Just packaged 1/2# of Chinooks and barely tapped them so far...probably another 2#s still on the bine with some cones just starting to form. Wish my aroma and flavor hops were doing as well. Next up, Cascade and Zeus.
Chinook is a flavor and aroma hop Good deal, mine are still shocked from the move and will hopefully bounce back next year.
agree with jbakajust1...i love adding chinook into the mix for many of my more hop forward ipas & dipas. Even works in a pale ale as well if countered with something like Willamette or Amarillo. Sounds like you'll need to get creative with them!
I did an IPA with all Chinook through the boil and hit it with citra in the dryhop, hands down THE best pale I've done.
Chinook= the most under rated aroma and flavor hop IMHO So somplex... earthy, woody, citrusy, and spicy. All kinds of "heavy" kick without any "dank".
I've got an Imperial West Coast Red, Vienna base, touch of Munich, dark malts for color, CTZ, Chinook, and Simcoe for all my flavor and aroma, dry. It is a pungent beer. I like to throw Chinook into all my hoppy beers.
I've yet to use chinook in any way that I wouldn't use them again. Bittering, flavor, aroma, flameout, dry, all were quite tasty. However, since I'm the smash addict, and you're growing them yourself, I'd have to recommend making a smash with only chinook from your own crop, and whatever base malt floats your boat. That way you'll know just how good of a hop you're growing. And don't skimp on the hops either, make it hoppy.
I knew I'd get a response on that statement...I use my Chinooks for PHing all the time (pint hopping) (not to mention late kettle additions)
A couple years ago I used so many wet hops in a beer that the keg was literally full of them (with a little liquid)
I'm gonna have to do this when I actually get a crop off of mine. I am on year 3, but year 1 was in a container, year 2 in the ground, year 3 moved in mid May and had to transplant. Maybe next year (or I'll raid Oakshire's field again this year like I did last year).
Great info, my second year chinooks (2) cliimbed twenty feet and look to have a few pounds of cones forming.
