So, I’m trying to create a clone of Natty Green’s Southern Pale Ale. And, after two attempts, I’m nowhere near it. The color is spot on and the bitterness matches. What I can’t seem to clone is the nice citrus - and very noticeable piney notes. I used 1 ounce of Chinook and 1 ouce of Nuggett pellets in both runs (5-gallons, Extract). Any advice? I read about Simcoe hops and they seem like they are pretty good for what I want.
Simcoe will give you piney. Some people will also say citrus, but I get pine and only pine. Citrus could be one or more of many different hops. This should help you out somewhat.
http://www.onebeer.net/hopschart.htmland another goodie
http://hopschart.com/zoom.html[quote=“dobe12”]and another goodie
http://hopschart.com/zoom.html[/quote]I had seen that hop chart on the NB website but never up close. Its pretty cool. I may have to invest in that and get it framed for my home office (where I build my recipes).
Columbus/Chinook/Simcoe for the pine. Cascade/Amarillo/Centennial for the citrus (Centennial also adds some pine/dank). Summit can bring tangerine, but not always. If you can find what the hop sellers are calling a “Centennial subsitute” it might be perfect - it’s 70% Columbus, 30% Cascade.
You can go a lot of routes to get this, but you can never go wrong with Simcoe + Amarillo. That’s a hop combo that is a whole lot of awesome, and is exactly what you’re looking for in pine & citrus.
Thanks, everyone. I really like that hops chart. Going to order one of those for the brewcave. I think I’m going to try a combination of those suggested. What are your thoughts on dry-hopping? Which hop style?
Plugs? Pellets? How long in the secondary? Is it worth it? I’m guessing now, after reading a bit about dry-hopping, this is possibly the process Natty Green’s is using to get the nice piney auromas in their IPA (SPA).
For dry hops, I’d recommend just throwing them into the primary loose once the beer gets about 5 points or so from the expected FG. Whole cones take longer to sink than pellets, and they also absorb more liquid, but otherwise either style will work fine. I dry hop at ale fermentation temps (~68F), for anywhere from 3-7 days. When I rack to my bottling bucket I line it with a sanitized paint strainer bag to catch most of the hop debris that makes it through my autosiphon.
Yep I agree and to take it further, you could go Chinook/Simcoe and Cascade/Amarillo for a nice citrus/piney IPA. When I do this I get a grapefruit, piney treat. You could always adjust these hops depending on how much pine/citrus that you like.
Thanks, Shadetree. What amount would you recommend for a 5-gallon batch (American IPA), and in which order for Bittering, Aroma? Times? Thanks much.
Depends on your IBU appreciation rating - if you don’t want a hopbomb, start with a little over a 1:1 BU:GU ratio (for instance, if your OG is 1.065, shoot for 70 IBUs, or 70:65).
A simple but effective hopping routine is to get 1/3 of your total IBUs with a FWH addition (calculate IBUs as a 20-min addition), 1/2 of your total with a 60-min addition, and then add a couple or three oz of hops at flameout and let them steep for 15 minutes before chilling.
[quote=“Shadetree”]Depends on your IBU appreciation rating - if you don’t want a hopbomb, start with a little over a 1:1 BU:GU ratio (for instance, if your OG is 1.065, shoot for 70 IBUs, or 70:65).
A simple but effective hopping routine is to get 1/3 of your total IBUs with a FWH addition (calculate IBUs as a 20-min addition), 1/2 of your total with a 60-min addition, and then add a couple or three oz of hops at flameout and let them steep for 15 minutes before chilling.[/quote]
Roger that. Thanks much.
Wally - I agree about the Cascade but which hop do you like best for a nice piney affect? Thanks.
I think people put too much stock in hop variety and not enough stock in amounts and mode of hopping. a beer hopped with Centennial will be extremely different with 1oz, 2oz, and 4oz, depending on if it’s used in whirlpool, at the end of the boil, in dry hopping, or in keg hopping. Temps matter as well.
Go to the store and smell the hops. Pick ones you nice. Then focus your process changes on extracting all that goodness into your beer.
I do agree with the choices described above in terms of variety, but I suspect variety might not be the issue here.
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[quote=“Wahoo”]I think people put too much stock in hop variety and not enough stock in amounts and mode of hopping. a beer hopped with Centennial will be extremely different with 1oz, 2oz, and 4oz, depending on if it’s used in whirlpool, at the end of the boil, in dry hopping, or in keg hopping. Temps matter as well.
Go to the store and smell the hops. Pick ones you nice. Then focus your process changes on extracting all that goodness into your beer.
I do agree with the choices described above in terms of variety, but I suspect variety might not be the issue here.[/quote]
Appreciate that advice. I’ll give it a go. Thanks.
[quote=“monk-e-business”][quote=“Wahoo”]I think people put too much stock in hop variety and not enough stock in amounts and mode of hopping. a beer hopped with Centennial will be extremely different with 1oz, 2oz, and 4oz, depending on if it’s used in whirlpool, at the end of the boil, in dry hopping, or in keg hopping. Temps matter as well.
Go to the store and smell the hops. Pick ones you nice. Then focus your process changes on extracting all that goodness into your beer.
I do agree with the choices described above in terms of variety, but I suspect variety might not be the issue here.[/quote]
Appreciate that advice. I’ll give it a go. Thanks.[/quote]
Good points about amount and timing but where do you go that you can smell the hops?
Other than that, just for another quick reference if you are on the Northern Brewer shopping page for hops you can sort by flavor/aroma contributions. Not sure how good that function really is but it gives you an idea.
inhhousebrew, I can smell the hops at my local (Maltose Express in Monroe CT).
If you are stuck doing mail order only, that’s ok… but smell your hops and use your best smelling hops for late aroma and dry hop additions.
I like Chinook and Simcoe for pine. I have mixed both with Cascade and like the Simcoe with Cascade a little bit better than the Chinook. But thats me. Cheers.
Ok thanks my friend!
i’ve always got the most pine from chinook. To me, chinook taste like pine needles (ive heard people compare it to pinesol) - while simcoe is a fruitier/less astrigent pine
IME
