HOPS and HOPPING
RECIPE: 1868 EAST INDIA PALE ALE
Hop Bursting (Whirlpool Hopping)
Multiple Rounds of Dry Hopping
HOPS
WHEN I STARTED BREWING in the late 1980s, hops came in the form of hops extract already added to the malt extract. If you could find hops at all, they usually were sitting on a shelf in a plastic bag and often several years old! Fast-forward to today: hop processors package hops in nitrogen-purged foil bags, and homebrew shops keep them refrigerated or frozen until you buy them. The varieties are mind-boggling. Not only do we have dozens of unique North American hops, but hops also come from exotic locales such as New Zealand, Slovenia, and Patagonia. With interesting new varieties coming out every year, this is definitely the golden age for hoppy-beer lovers.
HOP PROPERTIES
Hops look like little pinecones. They grow on the bine Humulus lupulus, which can measure up to 20 feet tall. If you break open a ripe hop cone, you’ll see a yellow-orange powder in the center; this is the good stuff. It contains the resin glands of the hop, with both the bitter acids and aromatic oils that brewers desire.
Alpha Acids and Bitterness
The amount of alpha acids present in the lupulin glands determines the bittering ability of a hop. Originally, most hops had a low bittering potential, with only 2–3 percent alpha acid (AA). However, commercial breeding has increased the upper limit to close to 20 percent. Since you need 9½ ounces of a 2 percent AA hop to equal the bitterness of 1 ounce of a 19 percent AA hop, you can see why commercial brewers like high-alpha hops for bittering!
The AAs aren’t bitter until they isomerize (change on the molecular level) in the wort during the boil. The longer the hops boil, the greater the amount of isomerized AA. No matter how long you boil, the best you can achieve is around 25–30 percent of the total AA being isomerized—and probably less than that in high-gravity wort. This percentage is called “utilization” and depends on the length of the boil and the gravity of the wort. The graph below illustrates how to determine the utilization of your hops.
The alpha acid percentage combined with the utilization creates bitterness in the beer, typically measured in international bitterness units (IBUs). Formulas and calculations can determine your utilization, but not many brewers these days do their bitterness calculations by hand. In addition to the many variables, it’s a no-brainer to let inexpensive or free brewing programs do some of the math for you. (See page 191 for my recommendations on brewing calculators.)
The recipes in this book provide the bitterness calculations (IBUs). Additionally, any hops that contribute bitterness appear in alpha acid units rather than in ounces. An alpha acid unit is simply the alpha acid percentage of a hop variety multiplied by the number of ounces of the hop used in the recipe. For example, 2 ounces of Cascade hops with 6 percent alpha acid equals 12 alpha acid units. It’s my preferred way to express the amount of bittering hops needed in recipes since hops can vary wildly in alpha acid percentage from crop to crop and year to year.
Graph data courtesy of Glenn Tinseth (http://realbeer.com/hops/research.html).
Note: The percentage of beta acids sometimes is listed for hops, but it doesn’t mean much to brewers. Beta acids don’t isomerize in the wort to create bitterness in the same way alpha acids do, but they can oxidize slowly over time in the finished beer and add bitterness.
The brewer intent on making the bitterest beer possible should know that increasing bitterness is more complicated than just throwing in more hops. There’s a level of saturation above which the wort can’t absorb any more bitterness (often touted as 100 IBU, though it’s likely a little above or below that, depending on the gravity of the wort). The most important thing to keep in mind is that there’s a big difference between calculated and measured IBUs, even with brewing software. I’ve brewed plenty of beers calculated at more than 100 IBUs, but the IBU in the finished beer was closer to 80 or 90 when tested. In practice, if you have a malt base beefy enough to handle a heavy hop charge, then it’s impossible to overbitter it if you love hops. Any all-malt beer above 1.070 should be able to handle whatever you throw at it.
Also keep in mind that it’s not only hop aroma that fades. Hop bitterness drops off quickly in finished beer. If you’re formulating the bitterness for an imperial stout that will age for a year, double your bittering hops.
ALPHA ACIDS AND COHUMULONE
The alpha acids we’re discussing are primarily broken down into three main categories: humulone, adhumulone, and cohumulone. Cohumulones give a harsher bitterness, so brewers tend to look for hops that have a lower percentage of cohumulone compared to the other acids. But is this true or just a brewing myth?
