I brewed a single hop Columbus IPA kit a few months back that came out absolutely stellar. Probably my favorite IPA I’ve brewed to date. I’m still extract brewing and used the LME that came with the kit. I used half of the LME for the full 60 min boil, and added the last half LME at 15 minutes left to keep the color a little lighter. It worked, but still a tad bit darker than I would have liked.
This time I am not ordering the kit, but am basically replicating the recipe using DME instead of LME to keep it a bit lighter in color. Since I am ordering the ingredients separately, I am going to have one ounce of Columbus pellet hops left over, and I refuse to waste hops, so my question is this:
Is dry hopping with 1oz of 15% Alpha Columbus worth the extra effort? I’m going to do it anyway, but was just curious if you all think it will make any noticeable difference in the aroma profile using such a small amount for an IPA dry hop addition.
What was your hop schedule in the boil? If you made a large flame-out addition, you may not need to dry-hop with one ounce of Columbus. If there was a small addition or no flame out addition, I definitely would recommend the one ounce dry-hop.
[quote=“Barliman”]What was your hop schedule in the boil? If you made a large flame-out addition, you may not need to dry-hop with one ounce of Columbus. If there was a small addition or no flame out addition, I definitely would recommend the one ounce dry-hop.
J[/quote]
Thanks for the rapid response J… My schedule was as follows:
1oz Columbus for 60 min boil
2oz Columbus last 5 mins
2oz Columbus last 1 minute of boil
The aroma, bitterness, and taste profile were outstanding following this schedule, and as I said before, it was my favorite IPA to date, and made me fall in love with Columbus hops. I’m not really adding the dry hop addition to make up for any deficiencies I tasted, just using what’s left over and was curious if it would make much of a difference dry hopping that sucker with 1oz. From what I’ve tasted, I don’t think I could have too much Columbus in my IPA! LOL
Will one ounce make any noticeable difference Denny? I usually bomb my IPA’s with about three ounces of Cascade (which I have growing in my backyard and just formed cones ), so not sure what a single ounce of Columbus will do in a dry hop.
Will one ounce make any noticeable difference Denny? I usually bomb my IPA’s with about three ounces of Cascade (which I have growing in my backyard and just formed cones ), so not sure what a single ounce of Columbus will do in a dry hop.[/quote]
My original Rye IPA recipe was developed with an oz. of Columbus dry hops, so obviously I do think it will do something. Besides, what have ya got to lose?
It’s not an IPA without a dryhop and while one oz of many hops might not be enough, Columbus, if it’s fresh, is pretty powerful and an oz should have a noticeable impact on the aroma.
I always try to put my ego aside and seek the advice of those who know far more about brewing than I do. I have quite a few batches under my belt, but this forum has saved me from mistakes on far more occasions than I’d like to admit. Thank you all as always for taking the time to give some input. Denny, I will take that as an obvious YES! Man, I’m looking forward to this one! COLUMBUS brother!
That’s all I needed to hear. Never dabbled much with Columbus prior to taking a shot on it with that single hop IPA I brewed a few months ago. After tasting it and smelling it, I am completely hooked. What a great hop variety! It is GLORIOUS.
), so not sure what a single ounce of Columbus will do in a dry hop.