I am looking to make an over the top bitter, yet citrusy redish ale. I am looking to use some of the more available hops around (not Simcoe, Citra, or the like). I have pretty much narrowed it down to wanting to use Centennial and Chinook. I have used plenty of Centennial in previous brews but so far have pretty much avoided Chinook for some reason so I am not too familiar with its taste/profile. I am just wondering if anyone has used these two as the only hops in a homebrew? Good or bad results? Should I consider throwing in some Nugget to round out the flavor? Thanks in advance.
Chinook and Centennial play very nicely together in my opinion. I like the Chinnok as more of a flavor focus and the Centennial for aroma. Also, either of them work very well as a bittering hop.
Chinook has a lot of bite to the flavor. I think that's what a lot of people perceive as "harshness." A 1/3 chinook/centennial combo for both flavor and aroma has worked well for me if you're set on using those two. Columbus is also pretty widely available and is a hop that's underutilized for flavor and aroma imho.
I just finished a hoppy red ale that was hopped with Chinook and Centennial... I think it turned out well.
Chinook gets very harsh and can be astringent, to me, if used as a bittering hop. I like Centennial as a bittering hop, and use the Chinook later on. If you want a very agressive bitterness, Chinook will enhance that.
I think I am looking for that harsh bitterness on this one. I feel that every hoppy beer I make never has that strong lingering bitterness that I sometimes crave and I am hoping that Chinook can get me there. I cant for the life of me figure out why my other beers that are calculated over 100ibus still seem on the sweeter side. I mash real low, use minimal crystal malts, use a yeast that attenuates and flocculates well, add gypsum to my water which has nearly no mineral content, ferment cool. I am going to try to go for the harsh bitterness on this one. Thanks for the info!
+1 and this year's columbus at my LHBS smells freaking amazing! I am also not that found of the cohumulone bite from Chinook.
I definitely think you are on the right track here, then. Chinook will give you exactly what you need in this instance, I'm pretty sure. Good luck with your brew!
So I have read elsewhere that people like to cut the Chinook with Warrior (which I just so happen to have some on hand) at a 2:1 ratio as the bittering portion. I also have not used Warrior for bittering yet and was wondering if there was any input on this? Is Warrior a good bittering hop in that it is economical due its AAUs and its clean or will it help give it a little bite like I am looking for?
Just finished an IPA with Chinook for bittering and Centennial late. I would warn you to keep your bittering addition down if using Chinook with Centennial. Chinook can easily over power Centennials delicate flavors.
