Opinions on Bravo hops?

They are kinda boring. From dry hop tests with Miller Lite and commercial beers I've tried:

Aroma: Grapes, miscellaneous fruitiness, faint citrus
Taste: A bit bland (Same as commercial brews using this as sole hop): faint grapes, tart citrus, chalkyness with a touch of spice
Misc: Not a fan of this hop in anything I've tried it in (Commercial or Dry hopped Miller Lite). Curious to try it in a friends homebrew that I've been sitting on.

 

Deschutes uses Bravo as a bittering hop in their beer Chainbreaker IPA (which is an awesome White IPA IMHO). Maybe Bravo is best suited for bittering additions?

Cheers!

 

Bravo is also the bittering hop in Sierra Nevada's Ruthless Rye.

I know alcaponejr really liked them in a smash he did with munich, perhaps he'll chime in with what they bring to the table.

 

Wait for AlcaponeJunior to find this thread, he is all the rave right now over his SMaSH Bravo/Munich, he is even thinking of adding them to his SMaSH Citra to make a non-smash, must be something to these hops. Ask him what's up. I've never used them, but he has me thinking about using them sometime soon.

 

LOL, yeah, I really liked the bravo/munich smash. I used more bravo than I last bragged about...

At the time I thought the beer would be more optimal with 50/50 2-row/Munich. However, by the time the last bottle was finished, I was more in the "leave it all Munich" club. I think the hop mellowing blended well with the base malt after about 5 weeks in the bottle (that's as long as they lasted).

One man's boring hops are another's exciting hops. My taste in hops is a bit off the mainstream, so make of my comments what you will. Whilst everyone's all the rage about simcoe, citra, and Amarillo* these days, my favorite hop remains cascade.

Bravo does make an excellent bittering hop if you don't care for it as much as a primary flavor or aroma hop, late hop, hop burst, hop back, FO addition hop, single hop hop, or whatever. I personally like the flavor of it as a late hop, and also like its bittering qualities (and it's pretty cheep too). YMMV. If you're not sure, brew a batch with heavy bravo or all bravo and make up your own mind from tasting the results. Smash beers are great for this, as there are fewer confounding factors, which is one of the main reasons I like to make them.

*or whatever the new raging hop is. I do like all these hops, but I don't feel like something that doesn't contain massive amounts of citra, simcoe, Amarillo or [insert new-rage hop here] is inferior in any way.

 

Bravo is also being used in Ommegangs Lovely Dark and Deep.

 

My single hop IPA with Bravo was a nice change of pace from the in your face hops. The best I could describe them was rose. Not very outstanding in an IPA but I use them to bitter with good success. They are a very good bittering hop for RIS and the like where you really do no even want to know there were hops there. The old "clean" bittering description.

 

Agree with NiceFly. Bravo is clean and potent bittering. Light fruit flavor when used later in the boil and floral aroma when used as a dry hop. There are perfumey scented candles that smell like dry hopped Bravo.

 

Made a PA with Bravo bittering and whirlpool of Equinox. My favorite PA I've made. Definitely use them as a bittering hop.

 

Stan Hieronymus recommends using them as a dry hop while the yeast still has a little to go, as they will give a lot of Beta-Citronella.

 

Have you done this? What does it do? I'm assuming it makes less floral and more citrus in the form of Citronella candle. Should be great beer for mosquito control!

 

Haven't done it, but that compound is a plus according to Stan. Spelling may be off, but it is a positive according to Stan H.

 

It's the same oil found in the Citronella candle. Not saying it's a bad thing.