Topaz IPA (extract)

[jivex5k]

Hey guys, long time lurker first time poster. I've been brewing for about a year and have finally decided to branch away from kits. I'm starting simple by modifying the NB Chinook IPA kit by sllighty lowering the bittering hop amount to account for the slightly higher AA when comparing Chinook to Topaz.

I read about Topaz the other day, seems like it would be great for bittering and aroma:

An old standby in the Australian bittering hop program, but recently being treated more for it's aroma potential. Rich and intense aroma of fleshy citrus and apricot, with a strong "dank" overtone and a hint of sulfur. Very similar to Summit, Apollo, and Columbus, but with a softer citrus edge - also similar to Amarillo.

Here's a recipe I just made up:

YEAST: Danstar West Coast Yeast (have this left over, want to reuse it)

SPECIALTY GRAIN
0.75 lbs Belgian Caramel Pils
0.25 lbs Briess Caramel 120

FERMENTABLES
6 lbs Pilsen malt syrup
1 lb Pilsen dry malt extract

HOPS & FLAVORINGS
.75 oz AustralianTopaz (60 min)
0.5 oz AustralianTopaz (10 min)
0.5 oz Australian Topaz(0 min) (hop stand)
1 oz Australian Topaz (dry hop)

Thoughts?

I plugged the info into hopville, says it will be incredibly bitter. (16AA)

 

[kingwood-kid]

The bitterness from Topaz will be harsher than mere IBU numbers would suggest; it's extremely high in cohumulone. So maybe you would want to cut the 60-minute to 1/2oz or so. Even the 10-minute addition will give you substantial bitterness. I've never used Topaz (I have 8oz I'm sitting on), but I would think you would want to load up the hopstand and dry-hop amounts to around 2oz each.

 

[jivex5k]

Thanks man! That's the feedback I was looking for, I'm gonna cut the hop amounts down then. I can FWH the bittering addition to smooth it out too.

.5 oz Australian Topaz (FWH)
0.25 oz Australian Topaz (10 min)
1 oz Australian Topaz(0 min) (hop stand)
2 oz Australian Topaz (dry hop)

 

[kingwood-kid]

Full disclosure:I responded to the thread partly to see how your beer turns out and if anybody else has any feedback on Topaz. There is precious little info out there on it, and most of the info I have seen is verbatim copies from somewhere else. Something about a combo of Lychee and Old English Cultivars. I'm really not sure what lychee tastes like; I wouldn't know one if I saw it. Good luck, and please report back when it's finished.

 

[jivex5k]

OK, i'm gonna split this one and brew a 2.5 gallon batch before jumpin in head first.
Haven't done a small one in a while, that'll be an easy brew day =).

 

[Loper]

Full disclosure:I responded to the thread partly to see how your beer turns out and if anybody else has any feedback on Topaz. There is precious little info out there on it, and most of the info I have seen is verbatim copies from somewhere else. Something about a combo of Lychee and Old English Cultivars. I'm really not sure what lychee tastes like; I wouldn't know one if I saw it. Good luck, and please report back when it's finished.

I made a SMaSH with Topaz in early March using 1056 with the following hop schedule

FW 0.5 oz
45 min. 0.5 oz
30 min. 0.5 oz
15 min. 0.25 oz
0 min. 0.75 oz
Dry Hop. 1.5 oz

Had the second one last night great aroma and great flavor. Nice citrus flavor.