Milkshake IPA hop recommendations

Any reason to not whirlpool some of the Huell Melon as well? Just curious the difference you'll get as I've only done 3 milkshake ipas so I'm still learning. I love Citra so I would always recommend using those but I could get wanting to try something different

 

Do you think that the grapefruit pith character of Centennial is going to do well in this beer?

 

If it were my beer I would do citra, el dorado, Vic secret. Can’t lose with cheater hops

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess those are from the Hops47 firesale?

Take this with a grain of salt since it is for a very different beer, but I've had 2 oz. of the huell melon in a keg of saison for a week and though the notes of melon and strawberry are there, I feel it has a very floral - dare I say grassiness - to it that reminded me of noble hops. Of course this is a fairly tart saison with no real hopiness or bitterness otherwise.

I'm actually hoping it mellows a little for my tastes, and maybe I would only use just 1 oz. in the the future for this particular recipe.

 

It's not a bad idea at all. Just making sure that those characteristics are what you want in your beer. To me, they clash, but to you they might be in your wheelhouse. Personally, I'd go the route that @Prep8611 detailed.

Sure, but I'd defrost it and bring it up to ambient temperature before adding it.

 

Citra, Vic and El Dorado would be the safe route, and would be a great combo. I'd do that if you wanted a more accurate rendition of some of the commercial milkshake IPAs out there. But, if you're feeling experimental, try one of the others off your list there. I typically don't add more than 3-4 hop varieties in a single beer, but you could be onto something interesting with the exp grapefruit or huell melon. Save the centennial for a SMaSH!

 

Gotcha. Well if you haven't opened them yet, I can tell you one thing - they smelled great. I've never picked up strawberry aroma in hops before, it was a treat.

 

Centennial smash is one of the greatest homebrewed treats around. Although I’d prolly just add some grain detail and make a bella two hearted clone.

 

I don’t think lactose can actually curdle.

 

Side note, I was probably premature on my initial post about huell melon. After another half a week, I think it's drinking well. If I brew it again, I'll just dryhop right in the fermenter which will have the coniditioning time built in as it carbonates.

What was your final recipe for this one?

 

It seems like they mellowed a bit. And I wouldn't say it was grassy in a bad way, its a flavor/aroma I've tasted many times in commercial examples, it was just a bit instense at first.

Another guess was that the first few pints I pulled had more fine hop particulate in them that might have found it's way through the hop bag and settled down by the dip tube? So maybe it didn't neccesary mellow that much, I just filtered some of that out and it's tasting more balanced. Certainly melon and strawberry present in there too.

 

It's normal for lactose to look like that when cooling. No reason to add it to the fermenter unless it's more convenient for you. It increases the osmolarity of the wort, which can affect yeast metabolism, so I just add it at packaging.

 

At one-fourth lb. per gallon you shouldn't get much. You should reach a stable terminal in a couple days.