Is Amarillo supposed to be so piney?

[lolcats]

Hey guys, another stupid thread.

I just tasted a golden ale I made with Mt Hood and Amarillo. It's just amazingly floral from the Mt Hood (dry hopped) and intensely piney from the Amarillo (more pine needles then pine sap). It is just an amazing beer, i feel like I'm walking in the middle of the Mt Hood national forest.

However, I wasn't expecting pine from Amarillo. People refer to Amarillo as being mostly Citrusy, but I'm not getting that much here, but getting mostly pine. The pack was a freshly received Hopunion pack. Did anyone else ever get this?

Recipe, is pilsner, wheat and vienna malt
Amarillo was lightly added @ 30 and @ 5

 

[BigMack]

I have never perceived anything I would really consider "piney" from Amarillo and I brew with it frequently. Is it possible that the mix of the floral/citrus from your hop combo is giving something that might be misconstrued as pine?

 

[b-boy]

Amarillo is definitely not piney IMHO.

 

[lolcats]

Alright thanks, I guess I got a bad/stale pack.

Too bad I won't be able to reproduce it then

 

[BigMack]

You could also just perceive its flavor differently than most. I think the best thing to do would be to rebrew the recipe with a different batch of amarillo and see if you get the same flavor.

If it doesn't work I know Eureka! hops give an awesome pine needle flavor that could help you recreate it if Amarillo doesn't keep giving you the desired taste.

 

[b-boy]

I've had some issues with Amarillo. I buy bulk hops, and year to year they've tasted completely different. Not sure if that's freshness or weather, but it was very noticeable.

 

[BigMack]

I've had some issues with Amarillo. I buy bulk hops, and year to year they've tasted completely different. Not sure if that's freshness or weather, but it was very noticeable.

I've only had one batch of Amarillo that was really off from the other batches. It had a huge stone fruit/plum thing going on that was not my favorite.

 

[thunderwagn]

I've had some issues with Amarillo. I buy bulk hops, and year to year they've tasted completely different. Not sure if that's freshness or weather, but it was very noticeable.

Yeah, I've got a SMaSH right now with Amarillo, and my very first impression is onion. Very odd...haven't really had that experience with it previously. I've even wondered if the pack was mislabeled.

 

[lolcats]

You could also just perceive its flavor differently than most. I think the best thing to do would be to rebrew the recipe with a different batch of amarillo and see if you get the same flavor.

If it doesn't work I know Eureka! hops give an awesome pine needle flavor that could help you recreate it if Amarillo doesn't keep giving you the desired taste.

Could definitely be that! I might be super sensitive to the pine notes.. I'll have the batch tasted around to double check

Never tried Eureka hops, but seems interesting! Mt Hood / Simcoe could work also

 

[lolcats]

Yeah, I've got a SMaSH right now with Amarillo, and my very first impression is onion. Very odd...haven't really had that experience with it previously. I've even wondered if the pack was mislabeled.

Could the inconsistency with the Amarillo hops come from the fact that it's produced by a single farm? Also, could be that it's highly demanded and some retailers could be brought to send out bad or even other type of hops or blends?

 

[BigMack]

Could definitely be that! I might be super sensitive to the pine notes.. I'll have the batch tasted around to double check

Never tried Eureka hops, but seems interesting! Mt Hood / Simcoe could work also

Could the inconsistency with the Amarillo hops come from the fact that it's produced by a single farm? Also, could be that it's highly demanded and some retailers could be brought to send out bad or even other type of hops or blends?

Eureka is definitely an awesome one. A local brewery does an all Eureka IPA and it is just complete pine needles which I absolutely love.

As for the inconsistency I think both of those are definitely possible culprits. There is also the problem of a really harsh growing season for the 2015 crop which could contribute.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I've had some issues with Amarillo. I buy bulk hops, and year to year they've tasted completely different. Not sure if that's freshness or weather, but it was very noticeable.

Agreed with this and add citra to that as well. Their character can be all over the place which can be frustrating if you like consistency. Never had piney though.
I've never used Mt Hood but its possible the dry hop is where your getting those notes from and not the amarillo. Your really not getting anything from the amarillo addition at 30mins but IBU and if your 5 min addition is too light to stand up to the malt you won't get much there either.

 

[m00ps]

It sounds like you've already got your answer. But I'm thinking that maybe the hops somehow got switched. Maybe simcoe I'm thinking? I dunno.

Its just I have never gotten anything close to pine from Amarillo. Not in the smell, not in the flavor. Not in homebrews, not in commercials. Being stale wouldn't make it piney either. That's a characteristic of hops like simcoe, chinook, columbus, eureka, etc when they are fresh

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I was looking over the hop chart and something caught my eye that reminded me of this thread. Here you go OP...

Name - Mt. Hood
AA - 3-8%
Subs - Crystal, French Strisslespalt, Hersbrucker
Description- Mild, pleasant, and clean, somewhat pungent and resiny.

https://byo.com/resources/hops

 

[BigMack]

I considered that the Mt. Hood might give something close to pine, but the pine flavor described in the OP seemed like it was more of a fresh pine flavor rather than a resiny one.

 

[jm21]

I've had some issues with Amarillo. I buy bulk hops, and year to year they've tasted completely different. Not sure if that's freshness or weather, but it was very noticeable.

I'm new to home brewing but thought I would mention I used to be really into tea and the weather that year, when it's harvested, and so on, could have a pretty dramatic effect on the flavor. I would suspect there might be something similar with hops. Especially if you're getting it from one farm rather than the harvest from a bunch of farms mashed together (and hence sort of averaged out).

 

[Sailingeric]

I have a Smash lager I am drinking right now that is all Mt Hood hops, I would not call it a pine tree but it is some what piney in flavor and it is possible the Amarillo could be enhancing the pine flavor.

 

[lolcats]

I have a Smash lager I am drinking right now that is all Mt Hood hops, I would not call it a pine tree but it is some what piney in flavor and it is possible the Amarillo could be enhancing the pine flavor.

Very possible, I have a Dry Hopped Mt Hood (same pack) / Citra session pils lagering right now and doesn't have any hints of pine.

Thanks everyone for your imput