which hops should I use

[mancer62]

I have 3 x 50g packs of hops just arrived and an extract IPA fermented and waiting for them.
I am very inexperienced using hops and would like to hear your suggestions.
I have
50g Amarillo
50g Columbus
50g Citra
I plan to dry hop for around a week....would u suggest 25g of all 3 or 25g of two or just maybe 50g of th eone kind?
Dry hoping will add to the flavour also yes? not just add fragrance.
look forward to replies

 

[dad_of_jon]

Id use all the amarillo and citra.

I used 100g amarillo, 100g cascade and 100g galaxy for my last dry hop (but then i'm a hop head) 100g IMO is a reasonable starting point.

 

[Spapro]

I would also go Amarillo and Citra - 50g of both together will work well.

The columbus is ideal as a bittering hop. Should be in the range of 14%Alpha Acid. I would use that as a 60 minute bittering hop in the boil for your next brew or 2.

 

[terrym]

We all have different tastes in hops. So the first question is, are you a real hop head? If so 100g hops may be OK, but even then that can depend on the hops used. When I try a new hop I find 50g is a good starting point for a hop tea or a dry hop on a 20+ litre brew, and I can then judge what to use next time. Even then I once used 50g Admiral (which is actually mainly a bittering hop) and that was way too much, and I have done two of the Youngs kits, the AIPA with 100g hops (Simcoe, Cenennial and Chinook), and the APA with 60g (Centennial and Columbus) and I would certainly not want to increase the hop quantities on those. Others may think differently.
Next you also want to to find out what each of your three hops contributes, if you don't already know. Mixing them will not give you that information.
So my suggestion is to use 50g of whichever hop you decide and add that and that alone. And use the other hops on subsequent brews. Or alternatively split the brew and use 25 g of a different hop on each half, which is what I have done before now.

 

[dad_of_jon]

terrym has some great points. I should have posted by asking what commercial brew do you like?

this will give a good idea of how much of a hophead you are and what type of hops you like. :thumb:

if you'd said green king ipa i'd say use 5g of hops, if you'd said bengali from sixpoint i'd have said use 300g of hops.

 

[AdeDunn]

terrym has some great points. I should have posted by asking what commercial brew do you like?

this will give a good idea of how much of a hophead you are and what type of hops you like. :thumb:

if you'd said green king ipa i'd say use 5g of hops, if you'd said bengali from sixpoint i'd have said use 300g of hops.

What if he'd said Jackhammer from Brewdog? Just find a hop field and throw it in? :thumb1: