Hops - Help!

[webster614]

So my brew buddies and I are working on an Imperial IPA recipe. We are extremely new to homebrewing having only done 2 batches thus far. We want to work on something of our own rather than using kits. While creating a recipe the biggest hangup for me seems to be the hops. No matter how much I read I am still confused about using the hops. I get the process in which you use them (Bittering, Late Hop Additions, Dry Hop, etc). I just don't get how to choose your combinations. Are you looking to match similar flavors/aromas? We want a strong IIPA, big bite, flavor and aroma. We want to push it to around 100 IBUs. Maybe a bit overachieving here, but we want it to be unique to us and use about 9 different varieties of hops.

Can anyone shed some light on the use of hops, how to combine them and where I might get some really good information on crafting recipes?

Thanks.

 

[AZBeerNut]

GREAT article, for you, on hop character: http://morebeer.com/articles/master_hop_character

As for recipe building, from scratch, Google is your friend. Just look up something like "IPA home brew recipe" and go nuts with research. Look at TONS of recipe bases to start formulating your own. Since you're super new, you might even try "___ clone recipe" and find some homebrew base recipes for IPAs you guys already know you like. The more research, the better...... take tons of notes... take your time... and build a recipe base you can all agree on......... and THEN start playing with hop combinations as you read that article.

Good luck, brother. Enjoy brew day!

 

[Calder]

Use 9 types of hops if you want, but the flavors will be mixed, and you will have no idea what you will get until the beer is brewed.

Maybe just take a few complementary hops (American C-hops for example). An alternative could be Falconers Flight, or 7-Cs.

For bittering, you can use almost any hop. Pick one with high AAs. While most of the flavor will be gone after 60 minutes, some remains, so be sure your bittering hop doesn't have any flavors that would clash. An example would be Sorachi Ace, generally doesn't go with much else.

 

[pumpkinman2012]

I agree with AZbeernut, and I'll add that you should check out Beersmith online, they have a recipe database that has most every and any type of beer that you can dream up, do a search for the type of beer that you want to make and research a dozen or so recipes, you'll start to see what and why.

 

[Glynn]

I personally would not use 9 hops the flavor will be so muddled you wont be able to pick out any one flavor. I personally like to follow this hopping sched for my dipa. 60 min high alpha for 50% of my ibu, 20 min for flavor, 10 min for aroma, 30/60 min steep, dry hop. my last dipa was this

1.25 nugget 60 min
2.00 simcoe 20 min
1.00 amarillo 10 min
1.50 simcoe 60 min steep
1.50 amarillo 60 min steep
2.50 simcoe dry hop 3 days
2.00 amarillo dry hop 3 days

 

[Puddlethumper]

You're getting some good advice above. Mine may not be what you want to hear, but I'd suggest holding off on trying to formulate your own recipes until you've gotten a few more batches under your belt. I tried my own recipes right from the start, too (I suspect that many new brewers do). They were pretty bad and its because I, quite frankly, didn't have a clue what I was doing at the time.

After two batches I'm guessing that you still need to get your technique dialed in -- get your mash/sparge temperatures and volumes consistent - make a few beers that you really enjoy drinking and try to pick out the flavors that were in them that you liked. Also, now that you are brewing, try a bomber bottle or two of some micro-brews with your buddies and see if you can pick out the flavors - what is it you like and don't like about the various beers you try? Then when you buy hops and add them to your beer you'll start to get an idea of what those hops taste and smell like.

My best council to you is to pick a style you like and a recipe that is fairly straight-forward and within your skills. Make that recipe a couple of times so that you are familiar with both the recipe and your technique. Then start making a few minor changes: i.e. what happens when you sub Horizon hops for Amarillo? Stuff like that. It will help you learn what you are doing and why.

Good luck!

 

[Natdavis777]

You can look at some iipas hop schedules to get a feel for what you additions need to be. You can also check out different hopping techniques such as hop bursting and see if that will take you in the direction you would like. There are some charts out there that list different hops as either buttering hops, aromatic hops, or both.


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[andy6026]

I second what puddlethumper says. What you're proposing is to fly by the seat of your pants and rely almost entirely on luck.

But then again you're asking for recommendations here, which contradicts that.

Why not simply go with a recipe that is tried, true and tested?

Either that, or go entirely on your own instincts and see what you get.

The 50/50 approach seems rather confused.