Cyro hops . . . anyone ever use them?

I used cryo mosaic in a hopped up "West Coast" pilsner recently and it was super powerful stuff. Liked it a lot. Basically, you use it at 1/2 the rate of regular pellets and end up with just as much hop presence but way less trub. Seems like a win to me.

 

treat as pellets, use 1/2 as much...just as deadwolfbones says. On impulse when kegging, I recently added an ounce of cryo cascade in a blonde ale...ended up more like a hoppy pale ale.

 

on the other end of the spectrum, we have American Nobles, and I've got a Lager that I'll be serving in another month or so that I brewed up with those. Definitely interested by them as well...we'll see.

 

Where’d you get them if you don’t mind me asking? Were they variety specific?

 

Not sure they had a significant impact on beer character. Maybe there is a beer savings that is realized due to less absorption per unit of aroma (huh?), but it’s not registering as significant in my brewhouse. I seldom dry hop more than 4 oz per 5 gallons.

 

From Yakima Chief, I was given Citra and Cascade...they were suppose to be for a class I was teaching down in Asheville...but accidentally left them in my fridge (along with the cryohops)

They came in the standard 1oz. YCH packaging...so assuming they're available somewhere. Used them with the idea that they'll be adding glycosides, phenols and other hop character with only a slight contribution from resins/oils. I did 60/30/10 additions with them...will find out before too long what they bring to the table...

 

Asheville, NC? Wouldn't teaching brewing in Asheville be like carrying coals to Newcastle?

 

I’ve used them a handful of times. But only in dry hop. Amazing aroma out of the one once package.

I’ve used Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe, Ekuanot, and Cascade.

I’ve also used HopHash, El Dorado.

If I had any advice. Dry hop. Like everyone else has said, half rate. I haven’t bought them in a while. So definitely give um a try. Preference is what it’s gonna come down to.

 

Yeah it’s weird. They “released” them the same time as cryo hops but I’ve actually never seen them sold anywhere.

I’d be interested in trying them if they ever do become available to homebrewers,

 

Yep used them a few times, don't use them anymore. I prefer using leaf hops. Just my taste, you may like the cryohops. Good luck.

 

I took note of: "I haven't bought then in a while". Does that mean your preference when dry hopping is to just use 'regular' pellet hops vs. cryo pellet hops?

Cheers!

 

@JackHorzempa

Yaahh...ishhhh....kinda?

I’ve sort of found no reason to spend extra money on them without 100% confidence they’re making that huge of an impact. I’ve been upgrading my process lately so maybe an IPA with them wouldn’t be out the realm. But I’ve got a stockade of hops waiting. So, I’d like to use them again but no room right now for future brews.

Sorry Jack but that’s my shitty answer. So yes and no.

 

They add complexity, especially if you’re doing a single hop beer. With cryo you got a more resinous/oily representation of the variety. It’s best to blend them as a smaller percentage of the overall quantity.

Melvin makes the best all cryo beer I’ve ever had. I think it’s called Your IPA. It is well executed and is exactly what cryo tastes/smells like. Most other all cryo beers I’ve had haven’t come close. The Skadoosh 100% Cryo beer I had wasn’t that great.

I was fortunate to get a pound or so of the Simcoe, Mosaic, Citra from a professional brewer friend before it was released to the public and was only in powder form. The powder sucked to work with and I only ended up using a percentage of it. Still have piles of it in my freezer. Every now and again I’ll add some to the whirlpool below 170 and it definitely has a flavor impact.