BU:GU & Sugar Calliente Whoop Ass

[Owly055]

The beer I just put on tap is defiinitely an American IPA, though I really hadn't intended it that way.

My preferred IBU range is low to mid 50's 56 in this case. My BU:GU is about 76 looking at the actual OG........ a reasonable level for an APA. Drop the sugar (about 15% of the grain bill), and run the BU:GU and you get 98....... Off the charts into the American IPA range.


I like IPAs, but never brew them........... I tend toward the APA range and below. The bitterness is quite forward and assertive. A not so gentle reminder to pay attention.

It's quite good, but not all what I had intended. The nose and flavor are peach / apricot and the IBUs hit the back or your tongue hard and hang on. I pushed the ABV well beyond my usual range up to around 8%, so the result is an imperial IPA.

The jury was out on Calliente until I brewed this. It's a hop that doesn't stand well on it's own at low IBU.... the stone fruit flavor and aroma need something to set them off. It pairs extremely well with Nelson Sauvin. It also rounds out some of the other fruity hops well such as Mosaic. I did another Calliente Single hop at lower IBU and and ABV, and was very disappointed in the flavor. It really was lacking something.

My conclusion still is that Calliente is a member of the supporting cast, NOT a star hop.


H.W.

 

[SC_Ryan]

I did a low IBU amber ale with Calliente and Calypso and I wasn't very fond of it either. I haven't used Calliente since. It's interesting to hear that it works better in an IPA style beer. Maybe I'll give it another shot.

 

[Owly055]

I did a low IBU amber ale with Calliente and Calypso and I wasn't very fond of it either. I haven't used Calliente since. It's interesting to hear that it works better in an IPA style beer. Maybe I'll give it another shot.

There is a lot of similarity between Calliente and Calypso............both tend toward tropical fruit / stone fruit / passion fruit. Nelson Sauvin works very well with both. I like to pair hops of that sort with spicy hops........ I usually use things like Willamette, Challenger, Tettnang, Nugget, etc. For me, fruit and spice set each other off well. Nelson is in a category of it's own.


H.W.