It all started with an experiment in 1972, when researchers sampled beers brewed with isolated acids. But the different alpha acids isomerize differently, so the beers had wildly different levels of isomerized alpha acids and, therefore, bitterness. Cohumulone had the highest isomerization levels and was thus the bitterest. Many brewers misinterpreted the article to mean that cohumulone was harsh and that hops with low cohumulone levels provided better-quality bitterness.
I put this theory to the test with a blind tasting among Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP)–certified judges and a lab analysis to see whether there was a notable difference in isomerized alpha acids between the two. I brewed two normal pale ales with no mineral additions. For one beer, I used Cascade for bittering, which is high in cohumulone, at 33–37 percent. For the other I used Simcoe®, which is very low in cohumulone, at 17–22 percent. I used only bittering hops, so perceived bitterness from later hop additions wouldn’t affect the results. I used an appropriate amount of hops to add 40 IBUs to each beer, so both had the same calculated level of bitterness.
The blind tasting confirmed earlier findings: The judges perceived Cascade-bittered beer as having a stronger bitterness than the Simcoe-bittered beer. But that was only part of the study. The lab analysis showed that the beer brewed with Simcoe had 33 IBUs, while the beer brewed with Cascade had 42 IBUs, a whopping 27 percent more. With that much difference in actual IBUs, it’s not surprising that tasters thought the bitterness from low-cohumulone hops was smoother. It was less bitter. Before I make any blanket statements, this experiment needs more data points. But it does seem that hops with lower cohumulone levels contribute fewer isomerized alpha acids than a high-cohumulone hop with the same alpha acid percentage. If this is true, then working cohumulone levels into IBU calculators would make them far more accurate.
Common Bittering Hops
Any hop can be used as a bittering hop. Some of the classic examples of English and German beers are bittered with low-alpha hops. For financial reasons, however, adding a higher-alpha hop for bittering is usually preferred. It costs a brewery less for the same level of bitterness, and less hop sludge in the kettle means more beer going to the fermentor. There’s a saying that “alpha is alpha,” which means that hop character doesn’t survive an hour-plus boil, so you might as well use the highest-alpha hop that you can for bittering. However, the cohumulone experiment (page 70) proves that this isn’t necessarily the case. Some hop character definitely can survive a long boil. Thus, the wrong choice of bittering hop can come through in your brew.
Luckily, higher-alpha hops are great for bittering a wide range of beers while adding a complexity that can blend well with later hop additions. Some varieties such as Horizon and Magnum are neutral in flavor and can be used in almost any beer style for a bittering addition. Others, such as German Merkur, have a traditional German flavor and are a better choice for authentic lagers. The British hop Target is a high-alpha hop that still tastes very English and is a great choice for British ales. Use the table below as a starting point, but experiment to find what’s right for your beers.
Common Bittering Hops
Oils and Aroma
Even though alpha acids are one of a brewer’s primary concerns, other components of the hops also are very important, depending on the beer style. Think of hops as you would chiles: They’re all hot to differing degrees, but their flavor often adds as much to a dish as their heat. The delicate essential oils are perhaps the most important because the aroma and taste of hops come from them. Almost all of these oils evaporate or are otherwise lost during a full 60-minute boil, so it’s essential to add hops later in the boil if you want to retain some of their aroma and taste.
If you add hops during the last 10 to 30 minutes of the boil, you’ll lose most of the aromatic components but will retain some of the hop flavor. That’s why these additions often are called “flavor-hop additions.”
Hops added during the last few minutes of the boil are finishing or aroma hops. Even a short time in hot wort will volatilize a lot of the aromatics. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. German brewers don’t care for those types of aromatics and usually will add their final hop addition 10 to 15 minutes before the end of the boil. If you’re trying to keep as much of the aroma as possible in the beer, consider dry hopping (page 85).
Note: Brewers making IPAs and other hop-centric beers are especially interested in the oil content of hops. Most hop processors don’t list hop oil levels on their packaging, but their websites often contain this information. It’s very difficult to list specific oil percentages for individual hops because they vary widely from year to year and even farm to farm. For example, from 1975 to 1985 the total oil content in Cascade hops varied from 0.28 to 1.79 milliliters per 100 grams of hops, and the most prevalent oil, myrcene, varied from 46 to 82 percent. Unless you can get an accurate analysis of a particular crop, you’ll have to make an educated guess.
