Steeping and dry hopping Simcoe, Chinook and Pacific Jade

[floydmeddler]

Inspired by Dark Star's - Carafa Jade, I've decided to do another Ruby 'I.P.A'. However, out of the 3 hop varieties I plan to use, I've only had experience with Chinook as a bittering hop.

My concerns lie with the steep and dry hopping additions. Will steeping and/or dry hopping either Simcoe, Chinook or Pacific Jade at this quantity give any off flavours like 'grassy' etc.

Here's the recipe:

Original Gravity: 1.054 (1.000 - 1.100)
Terminal Gravity: 1.013 (1.000 - 1.100)
Color: 17.91 (0.0 - 50.0)
Alcohol: 5.26% (0.0% - 10.0%)
Bitterness: 32.6 (0.0 - 50.0)

Ingredients:
5 kg Maris Otter Pale Ale Malt
500 g CaraMalt MM
150 g Carafa Special® TYPE III
100 g Torrified Wheat
8.0 g Simcoe® (13.0%) - added during boil, boiled 90 min
8.0 g Chinook (12.7%) - added during boil, boiled 90 min
8.0 g Pacific Jade (15.1%) - added during boil, boiled 90 min
46.0 g Simcoe® (13.0%) - steeped after boil
46.0 g Chinook (12.7%) - steeped after boil
46.0 g Pacific Jade (15.1%) - steeped after boil
46.0 g Simcoe® (13.0%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
46.0 g Chinook (12.7%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
46.0 g Pacific Jade (15.1%) - added dry to secondary fermenter

ANY experience with these hops as steep and dry hopping would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks.

[smdjoachim]

I've used all those hops for dry hopping and never had grassy flavours.Just dry hop for 5 to 7 days and no more.
Chinook is a bit harsh when green but mellows with age.
Personally I would halve the dry hopping,and move them to 15 mins

[floydmeddler]

Cheers man. Will give that a thought.

[Barley Water]

I agree with the above poster, it's all about the contact time if you want to avoid the grassy/vegital flavors. I suppose the higher the ABV, the more stuff you will pull out of the hops since the higher % will be a better solvent than H2O (the temperature of the beer while sitting on the hops would also make a difference I suspect). I would not let the beer sit on the hops for more than 10 days myself. I also agree that Chinook can be very rough, I personally don't like the harsh, resiny effect but I also know that many do (wierd from a Yank, I know). I have my best luck with low cohumolone hops myself (for instance Simcoe, Amarillo, Warrior etc.) since I have moderately hard water with both temporary as well as permanant hardness. To me the trick with highly hopped beers is to get a ton of hop flavor and aroma, moderate bitterness to gravity ratio while keeping everything really smooth. Whoever came up with hop bursting surely has a place in heaven, at least as far as I am concerned. Of course take all that for what it's worth, my idea of a great IPA is DogfishHead 60 if that gives you any idea where I am coming from. By the way, the above comments refer only to American style hop bombs, you British folk have something entirely different going on in your beers (better malt and yeast derived flavors with much more subtle hopping). I don't know that I would use American hops on a British brew since they will completely overwhelm everything else in the beer, again just my personal opinion.

[floydmeddler]

Cheers BW. I have reduced the dry hopping by half and will add them at 'flame out' instead.

I'd love to try some Dogfishhead 60. Loved the shows on Discovery.

[Barley Water]

Yeah, those guys at Dogfish Head do some pretty interesting beers. I am starting to notice that you folks in the UK are starting to "Americanize" your beers, ie; high hopping and high gravity (I'm thinking also of that brewery in Scotland the name of which escapes me at the moment). I personally think that we go over the top many times over here in the quest to make our stuff unique (you know "the bigger, the better" mentality). The problem with some of this stuff is that after a couple of pints you're pretty much done and you can't taste anything other than hops for days. On the other hand, if you don't push the envelope a bit, you will never discover anything new. I also note that many of the guys on these forums are starting to mess with the Belgian stuff, to that I say "good on you". You will learn yeast handling quick doing Belgians as most of those beers are yeast centric if you know what I mean. Over here, the agressive brewers are doing "sours" and I have dabled with that myself. My next project will be a Saison which I will brett after primary fermentation (mainly because I want really, really dry beer). Currently the weather over here is "crazy hot" with highs getting around 107F damn near every day, perfect Saison weather. Finally, I won 10lbs of American 2 row at our last club meeting and I suspect it will end up in an American IPA. I am just waiting for Simcoe to become available again over here since my formulation calls for Warrior, Simcoe and Amarillo, just as Sam C. uses. I am however tempted to add some wood chips just to twist things up a bit, well see what happens.

[floydmeddler]

Sounds interesting BW! Be good if you could document that wood chipped beer.

I'm planning a Saison too. Can't wait. Just about to pour myself a Belgian now.