Hopsperiment

[Beer-lord]

I've only used Mt. Hood with other hops but I know Denny's Wry Smile uses it and it's great with rye.
It's great that you're trying this hopsperiment!

[FedoraDave]

I opened a bottle (or two) of Hopsperiment/Amarillo last night. I even shared some with my son-in-law and got his opinion.

The description of this hops at Northern Brewer's website says it's tropical, floral, and citrus, and is a good flavor/aroma addition for American Ales.

I get more citrus and some pine, rather than tropical and floral, but that's good, too. This beer has a strong but not overpowering hops presence, and the flavor and bitterness doesn't sock you in the face. Still, you know it's there. I may pair this with the Simcoe that I use in FedoraDave's American Ale to give it another layer or two of intrigue. The Simcoe on its own does a good job, but it's a little thin and one-note.

[Dawg LB Steve]

Amarillo Nelson Sauvin are great together.

[Kealia]

I've loved Amarillo since I first visited Nashville and had a Yazoo Pale Ale with Swenocha. You can;t go wrong with that IMO.

And Simcoe and Amarillo go together like peanut butter and chocolate.

[Crazy Climber]

I may pair this with the Simcoe that I use in FedoraDave's American Ale to give it another layer or two of intrigue.

Your "hopsperiment" is bearing fruit. This kind of knowledge and insight can be invaluable in crafting/fine-tuning recipes.
As you keep tinkering, keep the insights coming!

[FedoraDave]

I'll be brewing a batch of FedoraDave's American Ale on Memorial Day Sunday. I'm getting the ingredients this weekend, so I need to revise the hops bill to keep it balanced and good and get the most out of the Amarillo addition. I may load up on the Simcoe a little more for the first addition, then mix Simcoe and Amarillo for the flavor and aroma additions, and just use Amarillo in the dry hop. Then some judicial tasting and note-taking when it's ready.

[FedoraDave]

And Simcoe and Amarillo go together like peanut butter and chocolate.

This is good to know, and thanks for the insightful assessment. I may have to tinker with the amounts to get the balance where it works best, but I take comfort in knowing that I'm not trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

And your comment brings up a good point, and is pretty much at the nub of what Hopsperiment is all about. Recipe-building can become stale and routine, and I wanted to break up the monotony. I want to create more intrigue in my beer, the same way just the right couple of ingredients may make a beef stew recipe or a barbecue rub really special. I look at it that way, and also in the way we pair beer styles with food. The right complement lifts the entire experience to a new level. Pairing two complimentary hops in an already good single-hop recipe has great potential.

[Kealia]

Yeah, if you haven't paired Simcoe with Amarillo yet I'm willing to bet that you will be very happy with the results.

[FedoraDave]

Well, I just revamped the recipe, removing the pound of Carapils in favor of two pounds of 20L (for color as well as body), and I added Amarillo to the hops bill. I'm keeping the Simcoe as the sole bittering hops, and mixing Amarillo with Simcoe for the flavor and aroma boils, as well as the dry hop. According to BrewToad, I'm getting a slightly higher OG (not enough to really matter), better SRM, which is what I was aiming for (6 instead of 3, which is more in keeping with an American Pale Ale), and a higher IBU, but still in keeping with the style.

I'll be brewing this Memorial Day Sunday, kegging it shortly after Flag Day, and probably drawing my first pint on Independence Day. Hey, it's not called FedoraDave's American Ale for nuthin'.

I'll post about it throughout.

[FedoraDave]

I've nearly finished the batch of Hopsperiment/Palisades, and I still don't know quite how to describe it.

It's somewhat aggressive, but not overpowering. There's citrus, but not nearly as much as something like Cascade or Citra or Simcoe. There's some earthiness and a hint of pine/mint. It's not unpleasant, but it's also not something that an APA could hang its hat on. I would consider this an adjunct hops, to boost and complement the primary hops in a hop-forward recipe. I think it would be a very good addition to the flavor boil.

On its own, it's not a bad pale ale. But I don't think it's a stand-alone hops.

[FedoraDave]

I've been drawing a couple pints of FedoraDave's American Ale. It was kegged just about a week ago, so it's still a little young. But since I tweaked the recipe to include Amarillo with the original Simcoe, I was curious as to what the result would be.

I'm very pleased with it. I have nothing against SMaSH beers, or single hop beers. But the Simcoe on its own seemed a little thin to me. Sort of Johnny One-Note. By adding Amarillo, I get more depth and layering in the bitterness and flavor. And the finish has this sort of funky thing going on, which is very pleasing.

I always associated "Mouth Feel" with the maltiness and the mash temperatures, and such. But I think the addition of the Amarillo enhances the mouthfeel of this beer. It just seems fuller, and I think it's a better representation of an APA than what I was doing before. If you look at the comments above, you'll see that Kealia stated that Simcoe and Amarillo go together like chocolate and peanut butter. And I have to agree. Just this small tweak has raised the level of this beer, even as young as it is. In another week or ten days, this may really rock my world.

If this is the only thing I've gotten out of my Hopsperiment (and it's not, believe me), it would be totally worth it.

[philm00x]

I think that's part of why I prefer a combination of hops. Yes, it's great to learn about how a particular hop affects a beer, but the combination of two or more just adds a level of complexity. Not saying that single hop beers are bad. Heck, I love Citra and Zombie Dust is one of my favorite commercial beers, and my own recipe "Etcitra, Etcitra" is one of my favorite homebrews. I can appreciate a hop like that doing all the work, so to speak.


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[FedoraDave]

No doubt, Phil. I've made and had plenty of single-hop beers. But this particular recipe was a little thin. The addition of the Amarillo really added another level. Hard to pin it down, but when it works, it works. It's an APA, so you want a good malt backbone and a good hop presence. The malt bill, while fairly basic, is solid. The hops needed something to add depth, and the Amarillo did it. This is one of the reasons why I embarked on Hopsperiment. I'm learning an awful lot, not only about individual hops characteristics, but it's giving me ideas of how to enhance existing recipes and/or create future recipes with great hops combinations.