Common Aroma Hops
While “aroma hops” can be a nickname for any hops added at the end of the boil, hops valued for their aromatic properties also are called “aroma hops.” Their alpha acid levels are of lesser concern for most brewers because generally they’re added at the end of the boil and don’t impart much bitterness. But that doesn’t mean high-alpha hops aren’t used frequently for aroma. A few of the most popular hop varieties for dry hopping intense IPAs also have some of the highest alpha acid levels. It makes sense: High levels of alpha acid often correspond to high levels of aromatic oils.
It may be tough to find or afford a particular hop from year to year as it waxes or wanes in popularity. Keep in mind that, as a homebrewer, you can take risks that some of the big breweries can’t. Popular hops may be the safe bet, but you easily can brew an IPA with an experimental new hop or an overlooked older hop and get great results. Why brew what everyone else is brewing? That said, certain aroma hops have stayed popular for years—or even centuries, in the case of the noble hops.
HOP FORMS
Whole Cone
Whole-cone hops, also known as leaf hops, are dried, unprocessed hop cones. Most craft brewers use pellets, but a few exclusively use whole-hop cones. Brewers who want to use whole hops often have a smaller selection of varieties to choose from compared to pellets. Whole hops also are more susceptible to degradation, so cold storage is essential. I wouldn’t purchase whole hops after August or September. At that point, wait for the new crop to come out, which usually happens in late October. Once you open a vacuum-sealed pack of whole-cone hops, store them in the freezer in double-layered freezer bags, with as much air squeezed out as possible. Use them within two to three months.
The whole-cone hops you buy at homebrew stores or online are dried by the processor before they’re packed and shipped. In other words, you’ll always be using dried hops. Wet hops are undried hops taken right off the bine. They must be used within hours of harvest. Unless you grow your own hops or have a local hop grower, you probably won’t have access to wet hops. You’ll see wet-hop beers in the fall (hop harvest season in America) from many craft brewers, however, and it’s a good idea to sample some of these to see how the wet hops taste compared to typical dried hops. Most people describe them as grassier, earthier, and lacking the fresh citrus aroma of dried hops. Nationwide, Sierra Nevada may be your best option. (They have a variety of harvest and wet-hop ales.) Rogue Ales also produces a few wet-hop beers every year, as do many smaller regional brewers.
Note: Whole hops sometimes are called “fresh hops” mistakenly—perhaps because a well-known company that supplies whole hops to homebrewers goes by that name. The term “fresh hop” has no agreed-upon definition, unlike wet hop.
PROS 
Some brewers feel that pelletizing hops damages the delicate oils and that whole hops have a better aroma. Whole hops also can form a filter bed in the bottom of the kettle, which can help remove break material.
CONS 
Unless stored in the freezer in appropriate packaging, whole hops degrade quickly. They lose bitterness and hop aroma potential and can take on a cheesy aroma much faster than their pellet counterparts.
Pellet
Pellet hops are the most common form of hops. They’re made when hop processors remove some of the leafy material from whole-cone hops, grind the remaining cone into a powder, and form it into pellets. The most common pellet is the T-90 pellet. The name T-90 indicates that 90 percent of the original hop is present in the pellet. Most of the hops you buy at your homebrew store are this variety. A less common pellet type is T-45, which contains only 45 percent of the original hop matter. This type of hop concentrates the oils and the bitter lupulin, therefore requiring fewer total ounces for the same effect. I have seen T-45 pellets used only once in my career: When Czech Saaz hops were down to 1.5 percent alpha acid, a local brewer of traditional pilsners switched to T-45 to limit the amount of hop residue in the kettle.
Once you open a vacuum-sealed pack, store pellet hops in a glass Mason jar in the freezer. If you minimize headspace—or even better, purge the headspace with CO2—they’ll keep fresh for about a year. Some hops are more susceptible to degradation than others, which is expressed as the Hop Stability Index (HSI). The HSI tells you how much of the alpha acids will degrade in six months at 60°F, which can range from 10–50 percent, depending on the variety. At freezing temperatures the loss drops significantly, however, which is why cold storage is so essential.
