Haven't gotten a chance to brew for much of the winter (busy with a job search), so I'm pumped to be doing a 10-gallon batch tomorrow for a buddy's wedding next month. Help me devise a hop schedule, got a fair amount to play around with. Looking for big aroma, not too bitter, more of a tropical/fruity profile than piney. Here's the plan so far: OG: 1.055 Pale Malt (2 Row) 83.3 % Munich Malt 8.3 % Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L 4.2 % Victory Malt 4.2 % Mash low 150s, bitter with Magnum to about 22 IBU, rest of the hop additions 15-0 to get to about 45 IBU, London ESB Wy-1968 for the yeast. Here are my options for hops: Nelson Sauvin -- plenty (I've done a lot of Nelson-featured beers, so I want to try something new and don't want this guy to be the standout) Citra -- plenty Amarillo --plenty Simcoe -- 3.5oz Columbus -- only 1oz Ahtanum -- 3.5oz EKG -- 1oz Galaxy -- 1.5oz Willamette -- 1oz Chinook -- 1oz I was thinking something along these lines: Magnum @ 60 Amarillo, Nelson, Galaxy (maybe 2:1:1?) @ 15, 5, 0 Dry-hop? I think I want to use Ahtanum in the dry hop for some floral notes. Also thinking about splitting the batch, with 5 gallons getting a white oak spiral in the keg while dry-hopping cold.
Anybody? I've been playing around with combos, came up with this (~45 IBU) 1oz Magnum @ 60 1oz Amarillo, .5oz/each Nelson & Citra @ 15 1oz Amariloo, .5oz/each Nelson & Galaxy @ 5 1oz/each Amarillo & Simcoe, .5oz each Ahtanum & Galaxy @ 0 2oz/each Amarillo, Simcoe, & Ahtanum dry-hop for 14 days
Your plan sounds good. I'll note that SN Torpedo is dry hopped with Magnum and Citra so if you like that mix... I throw a little Willamette in almost everything, just because. And I love Galaxy. You can't go too far wrong with the hops you have on hand. Are you still looking to move to VT?
Galaxy: 2:1:1 with Amarillo and Citra...wedding beer...don't overthink it...mass appeal...<40 IBUs...no need for Victory IMHO
Yeah, I love the Galaxy too. Unfortunate that I only have 1.5 oz, found one package in the back of the freezer. Still looking to move to Vermont...we were up there last week interviewing at two places, both were pretty awesome gigs. I think we're definitely in the running, hopefully it will work out. We really liked St. J and the surroundings, and the job there is pretty awesome (not to mention HF 35 minutes away in the pro column of our list). GreenKrusty, I would definitely do your 2:1:1 suggestion in a heartbeat, but I don't have enough Galaxy on hand to do that. Actually, this crew of friends has crushed kegs of beers not brewed "for the masses" at two weddings in the past. A lot of appreciation for hoppy beers amongst them, and there will be a keg of BMC there for the folks who aren't into full flavor.
Given those choices, I'd probably dry hop with: Galaxy -- 1.5oz Citra -- 1oz Amarillo -- 1oz Chinook -- 1oz Might even sneak 1oz of nelson into that mix if I was feeling over the top I'd probably also avoid using Simcoe if you want to avoid pine, although it's tropical notes would play nicely with all the hops I mentioned.
I might back off the simcoe a bit and just have a little bit in there to add an extra little layer of tropicality. That was my thinking...
IMHO, 1.5 oz of Galaxy should be enough for 5 gal of an APA...10 gal... not so much without other hops to make up the difference. I'm not sure I would even dryhop an APA.
1) It's a 10 gallon batch. 2) I suppose it depends on what kind of a pale ale one is making. As I mentioned, I'm looking for a big hop nose. Huh, never thought of Chinook + Citra. I ended up going with 2:1:1 Amarillo:Nelson:Galaxy, but will keep Chinook + Citra in mind in the future. Any commercial examples?
Dry Dock brewing Breakwater Pale ale uses them together. It is chinook hopped through the boil additions and dryhopped with citra. I love that beer. Unfortunately it hasn't made it into their cans yet.
6.6%abv 55 IBU's Bittering Hops: Bravo Aroma Hops: Chinook & Experimental hops Dry Hops: Chinook, Citra & Experimental hops Malts: Pale, Rye, Caramel and Chocolate Yeast: Ale Yeast got this info from http://www.newschoolbeer.com/2011/12/review-panel-sierra-nevada-ruthless-rye.html
I am thinking Amarillo/Ahtanum, but opinions are like a-holes right? I build hop forward beers backwards, so mine would look like this... 1.5 ounce each Ahtanum and Amarillo Dry Hop 1 ounce Amarillo (5 minutes) 2 ounce Ahtanum (10 minutes) 1 ounce Amarillo (15 minutes) Then figure how much Magnum you need for bittering.
I personally love this hopping schedule for IPAs or APA's alike: First wort hop with ~30% of your 60 minute addition. Add hops at the following increments: 60/30/15/10/5/Flame out. For a good modern APA: Keep the bittering to a minimum (only do 50% MAX bittering to flavoring/aroma hops (only get 50% of your IBUs MAX from the bittering hops)). Dry Hop with a high alpha acid hop. I have had some great success dry hoping with Ahtanum (even though it's a low alpha acid hop). Without putting this into beer smith I'd say Chinook as your bittering hop (60/30) and simcoe or/and amarillo as your flavor/aroma additions (15/10/5/flame out) and simcoe/citra dryhopping. For a big hop nose add your hops directly to the fermentor (sanitize the outside first) and definately dry hop. You're better off adding higher alpha acids for shorter periods of time then lower alpha acids for longer periods of time (as you get vegetal/hay qualities with the latter).
