chinook pale ale

[christler]

Tonight I will be brewing a pale ale using mostly chinook. I'm still learning what each hop brings to the table so i'm going to use the grain bill from a pale ale i've already made and change the hops.

Session Chinook

Recipe specifics:

Style: American Pale Ale
Batch size: 5.5 gal
Boil volume: 6.2 gal
OG: 1.046
FG: 1.011
Bitterness (IBU): 43.7
Color (SRM): 5.9
ABV: 4.5%

Grain/Sugars:

7.50 lb Two-row (US), 71.4%
2.50 lb Vienna (German), 23.8%
0.50 lb Crystal 40L, 4.8%

Hops:

0.75 oz Chinook (AA 11.5%, Pellet) 60 min, 29.5 IBU
0.50 oz Chinook (AA 12.1%, Pellet) 15 min, 10.3 IBU
0.50 oz Chinook (AA 11.5%, Pellet) 5 min, 3.9 IBU
0.25 oz Chinook (AA 11.5%, Pellet) 0 min, 0.0 IBU
1.00 oz Centennial (AA 9.0%, Pellet) dry hop
1.00 oz Chinook (AA 11.5%, Pellet) dry hop

Yeast/Misc:

English Ale yeast, 1.0 unit(s), Yeast

what do us think? Should I take out the centennial or leave it for a bit of dimension?

[BlackDuck]

If your really trying to figure out what Chinook will bring to the table, I would leave the Centennial out. And by the way.....I love the Vienna in this. Looks like a really simple and tasty recipe.

[christler]

Thanks black duck. yeah you're right. I just love centennial aroma! Is chinook a good hip on its own?

[BlackDuck]

I've never used Chinook on it's own. The only reason I made that recommendation was on the basis that from your post that you wanted to learn what each hop brought to the table. But if you really love the aroma of Centennial, there's no harm of adding it in. If your goal is to learn about a particular hop, then leave out the Centennial. But if you love Centennial and want to make a beer with some of that characteristic, then throw them in. Your the only one that can figure that out. But either way.....you'll make a good beer. I would bet on that!!!

[Beer-lord]

I've done lots of Chinook and a few with just chinook and in many recipes, I use it just for bittering and other hops for flavor and aroma. It goes well with Cascade, Centennial and Simcoe. In my opinion, too much in a dry hop can get a bit dank and I've often used it dry hopped with Centennial. I think the Centennial/Cascade/Simcoe tame it just a bit which is what I personally like. But, with the name Chinook IPA, all Chinook works just fine.
Here's the one I did recently which was a copy of a kit sold online.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Chinook IPA AGK
Brewer:
Asst Brewer:
Style: American IPA
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 6.89 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.72 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.060 SG
Estimated Color: 7.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 43.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 76.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 83.6 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 90.9 %
12.0 oz Cara 8/Caramel Pils (8.0 SRM) Grain 2 6.8 %
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 3 2.3 %
0.75 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 34.1 IBUs
0.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 5 8.2 IBUs
0.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 6 1.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [125.00 Yeast 7 -
1.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 8 0.0 IBUs


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 13.75 qt of water at 168.2 F 152.0 F 60 min
Mash Out Add 7.70 qt of water at 203.1 F 168.0 F 10 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 3.60 gal water at 168.0 F
Notes:
------

[FedoraDave]

Your technique of using the same grain bill and changing the hops bill to understand the characteristics of those hops is something I undertook a while back, although my recipe was a blonde ale. I found it very instructive, and I hope you do, too.

I would recommend, at this point, 86ing the Centennial, since your purpose is to investigate the characteristics of Chinook. You can always do the Centennial addition on later batches, y'know.

BTW, this experiment of mine resulted in one of my favorites; FedoraDave's American Ale, which uses Simcoe hops, and is one of my favorites.

[christler]

I did decide on 86ing the centennial. So this will be a single hop brew. Brew day went pretty smoothly. og was 1.047. I will dry hop worth 1Oz off chinook in about a week. I will report back and let you know how it turns out.

[mashani]

I just want to say YUM... Chinook!

[christler]

Never reported back on this one. But, this was one of the best beers I've made. Super easy drinking, nice and hoppy. I didn't even want to share this one because I wanted it all! Haha. I will definitely make this again. the only thing I might change is to up the dry hops a bit . Cheers!

[BlackDuck]

Glad it came out great for you.

[Inkleg]

Thanks for the update. Stone Double Bastard is all Chinook hops and boy is that tasty too. And, yes, it's ok to drink ALL your own beer.