It’s been another year off brewing. I want to get back in the game with an IPA. I am planning to make an IPA using only Centennial and Chinook hops. I want a ton of hop flavor and aroma. I was thinking of bittering with an ounce of Chinook and then using 1 oz chinook / 1 oz centennial, at 20 minutes, 10 minutes, zero minutes and for dryhop. I was just wondering, is Chinook okay as a flavor/aroma/dryhop? I had always heard it was only for bittering, but was wondering if you guys think this would work or if Chinook shouldn’t be used for flavor and aroma?
i use chinook as an all purpose hop. it gives a ‘pine-tree’ aroma and flavor. i use it often as late addition hops. if overused ive heard some people can perceive it as harsh.
Do you enjoy Arrogant Bastard? If so, you like Chinooks since they’re the only hop used. I think they’re a great all-purpose hop and really like them for dry-hopping.
I have an Amber Ale and Pale Ale in fermentation that have Cascade and Centennial. I am dryhopping both with Centennial. My inspiration for the Centennial came from Long Trail Brewery’s Pale Ale. I really liked it. I hope they come out good. I have the Northern Brewer all grain Chinook IPA kit so I look forward to that one also. It will be the first time using Chinook.
Chinook can definitely be harsh, so it depends on what you like in your IPAs. I think your recipe sounds pretty good as-is, but if you want more citrus you may want to go with 2:1 Centennial:Chinook, or even 3:1.
+1. I’d suggest going with something like 1.5 oz Cent/.5oz Chinook in the late hops additions. I guess I look at Chinook as having good contributions to make but it isn’t as well rounded as something like Centennial for a late addition. You might look at the BYO Stone IPA clone recipe. I think it uses Centennial for flavor and aroma and then dry hops with a mix of Chinook and Centennial. That could be another way to go…
Thanks so much for the advice guys! I think I’ll go with the 1.5 oz Centennial and 0.5 oz Chinook for the late additions. I’ll let you all know how it comes out. Thanks again.
