Centennial; Chilled and Awesome

Now THIS is more like it.  I just sat down after bottling the Columbus and brewing the fourth experiment (Simcoe), and am having my first taste of the Centennial brew.  Its really good.  The Cascade was pretty harsh in the bitterness department, and had a "funny" aroma.  This one has a little bite- I would say just the right amount- and a mild, fruity aroma.  I prefer the Cascade hops' flavor, however, as its more pronounced, and very bright and crisp.

So, of the two, I would say Centennial has the edge in bitterring character and aroma, but the Cascade has the better flavor.  Obviously my opinion, and its important to keep noting that the beers will improve as my solo-small-batch skills improve.  Just to make it official, here's the Centennial report:

Bitterness: Mild, smooth bitterness that adds to the flavor of the beer.  Mellow and pleasant.  I would use this hop for bitterring again and again.

Flavor: Fruity with a citrus hint.  Not great, but not unpleasant either.  I would use this one for flavoring again, but only for beers with a heavy malt character.

Aroma:  Mild and fruity.  Very pleasant, and not much different from the aroma that comes out of the bag when you first open them.

This is the Simcoe Batch:

• 24 c Pocono Springs bottled water brought to rolling boil.
• 1 lb Muntons Extra Light DME stirred into pot.
• Wort brought back to boil, and .20 oz ( 2.44 AAU) Simcoe hop pellets added.  60 minute timer started.
• At 45 minute mark (15 min left in boil) .20 oz (2.44 AAU) Simcoe hop pellets added to boil.
• At 55 minute mark (5 min left in boil) .20 oz (2.44 AAU) Simcoe hop pellets added to boil
• At 60 minute mark, brew pot is removed, covered, and placed in freezer to cool.
• When wort reads 70 degrees F, wort transferred to fermenter, and 11.5 g Fermentis brand Safale us-05 also added to fermenter.
• Fermenter closed and shaken for 1 min

Just A Quick Thought

In comparing some recipes, I realized that very few batches use the same amount of hops for bitterring as they do for flavor and aroma.  As a matter of fact, many actually use the same amount for bitterring as they do for flavoring and finishing combined.  I will have to take this into consideration when I start mixing the hops and trying to bring together the results.

I was also thinking of maybe, after I am done trying the American varieties, putting together my favorites in each category (bitterring, flavoring, and aroma) using this formula.  I have a way to go yet, but we''ll see.

The fermenter is bubbling big-time with the Columbus.

Cascade Report, Centennial Bottling, and Columbus Discovers My Brewpot

I got to chill and try the Cascade Experiment this weekend!

Because of some time constraints, I didn't get to brew the Columbus until Tuesday, but the Centennial was in bottles as scheduled.  The bottling went VERY smoothly, although I didn't get many bottles (4).  I think more wort got boiled off this time.  I'm going to have to keep an eye on this.

I was pretty surprised at how well the Cascade turned out, and have decided this is the best hobby for someone like me.  Its relatively easy, and extremely forgiving.  I was convinced of contamination after the bottling fiasco, but its not bad.  There is some detectable "off" flavor, but I might be imagining it.  For this reason, I may run it back after the other batches just in case there was some difference in character due to the mistakes.

Here is my report on the Cascade-Hopped Experiment:

Bitterness:  Characteristic late, back of the tounge, almost after-taste like bitterness.  If I were to bitter with these hops again, I would cut back a little.  Maybe only .15 or even .10 oz. (.75 oz. and .5 oz. respectively for a 5 gallon batch).  I would rather taste the bitterness, if that makes any sense.

Flavor:  Everyone says "citrusy" when describing this hop, and they aren't kidding.  That't the best word I could come up with.  Bright and crisp in flavor.  Love it.  Just about the right amount too....20 oz. (1 oz for a 5 gallon batch).

Aroma: Eh...  Since some of the yeast cake got kicked up during bottling, I'm thinking this is what suffered.  Not at all like the flavor.  I would not use this for aroma hopping again without a second experiment.

This is what the Columbus brew looked like:

• 24 c Pocono Springs bottled water brought to rolling boil. (moved up from 20 to compensate for the boil-off)
• 1 lb Muntons Extra Light DME stirred into pot.
• Wort brought back to boil, and .20 oz ( 2.8 AAU) Columbus hop pellets added.  60 minute timer started.
• At 45 minute mark (15 min left in boil) .20 oz (2.8 AAU) Columbus hop pellets added to boil.
• At 55 minute mark (5 min left in boil) .20 oz (2.8 AAU) Columbus hop pellets added to boil
• At 60 minute mark, brew pot is removed, covered, and placed in freezer to cool.
• When wort reads 70 degrees F, wort transferred to fermenter, and 11.5 g Fermentis brand Safale us-05 also added to fermenter.
• Fermenter closed and shaken for 1 min.