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