West Coast IPA -- No Centennial Hops

While Centennial is a fine addition, you can never go wrong by pairing Amarillo - Simcoe (I've enjoyed every beer that had Simcoe). My latest endeavor had Amarillo - Citra - Mosiac playing together very nicely. I tend to experiment a little with some new hops like El Dorado/Equinox/Azacca, but A - S - C - M are always on call.

 

My first thought was to sub Amarillo for any mention of Centennial in an IPA

 

Hard to deny a amarillo chinook and Simcoe combo.

I tend to lean heavy with Simcoe and amarillo if I have no real common goal. Amarillo is my favorite hop though barely ahead of Simcoe.


Cascade is also very needed and often under appreciated.

 

Amarillo and Simcoe are awesome hops and I use them probably too much. I don't feel like Centennial has to be in a beer to classify it a West Coast IPA. Not too many styles call for a specific hop, maybe certain characteristics. Some off the top of my head; Cal Common - Northern Brewer; Bohemian Pilsner - Sazz; Belgian Pale - EKG; German Ales/Lagers - Ger. Noble hops; probably a few others


Also Cascade is a great hop. I guess today its under appreciated. Maybe people think Cascade was "so yesterday".

 

Suprised columbus hasnt been mentioned. Got an ipa carbing right now, big on columbus, simcoe, chinook. Cant wait for it to be ready

 

Eh? There are many, possibly most, Belgian Pale Ales that don't use EKG. Styrian Goldings and any of the Noble (and Noble-ish) hops are relatively common.

 

Another to add to the list of hops to use is Ahtanum. I made a nice APA last year that featured a .5oz bittering charge and a 3.5 oz ocharge in the whirlpool. Good stuff. Probably not as assertive as centennial, but some similarities nonetheless.

 

I'm from the west coast and have never used centennial in any of my IPAs. My favorite combinations are Nelson and galaxy (enjoy by uses this combo), Pacifica/galaxy/sorachi, Amarillo/citra/simcoe, warrior/Amarillo/simcoe/cascade, apollo/citra/cascade. Currently on my phone and don't have recipe access, will post some later.

 

There are tons of styles that don't use what is/was traditionally used. "Modern" Belgian Pale ales derived from English Pales that were hoppy and relatively bittter. Yes styrian and whitbread goldings, fuggles, noble hops are all common in Belgian Pales. But EKG was/is common and traditional for their higher bitter capabilities compared to other goldings, fuggles, and noble hops. This is why I mentioned them. Yes you are correct that there are lot of examples that don't use EKG. Which is kinda the point of the thread that there really isn't any hop that defines a style. Cheers.

 

Alpine is a West Coast brewery, right? Alpine Duet is a West Coast IPA, right.

I homebrew a version of Duet; a Simcoe/Amarillo IPA is a beer of beauty!!!

Cheers!

 

Have to side with the Red Cat on this one. While EKG doesn't define the BPA style, they are not uncommon. From the BJCP Belgian Pale Ale guidelines:
"Noble hops, Styrian Goldings, East Kent Goldings or Fuggles are commonly used."

A quick internet search will show recommendations for EKG in BPAs. It's even been known to occur in my brewhouse. To plagiarize Morebeer: Belgian ales tend to reflect the cultural crossroads of their country’s location; it is typical to find English hops as well as German Hallertauer, Czech Saaz, and Slovenian Styrian in many Belgian ale styles

For @utahbeerdude, any particular reason you have raised anti-Centennial shields?

 

I used fresh centennials in my american table beer this past summer. I was light handed, 8 oz wet hops in at flameout, and used some gno to add a perception of body and flavor to the 1.040 pale ale. They worked vey well. I think that, while centennials are ubiquitous with IPA, the hop can really shine on its own in other, less hop forward, applications.

 

How much have you changed the recipe from the original one I sent you?

 

Lol. I think you're actually siding with me. The Red Cat originally said that Belgian Pale is one of "not too many" styles that call for a specific hop: EKG. To which I said there are several hops common to BPAs. I do agree that there are a few styles defined by a single hop, but BPA is not among them IMO.

 

I have no recollection of "the recipe from the original one I sent you?"

Cheers!

 

I don't think I've used centennial in IPA's in almost 2 years. The most popular IPA hops in my freezer for the last few years have been Amarillo, Simcoe, Citra and Chinook

 

I add centennial to maybe 50% of the IPA's I brew. It's good stuff.

I've been on a Amarillo/Citra/Simcoe/Colombus kick for a little over a year now; sometimes adding a bit of summit as well. Using that hops combo I'm getting some excellent grapefruity/passion fruit/über Dank flavors and I'm loving it.

I use centennial in a lot of styles; it is a versatile hop.

I just did a Pale Ale with no kettle hop additions- dry hopped with 10 OZ of centennial for 12 days and it is fantastic. A hop flavor and aroma bomb; with a chewy grainy backbone.

It was an experiment for some of my family members and a friend who hate bitter beers; and they all loved this one.

Centennial is definitely not required in west coast IPA's.

 

Jack, several years ago, when I had my old user name barfdiggs, we beermailed back and forth and I sent you a recipe inspired by Alpine duet that you told me you brewed.