina_Matt]

Not sure if it's your cup of tea, but the Sierra Nevada Resilience recipe has 3 ounces of Centennial (along with 2 ounces of Cascade). Or if you have plenty of other hops around, you can try a Pliny The Elder recipe (4 ounces of Centennial).

 

[MaxStout]

I think your initial recipe is a great idea, given you want to keep it simple. Go easy on the crystal, or leave it out entirely. Too much crystal can make a beer a bit cloying. The 2-row/Vienna will provide plenty of malt backbone. I've done SMaSH beers with Centennial and they were quite tasty.

If you have enough hops, you could dry-hop with a few ounces.

 

[Tarpon87]

2 row / vienna is a great combo, i use it a lot as a base to try out hops. I would leave the crystal out all together. Since you have a lb of hops you can be pretty generous with your additions. For a hop schedule something like this might be good:
1oz @60
1oz @15
1oz @ flame out
3oz @ hop stand/ whirlpool 20min below 180f
4oz dryhop for 3 days

If you wanted more of the neipa you could add a dryhop at day 2 as well

What yeast are you planning on using

 

[ProblemChild]

love it in a pale with rye and Caramunich. 5 gal batch
5 lb 2-row
5 lb Maris Otter
1.5 lb rye
.5 lb Caramunich 1 or 2
1 ounce pale chocolate

Bitter to 20 IBU @ 60
Get to 30+ IBU @ 20
1 oz @ 2 min
2 oz W/P <170°F for 20 min
2 oz dry hop

WY1056

 

[chewyheel]

2 row / vienna is a great combo, i use it a lot as a base to try out hops. I would leave the crystal out all together. Since you have a lb of hops you can be pretty generous with your additions. For a hop schedule something like this might be good:
1oz @60
1oz @15
1oz @ flame out
3oz @ hop stand/ whirlpool 20min below 180f
4oz dryhop for 3 days

If you wanted more of the neipa you could add a dryhop at day 2 as well

What yeast are you planning on using

Wow, you almost read my mind, I was just thinking of a hop schedule pretty similar to this. As for yeast I have a some WLP 002 and 34/70 in the fridge harvested from previous beers, so probably one of those.

 

[chewyheel]

love it in a pale with rye and Caramunich. 5 gal batch
5 lb 2-row
5 lb Maris Otter
1.5 lb rye
.5 lb Caramunich 1 or 2
1 ounce pale chocolate

Bitter to 20 IBU @ 60
Get to 30+ IBU @ 20
1 oz @ 2 min
2 oz W/P <170°F for 20 min
2 oz dry hop

WY1056

This sounds good too, I'm a big fan of rye but I've made a couple of batches before where the rye and hops didn't really mesh well, but I've never tried Centennial with rye though.