Hop paring a juniper rye IPA

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Fuzz
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Hop paring a juniper rye IPA

Post by Fuzz » Wed May 23, 2018 2:13 pm

I'm currently trialing out some ideas for a juniper rye IPA and looking for some advice on which hops to pair it with. I've done some test batches but I don't feel I've hit the mark yet. The grain bill is

80% Golden Promise
15% Pale rye malt
5% Crystal 60
25g Juniper berries @ 10 mins

First batch was hopped with Southern Cross, Nugget, Citra and Simcoe. Second batch went more American IPA with Warrior (bittering), Simcoe, Amarillo & Citra (aroma & dry hop). I felt those hops took the lead in the second batch, and detracted from the rye/juniper flavours. The first batch was better but something was still missing.

I have to now make a choice - brew the first again or take a gamble and mix the hops up one more as this is crunch time - I can't brew any more test batches. I have some NZ hops in stock and I'm thinking if I go for some piney and tropical fruit, it would turn out the way batch 1 should have. My current thoughts are:

Warrior @ FWH (somewhat piney and resinous, smooth bittering)
Dr Rudi @ 10 mins (pine needle flavour to complement the juniper + citrus)
Rakau @ 10 mins (tropical fruit + pine)
Southern Cross @ 5 mins (citrusy kick + spice)
Dr Rudi, Rakau, Simcoe dry hop for 4 days

I've not used Dr Rudi or Rakau before. All suggestions welcomed.
Last edited by Fuzz on Wed May 23, 2018 5:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Sadfield
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Re: Adding Fruit

Post by Sadfield » Wed May 23, 2018 3:21 pm

I'd take my Inspiration from Gin and Tonic and match other botanicals, Lemon, Lime, orange, coriander, herbs etc. I like lime in my GnT so wai-iti with some Sorachi Ace and maybe some Mandarina Bavaria. Really hit the Citrus zest hops, but avoiding the Grapefruit floral American hops.

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Fuzz
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Re: Hop paring a juniper rye IPA

Post by Fuzz » Wed May 23, 2018 5:12 pm

I didn't want it to be a Gin beer (I don't like Gin) but the focus should be on the juniper and spiciness from the rye. The juniper berries alone don't tend to make it 'ginny', they just add a new flavour so that it's not just a rye IPA. I think the reason the first test worked better were the Southern Cross hops, so I'm in agreement with you and it's leading me down the NZ variety path. There was also a more evident tropical fruit in the first, so I'd like to try and keep that if possible.

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Sadfield
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Re: Hop paring a juniper rye IPA

Post by Sadfield » Wed May 23, 2018 5:39 pm

Yeah, it wouldn't make the beer taste of Gin, but the botanicals used are the same tried and tested flavours that work with juniper, be it in Gin, Kveik or even a Lamb or Venison dish.

I see the aroma description for southern cross is citrus and tropical fruit with hints of lemon zest, lime, pine and spice. So, I think we reached the same conclusion from different directions. Sounds interesting, just a case of whether you want to amplify or compliment the Pine and Spice of the juniper and Rye.

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McMullan

Re: Hop paring a juniper rye IPA

Post by McMullan » Wed May 23, 2018 9:00 pm

Aurora works well with juniper.

Fuzz
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Re: Hop paring a juniper rye IPA

Post by Fuzz » Wed May 23, 2018 9:48 pm

I guess the ultimate goal is to capture some tropical fruit flavour without removing the focal point of the juniper and rye. If either of those is lost underneath the hops, it almost defeats the purpose of them being there. Hop pairing can be tricky, and most advice I’ve seen for this area is to pick two flavour groups, three at most. The juniper and rye already contribute two of those - spicy and piney - so the third needs to be evident but more subtle.

I’m overthinking, certainly, but I know the first batch was close and the second was further off the mark. So I guess I’m trying to both amplify and compliment both focal ingredients. I think batch 1 could handle more spice and pine as I erred on less rather than more.

This is for an informal competition, but the deadline for testing is now over and I need to do the real thing. Having never used NZ hops before I’m taking a gamble, or I can just rebrew batch 1 knowing it’s not as good as I wanted it.

Aurora hops seem interesting, I’ve never used them either.

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