BeerBorg

Wings_Fan_In_KC wrote:All right.......rusty as I am......I've got 2.5 ounces of Amarillo, 2.5 ounces of Centennial and 1 ounce of Cascades. I'll work out the times of the boils, etc but any opinions of which of the three I've got on hand to use as the bittering hops? I'm leaning towards using the Amarillo as the dry hop and either C hops works in a faux IPA so......??

There's an easy answer to your question: It depends.

It really all depends on what you want. I think all three of those are considered dual use (bittering and flavor/aroma). So you can really mix and match them any way you want.

Personally, I only use Cascade hops for bittering if I'm doing a SMaSH, because it's relatively low in AA%. Both of the others have higher AA%, so they'll give more bitterness with a long boil. So then it comes down to what you want from the flavor and aroma portion. If you use brewing software like BeerSmith, QBrew, etc, I'd plug different amounts of the different hops at different times to see how the beer will turn out, keeping in mind what I want for the flavor and aroma of the beer.

One thing to consider is that the brewing software is generally predicated on using fresh hops, and they'll lose AA over time (how much depends greatly on how they were stored). If they're fairly old, I would definitely smell them first. If they smell like cheese, you can probably still use them for bittering, but I wouldn't use them for flavor or aroma.

All good advice and some that I've actually given myself in the past when I was active on this forum. I was going to dust off QBrew and plug in my ingredients today before I started in. I've also heard of the dreaded "parmesan cheese" smell but never experienced it. My hops were packed airtight, sealed in containers and kept in a cool dry place so they seem to be fine from that standpoint. Thanks for the refresher, BP.

Wings_Fan_In_KC wrote:All good advice and some that I've actually given myself in the past when I was active on this forum. I was going to dust off QBrew and plug in my ingredients today before I started in. I've also heard of the dreaded "parmesan cheese" smell but never experienced it. My hops were packed airtight, sealed in containers and kept in a cool dry place so they seem to be fine from that standpoint. Thanks for the refresher, BP.

Hey Wings, its always great hearing from one of 'the originals'! While I haven't updated the old qBrew database in years now, my current set of brewing applications may interest you. ezBIAB is a great little brew in a bag calculator and it's big brother ezRecipe is another useful tool for all grain recipe design. Here's to your getting back into brewing and sharing your adventures with us!

Screwy!! Thanks for the heads up on that. I actually took one of my old recipes in QBrew and just changed it up a bit (changed up the hops and the boil times) but i do look forward to trying out your apps. The last time I made a faux IPA using HCCD as a base it was good but I always wanted to increase the bite it had. This is going to be a darker colored beer (probably a deep amber) because the stock I had was old but it was still fresh if not just a little darkened over time. The brewmasters at Mr Beer say their HME's are still OK at 3 years past the expiration date - I checked with them before running out and grabbing new supplies and honestly I just wanted to do an HME/DME brew to get my feet wet again so to speak. The smell of Amarillo & Centennial hops and steaming malt filling the air during the boil was a blast from the past today. I have the fermenter tucked away in the back corner of my basement where it stays a constant 67 degrees so here we go!!!

From 2013: Swenocha is a vast bastard of brewing knowledge.

Swen, I am beyond honored that this is still in your signature to this day!!

Hey, welcome back Wings! Sorry, I'm still a Sharks fan. [emoji39]

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Go Red Wings.......different Conference now though so less of a rivalry. Getting rid of McLellan was needed, the Sharks were going nowhere under his systems. Not sure about DeBoer yet, time will tell. Hate that the Wings let Babcock get away to Toronna - he got the Leafs back in the PO's his 2nd year there. Blashill on the other hand.....pretty sure he was NOT ready to be an NHL coach.

Glad to be back if only doing HME/DME/Hops simple brews at this point.....getting back into it. I'm hoping to get into BAIB moving forward but I want to do a couple of simple attempts first to make sure I'm on the right track again.

Hell, brewing is brewing. Amidst my BAG batches, I just did a 15-minute boil for a Simcoe/Amarillo pale ale. HOW you brew is unimportant, just that you DO brew.

I've really been enjoying some local AHL games, too. Good times at a fraction of the cost.

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Kealia wrote:HOW you brew is unimportant, just that you DO brew.

As someone who brews every which way I can, I have to say... YES. +1000.

Kealia wrote:HOW you brew is unimportant, just that you DO brew.

Amen.

Wings_Fan_In_KC wrote:From 2013: Swenocha is a vast bastard of brewing knowledge.

Swen, I am beyond honored that this is still in your signature to this day!!

Good to see you back, WFIKC...

How is the collection for the Trademark Infringements going?

Brewer's Choice....or Discretion? WTF was that saying?

Hahaha, I still can't retire!

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Good to see ya, Wings! Welcome back, and here's hoping you do more brewing and more posting on the Borg now.

Thanks Dave!! It's been a long time.

I'm about 8 days from bottling my first batch in 2 years so WOOOO HOOOOOO!