Hop taste on Caribou Slobber

Hey guys and gals, I will be receiving my first ever beer making kit this afternoon from UPS. With that being said, I plan to do some brewing early this evening. I do have one question though. As I have been reading up on the forums here, I noticed that some have said Caribou Slobber is a little more hoppy then an English Brown Ale should be. I am not a huge fan of over the top hoppy beers. That is why I stay away from IPAs. What recommendations do you have to tone that down? I saw that some people were saying not to use all the Hops that were given. What do you guys think?

The caribou won’t be hoppy like a ipa. If you reduce the hops it will reduce the ibu,s at your 60 minute addition. The other addition is little bitter and for aroma. If you reduce your bitter hops the beer will become more sweet and could make it a cloying sweetness. If I was you make it just the way it is and then if you want make changes if you brew it again. Also keep in mind not all high hopped beers taste like a ipa. Some people be surprised the beers they like and the Ibu’s they have in them and taste nothing like a ipa

The Caribou Slobber isn’t hoppy at all. Who ever made that comment either didn’t make it right or added more hops. This beer is like a true English Brown. Just enough hops to calm down the sweetness of the malt, but doesn’t give it a hoppy taste at all.

I believe you are doing the 1 gallon extract kit. I have only done 5 and 10 gallon batches in all grain.

If you are really worried you can reduce or eliminate the 15 min hop addition.

Thanks guys - I appreciate it. I actually went with the 5 gallon kit. I wasn’t worried about it tasting like an IPA, I was worried about it being too hoppy for my tastes.

Caribou Slobber is a clone of Moose Drool. It is an American brown ale. American brown ales are more hoppy than English brown ales. English brown ales are very, very mild almost being bland. I wouldn’t call CS hoppy though like a pale ale or IPA.

I have done one CS as a late extract addition brew. It came out tasting almost exactly like Moose Drool. Moose Droll is a pretty good beer but isn’t really full of flavor or body. It lacked the deep complex flavors achieved when I had added all of the extract at the beginning of the boil for the first eight or ten brews.

I brewed a CS a couple of months ago with all the extract added at the beginning of the boil and it is really getting good as it matures in the bottle.

i did brew several now do like the carbou slobber not so hoppy taste you will like it lots

I agree. This is a tried and true kit. Follow the instructions to the letter then if you want adjust the next batch to your liking. My bet is you will love it as is.

Well, I made the kit as is! I suppose we will see how it is in 6 weeks.

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only thing i do add more hops during dryhop but you will like the beer a nice taste