IPA Hops - Other uses?

I like these citrusy American hops in a weizen, i.e., brewed with a Weihenstephan weizen strain. Brew a weizen, but hop it like a moderately agrressive APA. I've tried it in homebrewed and sampled commercial examples with cascade, centennial, and amarillo (not all three at once, although I bet they would work well). Some think the citrusy hops and the classic weizen yeast combine to creat an odd, clashing combination of flavors and aroma, but it works for me, YMMV.

 

When you win the lottery, swing through England. The beers I had tasted like a Bitter or Pale ale at first, but had a little twist that made you say what is that. They were judicious with the hopping, and did not turn it into an APA. The high sulfate water, pale ale malt+crystal, and yeast were all British, so the hops in the right amount added a little twist, and these were on cask also.

 

Is there another kind?
But seriously, I agree.

 

Sometimes I have my own styles. Would not do well in competitions with those.

 

Jeff, I have been to the UK many times (London, Cambridge, Edinburgh and other places) but that was quite some time ago (20 years ago). It sounds like the brewing has ‘evolved’ since then. Yup, when I win the lottery I will indeed make a stop over to the UK.

You mentioned: “They were judicious with the hopping, and did not turn it into an APA.” I did not expect that the Bitter Ales/Pale Ales would be APAs but even a little bit of Cascade (or Centennial, Citra, etc.) added for flavor/aroma makes a noticeable impact. When I homebrew my Bitter Ale I use a total of 4 ounces of EKG for flavor/aroma/dry hopping. I would guess that those 4 ounces of EKG would be ‘equivalent’ to 1 ounce (or less) of Cascade distributed over those additions. I personally have never brewed a Bitter Ale using American aroma hops but if I did I probably would only use ½ ounce of Cascade for flavor and ½ ounce of Cascade for the end of boil (and none for dry hop). I would be willing to bet that this Cascade Bitter Ale would be much more ‘vibrant’ than the Bitter Ale I brew with 4 ounces of EKG.

Cheers!

 

Before WW1 Britain used a third of the world's hop production (as it didn't brew a third of the world's beer that must say something about the hopping rates!) and our hop output was inadequate to meet this.
The ravages of the War and the high taxation afterwards led to massive reductions in strength and clearly less hops were needed and we became for a while nearly self supporting again.Then as you mention, farmers found more profitable uses for the land and production slumped.
As for bitter and being true to style if US hops are used, get the judges to attend a beer festival over here and see how the style is widening and evolving. But then it always has , style guidelines try to stop the clock and that doesn't work

 

Tell me about it, I had an otherwise good bitter dinged pretty badly for it. The bjcp guidelines do mention (more than once) that their use is ok though- unfortunate that its not taken into consideration when beers are supposed to be judged against the guidelines and not someones preference/opinion/expectations. Which is mostly the reason why I don't enter competitions anymore.

 

Saisons! Lost Abbey does a great one with Simcoe & Amarillo . . . I have the recipe if you want it.

 

Carnevale Clone
OG 1.055 IBU 33

2-row 80%
Wheat malt 10%
Oats 7%
Acidulated 3%

Mashed low

Amarillo @ FWH & knochout
Simcoe @ 10

Any saison yeast (3711 compliments the fruity hops), Brett in primary after krausen has fallen.

 

any thing you want, its CALLED HOME BREW

 

I've never brewed the same beer twice in a row (tho I have brewed certain recipes more than once). That''s what I love about homebrewing, the variety. Every batch is a new experience

 

well I have not repeated exactly yet myself, style wise yes, recipe wise not yet. TBH I am still learning so much my head hurts. Heck I am still learning Beersmith software To be really honest...water chem also is big thing for me also. etc etc. gear wise, ex machinist, welder, fabricator etc. IE I have skill and tools to make things....well I wish I had a Bridgeport milling machine.

 

luckily the water here works fine with just a touch of campden. I'm taking college math and science classes and don't have time to over-analyze the water, trying to fix what's not broken. Linear algebra makes my head hurt. For me it's got to be the most useless subject of all times. Find 47 ways to say the exact same four things. Then "tomorrow we will expand on this." I can't wait to get back to calculus III in the spring (words you will rarely hear uttered by anyone).

 

I said that too, until I started doing bioinformatics and protein structure work. Pretty useful stuff, but yes, its mind numbing.

 

Yeah it should make my life a little easier in calculus III at least. However, linear algebra has no application to homebrewing, nor playing bass in a heavy metal band and going on tour, nor with chasing hott chicks. Those are my true goals in life.

I only go to school for the free gubmint money till I can achieve my true life's work.

 

some one has got to do it. Your not majoring in some engineering or science field?

 

Well it was engineering, briefly, but I changed it to tree-hugging hippie-ism, err, I mean environmental science , because it fit better with my 1st degree and would allow me to get into grad school faster (a LOT faster). As it stands I only have about ten classes to go (including labs that go with four of them) to finish my 2nd BS degree (plus 4 more upper division math classes to get the math minor, which is merely being taken because I like math, and da gubmint is paying for it via the GI bill).

Ironically, the stereotypical tree hugger environmentalist is a far cry from me, and I'm far from being a hippie (other than liking quite a bit of music from that era). I'm a fierce scientific skeptic, and don't start hyperventilating over things like genetic engineering of plants (i.e. GMOs), don't subscribe in any way to alternative medicine (i.e. complete and utter bullshit), and think that while they do a few worthwhile things on occasion by accident, that greenpeace is otherwise pure horse-shit. I'm also a fierce proponent of vaccination, and believe that while bill gates should be flogged over the existence of microsoft and their utter crap software, he should be made into a statue over the work of the gates foundation (and for providing a huge grant to khanacademy.org, a website I've used many times for the great math videos). And finally, I do believe that glow-ball warming is the most important issue that humanity faces for the near term future, but I do not wish to make this the focus of my studies. Why not Al, you ask?

Because I just want to play bass in a metal band and chase hott chicks and drink fantastic homebrew! Gotta keep those priorities straight!

 

You're probably the first college student, regardless of age OR experience, to say 'only 10 classes to go'...and apparently you already have one Bachelors, so you should know that 10 college classes isn't really an 'only' situation.

As for the alternative medicine, as the husband of a former massage therapist, I'ma let you finish, but I do have to disagree with you to a point. Some of those things have real benefits, though any that claim to be a guaranteed 100% fix are wrong. And not that beer/brewing is medication/medicinal, but I do find that both have restorative affects (to a point).

In regard to your priorities, I don't think there's a person alive who's got a better list. And per our recent conversation, The Sword and Clutch(!) are playing a mere block from my apartment in December. If you accomplish your dream of going on tour with The Sword within the next month or so, you're absolutely welcome to stop by for a homebrew.