Onion/Garlic/Dank...Yes, I said Dank

Ingredients
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My local HBS has Columbus pellet hops (US) marked down to 0.89 cents an ounce but in their description they list it as having an onion/garlic/dank character. The current AA is listed at 17.5% which seems high for this variety. I am a newer brewer but I have to say none of these qualities sound like a beer I would like to serve. “Here buddy, try this…it’s Dank!” (Maybe it’s some new hipster slang I know nothing about.)

Other sites do not list these traits as characteristics of this hop. Hop Union has “Pungent, black pepper, licorice characteristics with subtle citrus overtones” for a description. I love a citrus flavor and would be using them as bittering and maybe FWH and combining them with Cascade and Centennial (which I love and are also on sale) to create a style somewhere between an APA and AIPA.

Anyone out there associate this Hop with this trio of, IMO, unsavory characteristics?

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Everyone will say something different, that’s life. But I didn’t particulary find those flavors you mentioned. To me they are earthy, not quite as citrusy as Cas or Cent, but I’ve not used them a lot.
You should give em’ a try, I think you’ll like them as they are very popular. I’m on a quest too trying Simcoe and Summit.

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Pungent and spicy, yes, depending on amount. Also called Tomahawk hops, which is a cooler name IMO. I’ve used 'em and I’d use 'em again for bittering or flavoring or aroma.

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I don’t get onion or garlic out of them. I like that hop a lot with cent or cascade, I recommend doing a signal hop beer with it to see what you think.

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Me neither, they are dank though. Like a sticky, green bud.
Great hops.

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Been doing a lot of reading/research today and see the word Dank a lot in personal reviews. I guess I’ve associated the word with a musty, moldy root cellar as it’s definition implies. A sticky green bud…well now that’s the best of both worlds.

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Also called “Zeus”. Apparently, one or two of those names are either branded or copyrighted, and can’t be used by all growers/sellers. You’ll see them referred to as “CTZ” hops also. Great hop for APAs and IPAs. Make sure they are fresh, or they might give something like onion.

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The character from CTZ seems to be more prevalent in West Coast IPAs/APA’s that East Coast. West Coast brewers/drinkers really seem to expect that “allium” character, ie slight onion/garlic/earth/“dank” flavor/aroma. This does go great IMO with the citrusy American hops such as Cent, Cascade, Amarillo, etc.

And yes, this use of “dank” refers to weed, not musty basement. Only brettanomyces and some serious aging will give you the latter, I don’t know of any hops that can do that :mrgreen:

I personally am not a fan of single hop APA’s/IPA’s, with the hugely notable exception of Bell’s Two Hearted (Cent), but I would brew on with your addition at FWH/60 minutes.

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I just finished an APA with all flavor, aroma, dry hop additions at a 2:1 ratio of Centennial:Columbus.

It is very good. I don’t get any herbal flavors. I am perceiving a nice balance of citrus with pine, and I find it very enjoyable.

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I’ve brewed a few all-Columbus IPA’s and never got onion/garlic.
Dank? Hell yes. That’s why I love Columbus.

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I brewed a single-hop Zeus IPA a couple years ago and it did have that slight onion character. Kind of weird, but not overpowering.

This is a strong hop, and I agree that it’s best when blended with others. Great as a dry hop. Really great with Mt. Hood in Denny’s Rye IPA.

:cheers: to the dankness!

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The ones that really stand out to me with the onion/garlic are Stone Enjoy By’s. Especially the fresh ones. I had it at both GABF and AHAC and it was a very well-made, complex IPA, however, I am not sure I could do more than a pint. I don’t know how much CTZ is in those.

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I love that beer and have never noticed the onion/garlic before. i’ll have to try another one soon and see if I can pick that up.

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I love that beer and have never noticed the onion/garlic before. i’ll have to try another one soon and see if I can pick that up.[/quote]

My guess is that it is one of those (several of those) flavor compounds that has a really wide breadth of thresholds between tasters (like the Simcoe cat pee thing). Certain people are more sensitive to compounds than others, thus the same beer can taste different to different people.

I also enjoyed the beer, but thought it was EXTREMELY resinous/dank/even onion-y. I like that, but love that alongside some citrus/apricot hop aroma/flavor.

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Well I opted to buy some 1lb quantities of pellet hops for 2014 and CTZ is one of them. Thanks for all the input guys.

1 x Cascade Pellet
1 x Centennial Pellet
1 x Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ)
1 x East Kent Golding Pellet (UK EKG)
1 x Citra Pellet
1 x Simcoe Pellet
1 x Chinook Pellet

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[quote=“SkyHigh”]Well I opted to buy some 1lb quantities of pellet hops for 2014 and CTZ is one of them. Thanks for all the input guys.

1 x Cascade Pellet
1 x Centennial Pellet
1 x Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus (CTZ)
1 x East Kent Golding Pellet (UK EKG)
1 x Citra Pellet
1 x Simcoe Pellet
1 x Chinook Pellet[/quote]

Good choices, except the Citra. :wink:

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You can make a lot of really awesome beer with those hops.

Contrary to the above, I love Citra :cheers:

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To Citra or not to Citra…

Thanks for all the replies on this one guys.

Here’s to Dank :cheers:

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[quote=“Pietro”]You can make a lot of really awesome beer with those hops.

Contrary to the above, I love Citra :cheers: [/quote]

Something about it I just don’t like. I get the same taste from Mosaic.

It is a popular hop, though.