Warrior hops for bittering hop

[oach]

Hey All,

I gave one of my home brews to a friend that knows a couple of professional taster people/brewers and I was able to get some really quality feedback on my beer. Exactly what I like!

They mentioned the bitterness (cascadian dark ale) might be a bit low as well as the aroma hops.

I used Chinook and Simcoe as my 60 minute hops and I was wondering if I should switch to something like Warrior since it seems to be noted as a clean bittering hop. It is also cheaper than the other two and the higher alpah acids to boot, making a double win in terms of potential cost and the amount needed to achieve an even higher bitterness. I just don't know how much it would affect the overall flavor or aroma of the beer; I assume not much since that is just a bitter hop at 60 minutes.

As for the dry hop I use 2 ounces on a five gallon beer. It seems to me to smell great but they said it was a bit flat on the aroma. The beer is close to two months in the bottle so maybe it is falling out some. I was wondering how much "more" this beer might need to keep its aroma? How much is "normal" to dry hop with? Also, when you guys dry hop, then rack for bottling, how do you get all the hop material out efficiently?

Thank you for your time and help,
Scot

 

[shecallsmeblue]

I would use some late additions to the kettle, along with the two ounce dry hop to get more aroma and hop flavor.

 

[oach]

I already do a 1oz 10min addition and 1oz knock out addition.

 

[shecallsmeblue]

Oh, sorry I only saw the 60 minute additons. I made a brew with a two ounce flameout and a two ounce dry hop that was amazing. Maybe up your late additions, and possibly beef up your dry hop? .

 

[BradleyBrew]

I use warrior and magnum hops for there economical benefits. They are both great hops and do the job really well!

 

[pcollins]

@oach: Yes, you're exactly right with the bittering hops. More bang for your buck and Warrior will do that for you. I use Super Galena in the same way. These hops don't have a lot of character to them but they are clean bittering hops.

With two months in the bottle you may be losing some aroma. I keg most everything and only use bottles as transport to parties etc., so my beer almost never sits around for two months. You could definitely try increasing your late hop additions and see how that goes. When I dry hop I only use about 1.5oz but there are brewers who use more than that. It's one of those experimental things for you to find out what the aroma threshold is at the low end and to find out what is too much at the high end.

 

[oach]

Do you feel there is any lost benefit to not using Simcoe or Chinook as I did at 60 minutes? I guess I am asking if all aroma and flavor are lost on a 60 minute hop addition or if they are small enough that switching shouldn't make much of a difference?

 

[dcp27]

warrior works well for bittering adds. i woudlnt waste your money bittering with simcoe, you lose all the greatness of it since all aroma will be gone by then and the flavor impact is pretty minimal

2oz dry hop should give good aroma, but it depends what hops were used and how fresh they were. it also depends on your malt bill since they'll be fighting against whatever roast is in the CDA.

 

[pcollins]

I don't think switching will make that much of a difference except to make it better, perhaps. I find that most of the character of my beer/hops comes in the later additions. It's why I sometimes like to use those Warrior, Super Galena type hops early on. They're cheap and clean and I'm getting character from what I add later.

I don't think there is any lost benefit by switching.

 

[shecallsmeblue]

Do you feel there is any lost benefit to not using Simcoe or Chinook as I did at 60 minutes? I guess I am asking if all aroma and flavor are lost on a 60 minute hop addition or if they are small enough that switching shouldn't make much of a difference?

If you delay this, and use it later in the boil, your overall bitterness will drop. You shouldn't remove this, but instead add another addition like at 30. This will give you more hop character than the 60, but will also add to the bitterness, which as you said, you need.