What's your favourite hop?

[bitter_dave]

QUOTE (mysterio @ Sep 5 2006, 12:05 PM) Dave, got a Deuchars IPA recipe? Is it just base malt plus lots of late hopping?
No, I wish I did. In a recent article in Brewers contact, the journal of the CBA, they discuss a visit to the Caledonian brewery in which they reveal some facts about Deuchars:

Malt is Optic and Golden Promise
12% glucose

Hops:

Fuggles (75 mins)
Super Styrians (75 mins)

Styrians (15 mins)
Williamette (15 mins)

'Finishing hops' - in the hop back

East Kent Goldings
Fuggles.

Hopping rates must be crazy: 'three times the industry standard.. only a third of the hops go in the copper and only half of those at the start of the boil... The remaing two thirds of the hops go in the hopback'.

The article warns against using this amount of finishing hops in the homebrew situation as it is not possible to cool the beer quickly enough.

I've also found out via the Camra almanac that the IBU should be 34-36 and the OG 1038 (although they list different hops); seems a touch more bitter than I would have expected.

Mysterio, I suspect that there is enough info here to knock up a nice beer with some of the characterisitics of Deuchars with some fiddling on some software.

[mysterio]

Cheers Dave B)

I'll knock up a recipe later and post it for feedback :ph34r:

I'll probably knock down the IBUs to 25, seems more accurate.

[tribs]

I dry hopped my TT Landlord clone with a small amount of Styrian Goldings (They were also used as a late hop). It made a huge difference to the finished beer and is now very close to the original. It adds a nice citrus hoppy aroma.

Last night I sampled my all Amarillo IPA. :beer It is fantastic. This has probably jumped to the top of my list of favourite hops.

As for Deuchars IPA, its not what I would call a real hoppy brew but I bet trying 15g each of the finishing hops at flameout and the same again for a dry hop would be a good starting point. I often wonder just how efficient hopbacks are. Seems like a waste of hops to me.

[bitter_dave]

QUOTE (tribs @ Sep 5 2006, 12:44 PM) As for Deuchars IPA, its not what I would call a real hoppy brew but I bet trying 15g each of the finishing hops at flameout and the same again for a dry hop would be a good starting point. I
How long would you leave the hops put in after 'flameout'? I tend to leave them 20-30 mins, but I'm not sure why...

Perhaps I do it this long because I don't cool my beer with the hops in there (I transfer to another bucket and cool in the sink).

[tribs]

Ah, I see

I chuck them in and start cooling with the hops in and strain when its cooled.

TBH I've no idea the optimum duration of steeping flameout hops if they are removed before cooling. If 20-30 mins has been giving you the results you were expecting then I'd stick with that.

[tribs]

QUOTE hopping in the keg is just a waste (it was either him or wheeler)

I can guarantee he got that one wrong. I find a huge difference in aroma after adding hops to the keg. Particularly the amarillo pellets added to the keg of my latest brew.

[BigEd]

I'm an American but I don't much care for the American hops. The strong citrus "C" family is extremely popular with American craft brewers and homebrewers but they just don't do much for me. Can't really narrow it down to just one hop but I love Kent Goldings and use them in most of my pale ales and porters. WGV hops have also been finding their way into many of my brews. I have found Challenger to be an excellent bittering hop and it blends very well with the lower acid flavor hops. Saaz is my first choice for a Pilsner and Spalt has become my favorite German hop. I always keep Northern Brewer on hand as it has almost unmatched versatility. The old variety Brewers Gold is one I like very much. It is a prime ingredient in one of my older recipes.