Pacific Gem Hops in Belgian Dark Strong Ale? Overall Recipe Critique.

[rjstew]

This may seem odd, but I'm going for a "port wine'esque" Belgian Dark Strong Ale to drink in the cold of winter. I received 8oz of Mosaic hops for an IPA I'm planning to brew and noticed one of the flavor notes was "berry". That got me thinking that if I were to use an aroma hop that had berry characteristics, it would add a subtle grape/wine note. I'm also using Wyeast 1214 to accentuate the fruitiness. I've read that golden naked oats also impart a berry flavor.

I did some research and it looks like Pacific Gem has the berry qualities I'm looking for. It also tends to impart an oaky flavor, which would be perfect to compliment the port wine theme. However, the reviews of the hop contrast quite a bit with some people loving it and others absolutely hating it, finding it to add a strange flavor.

Does anyone have any experience with this hop and have any input on how it would do in a Belgian Dark Strong Ale?

As for the sugar, will it make a difference if I use dextrose vs. amber Belgian candi sugar? I've read that dextrose is more commonly used in Belgian beers now in place of candi sugar.

Please feel free to critique the overall recipe as well.

Fermentables
Fermentable Amount Use PPG Color
Golden Naked Oats (UK) 2.0 lb 6 % Mash 33 10 °L
Chocolate (UK) 7.0 oz 1 % Mash 31 337 °L
Special B (BE) 7.0 oz 1 % Mash 34 115 °L
CaraMunich (BE) 0.75 lb 2 % Mash 33 50 °L
Dextrose (Corn Sugar) 1.0 lb 3 % Boil 46 0 °L
Aromatic (BE) 1.0 lb 3 % Mash 38 33 °L
Biscuit (BE) 1.0 lb 3 % Mash 35 23 °L
Pale 2-Row (US) 7.0 lb 22 % Mash 36 2 °L
Maris Otter Pale (UK) 17.0 lb 55 % Mash 38 4 °L

Hops
Hop Amount Time Use Form AA
Mount Hood (US) 1.25 oz 60 min Boil Pellet 6.5%
Pacific Gem (NZ) 2.5 oz 10 min Boil Pellet 14.6%
Pacific Gem (NZ) 2.5 oz 0 min Boil Pellet 14.6%

Yeasts
Name Lab/Product Attenuation
Belgian Abbey Wyeast 1214 76.0%
Predicted Stats

Batch Size 9.0 gal
Boil Time 90 min
Efficiency70.0%
1.090 OG
1.022 FG
30 IBU
9.0% ABV
19 SRM
0.34 IBU/OG

 

[youreanimpulse]

I have used about half a pound of Pacific Gem hops over the summer in a few brews (IPAs). They are indeed a little strange. The flavor is indeed kinda blackberry and kinda oak like people say. It's "dark". It wasn't my favorite. I feel like all it did was muddle everything else. I think you're using a lot of it and it will overpower. Maybe go .5 oz for each addition, seriously. For berry I like calypso hops. Just made a delicious dark saison that I bottled both naked and aged for two weeks on raspberries and cherries. The calypso played so well with the berries, it's one of my favorite experiments. It might be fun to use the two hops, keeping the Pacific Gem for just a late addition. Good luck!

 

[jbaysurfer]

If you're going for grape/wine like notes, I strongly recommend Nelson hops. That said, there's so little hop character in a typical BSD, it'd be out of style to emphasize it too much. I'd just use whatever you want inside of 5 minutes, but don't go overboard. You can always dryhop if you want more of that character, style be damned.

PS, brag post here, I had a BSD in the GABF Pro-Am Category this last weekend. I didn't win a medal, but my partner brewery (Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company) DID win a Gold and a Silver! It was a blast!

 

[BrotherBock]

I think your reasoning seems sound. It could be an good addition to accent the dark fruit flavors, but I agree with youreanimpulse. Cut those additions down to around .5 oz. Belgian Dark Strongs should be first and foremost malt/yeast forward. With hop additions of that size you are taking away from the malt flavor and clouding it with hops.

Try just two additions, 60 min and a late addition. And keep them small and use them as an accent.

Also, regarding your grain bill I think you need A LOT more sugar. 3% is nothing in a belgian strong. Go for about 15% and use dark or amber syrup or sugar. Y

I'd do something more like this:
15% dark candi syrup (make your own, its a lot cheaper)
5% Special B
10% Munich
65% Pilsner

and then maybe throwing in a lil aromatic

 

[rjstew]

Yeah, I think I went a bit heavy on the late additional hops. It's for 9 gallons, and I see that most BDSA recipes call for about 1oz of aroma hops at flameout for 5.5 gallons, so I dropped it down to 1oz/each addition. The 10 min addition will be muted a bit and I don't mind a non-traditionally hoppy BDSA. As jbaysurfer said, I could go crazy regarding style and dry hop. It'll be split between two fermenters so I could even leave one as-is and then dry hop & oak the second. That could be interesting.

The thought of Nelson hops did cross my mind, but I'm looking for more of a red grape vs green grape. I brewed an IPA with Nelson and it was brighter, more melon'y and citrus'y than dark berry.

 

[jbaysurfer]

Yeah, I think I went a bit heavy on the late additional hops. It's for 9 gallons, and I see that most BDSA recipes call for about 1oz of aroma hops at flameout for 5.5 gallons, so I dropped it down to 1oz/each addition. The 10 min addition will be muted a bit and I don't mind a non-traditionally hoppy BDSA. As jbaysurfer said, I could go crazy regarding style and dry hop. It'll be split between two fermenters so I could even leave one as-is and then dry hop & oak the second. That could be interesting.

The thought of Nelson hops did cross my mind, but I'm looking for more of a red grape vs green grape. I brewed an IPA with Nelson and it was brighter, more melon'y and citrus'y than dark berry.

I do agree Nelson is more white grape-y. Don't have much (any) experience with Pac Gem, so if that's what you're looking for go for it! Keep us posted.

I took 5G of my GABF beer home in a carboy and split it. Fermented half with a traditional yeast and innoculated the other half. BSD is a fun beer to play around with!