Smoothest bittering hops: Nugget, Columbus or Chinook?

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Torrefaction

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I have three high-AA hops on hand: Nugget, Columbus and Chinook. Brewing in a couple of days. Which hop will give the smoothest baseline bitterness (60 min addition) suitable for a big hoppy IPA with high IBUs? How do they differ? I'm a rookie and haven't used any of these hops before. (I'm planning a small 60 min charge and some big late additions/hopstand stuff)
Thanks! :fro:
 
yeah I agree, Columbus is best here. Magnum is always my first choice, but I have bittered with Columbus before and it's fairly clean.

Now, Columbus for anything but bittering is kinda nasty IMO.
 
yeah I agree, Columbus is best here. Magnum is always my first choice, but I have bittered with Columbus before and it's fairly clean.

Now, Columbus for anything but bittering is kinda nasty IMO.

You mean good nasty, right? I was planning on doing a bunch of late addition Columbus (I have 2 ounces) but could swap those for Cascade...
 
Lol. I am just not a fan of Columbus flavor - pungent and dank with a bit of an edge - kinda like dirty socks to me. But we all have our preferences. Some people love Columbus for flavor and aroma.
 
I'd say Nugget is the cleanest of what you have, but for an IPA, I'd go with Columbus.

I love Columbus... bittering, late additions, and dry-hops. Dankity-dank-dank-dank.
 
I use CTZ as my bittering hop in almost every hoppy pale, IPA or DIPA. I have found, for my taste, that First Wort Hopping gives mine a less biting bitterness with more flavor of white grapefruit. It takes 1/2 to 1/3 of the hops that you would use for a 60 minute addition.
 
I make a pale ale using chinook, columbus and cascade. I have made it with both chinook and columbus as the bitter hop, I think the results are about the same. I do half of the IBU at 60min and rest after 20mins.
 
I use CTZ as my bittering hop in almost every hoppy pale, IPA or DIPA. I have found, for my taste, that First Wort Hopping gives mine a less biting bitterness with more flavor of white grapefruit. It takes 1/2 to 1/3 of the hops that you would use for a 60 minute addition.

Thanks! I thought the trend was to add flavour/aroma (low AA) hops for FWH... I was going to throw 1/2 OZ of Amarillo for my FWH, then 1/2 OZ of bittering hops at 60 min... would you just leave out the 60 min addition?
Cheers!
 
I'd go for nugget.. or chinook.
But that's just me. I hate the columbus dank personally; this small scale brewer in Finland produces many fantastic beers, almost all with columbus.. So far i've truly enjoyed only 2 out of many.
Oh well.. Go for nugget, chinook might take over completely.
 
Thanks! I thought the trend was to add flavour/aroma (low AA) hops for FWH... I was going to throw 1/2 OZ of Amarillo for my FWH, then 1/2 OZ of bittering hops at 60 min... would you just leave out the 60 min addition?
Cheers!

That was the original thought of the FWH. There's pretty much no science to back up the thought that the flavor is going to be better after spending 60 mins in the boil still. The FWH idea is all speculative, and based off of old German practices that got revived recently. In fact, in side by side tests of FWH addition vs. 60 min addition, panels can't perceive a difference, even though there's technically more IBUs in the FWH beer. If anybody is saying that they prefer FWH it's likely just anecdotal, and they haven't done any side-by-side comparisons. A lot of people still like to use FWH, however, if they're used to having a very full boil kettle, as this will help reduce the chances of boil over compared to adding the hops after the wort has come to a boil.
 
Thanks! I thought the trend was to add flavour/aroma (low AA) hops for FWH... I was going to throw 1/2 OZ of Amarillo for my FWH, then 1/2 OZ of bittering hops at 60 min... would you just leave out the 60 min addition?
Cheers!

When I do FWH, yes I omit the 60 minute addition. I've, also, gone to hop bursting for my really hoppy beers. Generally I do a 60 minute addition or a FWH addition and all the rest of my hops at flame out/whirlpool. I get better aroma from my hops than way. :rockin:
 
That was the original thought of the FWH. There's pretty much no science to back up the thought that the flavor is going to be better after spending 60 mins in the boil still. The FWH idea is all speculative, and based off of old German practices that got revived recently. In fact, in side by side tests of FWH addition vs. 60 min addition, panels can't perceive a difference, even though there's technically more IBUs in the FWH beer. If anybody is saying that they prefer FWH it's likely just anecdotal, and they haven't done any side-by-side comparisons. A lot of people still like to use FWH, however, if they're used to having a very full boil kettle, as this will help reduce the chances of boil over compared to adding the hops after the wort has come to a boil.

Not all speculative. I have brewed several different IPAs, Pale Ales and IIPAs. I have done blind tests with local brewers (both home brewers and pro brewers). In almost every case, the ones that are preferred are the FWH beers. In my experience, there is a softer bittering (not as sharp and biting) and an increase in the perceived flavors. On the downside, that same beer at 6 to 8 weeks, will start to get a harsher bittering that is higher than the 60 minute addition. Also, balancing a FWH does take some practice, my first attempt was using the same amount that would have been for a 60 minute addition. This made for a very biter, sharp IIPA that only a few of us could handle, as it caused nearly immediate palate fatigue. :mug:
 
I use CTZ as my bittering hop in almost every hoppy pale, IPA or DIPA. I have found, for my taste, that First Wort Hopping gives mine a less biting bitterness with more flavor of white grapefruit. It takes 1/2 to 1/3 of the hops that you would use for a 60 minute addition.

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who couldn't hear the music...
 
Columbus is a nice bittering hop for IPAs, although I'm not a huge fan of it in later additions.
 
Id be more concerned with your late additions. The bittering hop really wont change a thing apart from how much youd need to reach a certain amount of IBUs. THeres the whole high cohumelon % thing with chinook, but aside from that, id go with whatever
 
I've been using Nugget or Magnum as my bittering hop for IPAs and pale ales, but like m00ps said, it doesn't really matter as long as whatever you use has got the alpha acids to get you the IBUs you want.
 

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