African hop varieties

[brew_cat]

Here we go again. A friend came over describing this great beer with some kind of African hops. Of course he didn't bring me a can but apparently it wasn't his beer. He has a friend who judges his beer on how long he stands in line. Well anyway that's all I have to go on right now. I'll try to find out more. He couldn't remember the name of the hops or the beer for that matter. I'll have to drill for more information. What say you people?

[loopie_beer]

I’ve never used them. They were too scarce and expensive. Then AB InBev purchased the entire crop to purposefully hold them from independent brewers. So that pretty much summed up the fact that I will never buy them.

[brew_cat]

Oh now I'm curious about the beer he tried. I'll get back

[sneezles61]

There always seem to be a "better mouse trap" out there... I'm not dissing the "new" stuff... In fact, I'm just advocating that there are some purrfect brews out there... Simple, cost effective...
If peeps keep running to the newest, brightest, what ever, they'll miss out on something within reach that does just as well.... How did Stephan Stills say it.... love the one your with? Simple, eh? Sneezles61

[squeegeethree]

Our host had these for a while and really pushed them. I al,oust pulled the trigger but decided to go for cheaper bulkier options. It does make a difference where things are grown and I'd give these a chance in a heartbeat

[brew_cat]

I know they were offering a African hop variety pack. If he buys the hops I'll brew him a beer. https://www.northernbrewer.com/products/34-degree-latitude-south-african-hops-sampler-pack

[brew_cat]

https://www.zahops.com/ here are the profiles

[loopie_beer]

Our host had these for a while and really pushed them.

And guess who owns our host?

[damian_winter]

On the subject of hops and the magazines trolling us for article idea's. I wish they would do a story on hops like the experimental ones the new ones what the hop institute cross breeding for this coming year. There is so many new experimental hops out there that you rarely see any articles about new hop breeds. Heck i would even write it for them if they'd let me.

[loopie_beer]

I agree and would love to read about them! Reach out to BYO or other magazines. I think you’d be surprised in that they may publish your article.

[sneezles61]

As though you aren't busy enough? Holy Moly! I'm still waiting for your book... Perhaps you'll have some signed books for us to purchase? Maybe? Again, you've got extra time? Sneezles61

[damian_winter]

Im just waiting on editorial on the book. All friends will not have to purchase my book. So i do have a little time on my hands. But i hope that the trollers consider writing a article like i mentioned.

[sneezles61]

Your signature is the value and the book is free?
I agree ... Needing more of a description on these numbered unknown hops... Maybe thats all the hype... Gotta brew with this X-C154 hops... Even the hop farms could brew a brew and report on what they perceive... Aroma, smell and taste... What about the oils too? Sneezles61

[damian_winter]

Like these 3 hops all new releases for 2018 and yet there is vary little been written about them and some of you most likely never heard of them yet.
Strata(X-331)
Sabro(HBC438)
Triumph (that was released back in 2016 but has made it into the market this year

[brewmanchu]

I'd like to give the SA hops a try. Looks like YVH has them for sale now but they are pricey!

[Grantmesteven]

Did you ever end up brewing with sabro or strata? I'm thinking of throwing both into an ipa for the next batch

[brewmanchu]

Not yet. I have 4 ounces of each right now and was thinking about ordering another half pound so I can use them in a NEIPA.

[Grantmesteven]

Yeh I have a half a pound of strata, half pound of amarillo, and a half pound of sabro in the freezer I'm planning on making one soonish.

[taylor0103]

The night before I was due to brew, I measured out my water and filtered it to remove any chlorine, chloramine and other impurities. As always, my chores before a brew day also involve cleaning and sanitising as much as I'm going to need.

For this brew, I wanted to aim for a rounded, smoother mouthfeel. I didn't want to shoot for NEIPA levels of mouthfeel, but with the Golden Naked Oats and the CaCl2 combined, I was hoping to get a softness that made this beer an easy drinker. I then adjusted my strike water with a small amount of Calcium Chloride (CaCl2).

The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed that this recipe contains Acidulated Malt. My water is quite alkaline and I normally add Acidulated Malt to drop the ph into acceptable levels.

The following afternoon I set my water on the burner and aimed for a strike temperature of 65 C and added the grains to my brew bag.

I also really wanted this beer to have a clean bitterness. Lately I’ve been experimenting with CO2 hop extract to achieve bitterness in my beers and have been surprised with the results.

If you’ve not heard of CO2 extract before, it is produced from soft hop pellets by supercritical CO2 extraction. If you'd like to learn more about CO2 Hop extract, I've previously written about it on this blog. I added around 4 ml of CO2 extract at the start of the boil.

After the 60 minutes of boil time was complete, I cooled the wort to around 24 degrees and pitched the yeast.
To keep things nice and simple, I went with a dry yeast called BRY-97 from Lallemand.

Before racking to my fermenting bucket, I wanted to take a reading of the original gravity (OG). I came in at just over 1.051.

With the airlock bubbling away, I patiently waited for my brew to be ready. With about 5 days to go until kegging, I dry hopped with around 80 grams of African Queen and 80 grams of Southern Passion in a hop sock.

When fermentation was complete, I cold crashed the beer overnight and then transferred to a keg and pressurised to 20 PSI before waiting another 5 days before tasting.