Chinook Hops (in an amerillo pale ale)

[skipper]

I asked BrewUK if they would stock Chinook hops and they very kindly said that they would do soon. They don't have them on the website just yet and I got some from a mate in the end but this is a heads up in case anyone is looking for them in the future.

Hmmm now why did I want them:

Amarillo Pale Ale (19l)

3kg light dry extract (1.5kg of this added in last 15 minutes)
17g Chinook (12.7%) - 60 min
35g Amarillo (9.4%) - 20 min
20g Amarillo (9.4%) - 5 min
30g Amarillo (9.4%) - 0 min
US 05 yeast

O.G. = 1.056 (5.5% abv anticipated)
EBC = 14.8
IBU = 45.3

I wanted this to have a largeish IBU contribution from late hops after reading articles about late hopping. This is bubbling away now. I'm hoping for a sort of light, grapefruity, piney and citrusy pale ale to drink in the sun very soon. I will report back how this turns out...

[Halite]

I made a beer nearly extactly the same as this called Amarillo Slim, made three versions of it and each one was great. Chinook is one of the best bittering hops I've used and I love the intensity of the citrus flavour that you get from amarillo.

[HighHops]

Thanks for the recipe skipper.

I've never used amerillo, but I've got some on order. Might try them out next week. Let us know how it goes!

[Rookie]

Simcoe goes real well with amarillo also.

[skipper]

Highhops (and anyone else wondering if this is worth doing) - it turned out great. exactly what i was hoping for. perfect for summer with balanced fairly assertive bitterness and very citrusy/fruity hops (especially when you stick your nose in the glass). having one with a bbq in the sun yesterday reminded me why I spent 3 hours sterilising bottles

[Halite]

Good to hear this turned out well. I did another pale ale recently that turned out great. I used Chinook for bittering, cascade at 15 minutes and then a combination of cascade and amarillo at 1 minute. Great beer for the sun

[Fallen]

I'm doing one next week with Chinook (bittering), Willamette and Celeia styrians (flavour and aroma). Hoping for a grapefruity summer number

[skipper]

one thing i would say is that i was hoping for a more grapefruity flavour and didn't really get that. i got a great flavour but not so much grapefruit. i think mainly because the amarillo is a really ripe fruity, citrusy sort of orangey (almost mango?!) flavour rather than bitter like grapefruit

i like the taste of purity mad goose and find that has a refreshing grapefruit sort of thing going on. that uses hallertau for bittering and cascade/willamette for aroma. maybe your use of willamette will help with aroma but if you want a grapefruit hit from chinook you might find it doesn't work out. i think you'll be happy anyway though it has a great flavour.

maybe someone can suggest grapefruity hop combinations?

[mattmacleod]

I generally get a great grapefruit character using a combination of chinook and amarillo. I use chinook as the bittering hops then add a lot of amarillo and some chinook in a couple of charges in the last 15 minutes. I think amarillo gives you the citrus backbone, but a late addition of chinook gives you the grapefruit.

[Alex NG]

I generally get a great grapefruit character using a combination of chinook and amarillo. I use chinook as the bittering hops then add a lot of amarillo and some chinook in a couple of charges in the last 15 minutes. I think amarillo gives you the citrus backbone, but a late addition of chinook gives you the grapefruit.

Am I right in thinking Columbus is quite similar to Chinook? Cos my first extract brew used Columbus hops for bittering, then Amarillo for flavour / aroma.

I defintely got a noticable dose of grapefruit in there. I think I over-bittered it, so much of the fruitiness was hidden behind a wall of bitterness. But it was still there...

[mattmacleod]

Not used Columbus, but I imagine it would have similar characteristics to Chinook. The Americans bracket them as the "C" hops (chinook, cascade, columbus, c.... er... etc...). They generally have similar flavour and alpha characteristics.

[Fallen]

Will Rogers from Charles Faram recommended early and late additions of Chinook to get a really grapefruity character. The styrian and willamette should add other citrus flavours to the mix.

[HighHops]

it turned out great. exactly what i was hoping for. perfect for summer with balanced fairly assertive bitterness and very citrusy/fruity hops (especially when you stick your nose in the glass). having one with a bbq in the sun yesterday reminded me why I spent 3 hours sterilising bottles

Hey skipper - glad to hear it turned out great. I used my amarillo to bitter and cascade and amarillo for aroma on my brew - Cascarillo Draught - which is in secondary right now. Will bottle at the weekend - so should be glugging that through the BBQ season. Can't wait !!!

I'm glad I caught this post because you are obviously all big fans of Chinook and I've never used it before because Ray Daniels (Designing Great Beers) put me off. He told me (on page 107) that it is "piney and resinous even when boiled for sixty minutes. As a result of this distinct character, some people will not use this hop for any purpose. Bitterness tends toward the harsh side, and in flavour and aroma applications it is definitely overwhelming. ". I don't think he is a big fan of grapefruit, but Chinook is on my shopping list !

Nice to see the experts don't always get it right and good to remember that it's just one opinion.

[Halite]

Bitterness tends toward the harsh side, and in flavour and aroma applications it is definitely overwhelming. "

Have to disagree with this. In all of my APA's I have used chinook for bittering, beer tends to be in the 35-45 IBU range and I have always thought that the bitterness was very smooth and in no way harsh!

[HighHops]

Hey Skip

After 3 weeks in the bottle I just cracked open one of my Cascarillo pale ales and it's a beauty I didn't use chinook, but amarillo for bittering as well as for late addition with cascade late on too. I gave half a dozen bottles to my Dad who glugged them at the weekend and said it was probably the best beer I'd made. I was expecting oranges and lemons, but I just got massive grapefruit smell and taste with a lemon zing after twist. This one hasn't touched the sides. It's quaffable. I'm goin to get another.

I luvvit! Nice 1!