Finishing Hops including El Dorado

[fisherman]

Hello everyone.
Has anyone used El Dorado hops. From what I have read they sound just the ticket for late additions being high alpha high oil content. Can you suggest any hops I could use in the last 15 mins. I dont really want to add lots of hop volume to my boiler. Also any hop combinations you think are great.
Any replies very gratefull

[Rookie]

Hello everyone.
Has anyone used El Dorado hops. From what I have read they sound just the ticket for late additions being high alpha high oil content. Can you suggest any hops I could use in the last 15 mins. I dont really want to add lots of hop volume to my boiler. Also any hop combinations you think are great.
Any replies very gratefull

What kind of beer are you making?

[zgoda]

I was disappointed by this hop. Barely any noticeable flavour when mixed 60:40 with Simcoe and 70:30 with Citra.

[fisherman]

I shall be making pale ales blonde and lager type beers. I make 50 litre brews so I don't have many brews. Three brews per 25 kg sack so I try to choose wisely. I hope to have one best English bitter but find EKG and Fuggles can be a little bland. Any ideas very welcome

[scuppeteer]

I think its a lovely hop.

Only brewed a saison with them, alongside First Gold but loads of orange flavours which sat very well with the yeast.
Additions (23l brewlength) as such:
First Gold (8.3AA%) 35g @ 60min
First Gold 25g @ 10mins
El Dorado 60g @ 1min
Dry hopped after primary
First Gold 40g
El Dorado 40g

Lovely beer so a blonde would be great as well.

[fisherman]

In the past I have bought leaf hops and been dissapointed with the quality of homebrew supplied hops. In brewery films the hops are always green and lush, Most of the hops i have bought leave a lot to be desired regarding freshness. Brown patches. My last purchase of leaf Cascade were brown with very few cone all leaf I chucked 50 % of them in the bin. I dont think there is much sticky resin in hop leaves. I now try and use T90 pellets and find they are great with a hop spider and filter bag. Maybe my purchase of El Dorado 2013 pellets combined other hops will give me a great blonde ale. When I use EL Dorado what malt base would you use ?. I am thinking of going for 8kg lager malt with 2 kg munich and 450 grams of caramalt.

[scuppeteer]

Brown patches is not a sign of poor quality, it means they were near perfect ripeness when picked. The Galaxy we have at work is very brown not a green cone in sight, but you wouldn't through it away cos it smells amazing. I think you were very unlucky with your last Cascade, it is quite rare to get leaf in them as the American picking machines are far more efficient, now if it was EKG I wouldn't be surprised!

Malt base looks just fine, should be a good beer.

[fisherman]

Whoops, I didnt see that one coming. I am surprised I also notice EKG and Fuggles look better in T 90 form.My Galaxy pellets are a different shade of green to EKG. We all live and learn.

[Jonnyconga]

I bought a load of Eldorado from malt miller on the cheap - can ;t say I was wowed by their flavour and aroma but there was a great subltely to them - A hoppy pale ale ended up a little more like a normal pale ale bordering on a blonde ale. Would get again though - called the beer Cortez Blonde - its was very tasty -nonetheless.

[seymour]

I absolutely love El Dorado hops. Fisherman, did you find some good ways to use yours?

[fisherman]

Hi seymore,
Sorry for the late reply. My eldorado are still in the freezer unopened, My hop ibu is very low i have used magnum as a bittering hop in my last 6 X 10 gallon brews. Can you beleive in the boil at 60 min 16 grams of magnum at 15 mins 50 grams of halletau milf. Thats it. I have used to experimental 366 . galaxy. nelson. citra . simcoe but all at just 10 grams at 5 mins with a 20 min soak. To chicken to try high alpha hops at 60 or 15mins. I must say the 5 min additions make a nice taste without to much bitterness.I enjoy the magnum + haertau milf or saaz so much i am stuck in my ways. I have enjoyed high alpha hops but only if matured in the bottle for 3 months when flavours mellow.
Happy Brewing

[seymour]

No need to apologize for a nicely balanced low IBU with magnum and hallertau. Sounds classic. I would encourage you to make that exact beer, except add 50 grams El Dorado at flame-out, then steep 20 min as stated. Used thus you won't get any of the high-IBUs you're worried about, just loads of unique flavour and aroma which won't take any time to tone down.

Cheers!

[dunwood0191]

Have made a pale bitter using El Dorado hops in the copper, and Saaz as a finishing hop. The result is wonderful, but the problem is accurate weighing with an alpha acid of 15.9% as 1 or 2 grams error makes a big difference.