PROS Pellets stored properly (vacuum sealed) can last for years with minimal degradation. They take up much less room than whole hops and are available in a huge selection of varieties.
CONS Unless you put them in a fine-mesh bag, pellets can make it difficult to separate the hop residue from the wort in the kettle. Also, using pellets isn’t as much fun as throwing armloads of dried flowers into the kettle.
Extract
Hops extracts are used primarily by larger breweries. Until recently, craft brewers looked down on them. But the rise of double IPAs has made small brewers think twice about using hops extracts, because the benefit of not having to separate out a huge amount of hop residue from the wort in the kettle means more beer going to the fermentor, and more beer in the fermentor translates into more pints of beer per batch, which makes everyone happy. Homebrewers now have access to some extracts in homebrew-size containers. Usually they’re packaged in plastic syringes that allow a brewer to add a predetermined amount of bitterness into the kettle. The syringes don’t deliver the advertised bitterness, so you’ll need to add at least 25 percent more to get the desired bitterness. Hops extracts also can fix under-hopped beer. As long as the extract is isomerized, you can add it to taste to finished beer.
Note: Hop-oil extract, which gives hop aroma and taste but no bitterness to beer, isn’t recommended. Almost all varieties have a fake, perfumy character.
PROS Less vegetative material in the kettle means more beer in the fermentor.
CONS There’s little to no choice in variety of hops, so these extracts should be used for bittering only.
Hop Hash
A new product on the market, hop “hash” is the residue scraped off the hop-pelletizing machine. It used to be thrown away but now is in very high demand and can be difficult to source. Cryo Hops®, a similar product, is more of a sifted lupulin gland powder but should be treated in the same way. It can be used at the end of the boil or as a dry hop, although it can be hard to get into solution. When dry hashing, mixing the hash with 1 cup of vodka will help a lot.
PROS The aroma is intense and there’s less beer lost due to less vegetative material.
CONS It’s rare and difficult to work with as a dry hop; you may need to make a vodka solution.
HOP VARIETIES
Some hop varieties date back more than 100 years, whereas other varieties came straight from breeding programs in the last decade. On the following pages you’ll find a breakdown of some of the most commonly available hop varieties. There will always be new varieties, but most of these hops are well established and will be around for decades.
American Hops
Amarillo (6–9% alpha acid): Fantastic peach/apricot and tropical-fruit aromas make this a go-to hop for big, hoppy red ales or pale ales. It’s a hybrid of Cascade, so it plays well with that hop. For huge hop character, try the modern classic of 50 percent Amarillo and 50 percent Simcoe for dry hopping.
Apollo (15–19% alpha acid): Similar to Summit, this is a bittering monster, but the onion/garlic notes may turn off some brewers when it comes to late additions.
Azacca® (14–16% alpha acid): A dwarf hop with an intense tropical fruit and citrus character, this is a great dry hop by itself or as part of a blend.
Calypso (12–14% alpha acid): This hop has a unique aroma of pear, apple, and stone fruit. Nice in saisons and English IPAs.
Cascade (6–8% alpha acid): When the Sierra Nevada and Anchor breweries opened, the selection of hop varieties was limited. Both breweries started using this little-known varietal, and it’s now recognized as the classic hop for American pale ales and IPAs. (Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale still uses mostly Cascade for aroma.) Generally described as having a grapefruity and citrusy aroma and taste, it can have quite a bit of variation depending on where it grew. Cascade is great for dry hopping, but it’s more subdued than many of the newer varieties. One of the great things about Cascade is that, even when other popular aroma hops become scarce, there’s generally enough Cascade to go around.
Centennial (8–11% alpha acid): Often described as a super Cascade, Centennial is a very different hop, with a more refined fruity aroma and substantial floral notes. I’ve brewed pilsners with 100 percent Centennial hops that were wonderful. It’s also a great hop for IPAs (Bell’s Two Hearted Ale uses 100 percent Centennial.) You can use it when dry hopping, but it’s subtler than intense hops such as Citra, Simcoe, and Amarillo. Blend it with a couple of those to create a more balanced but still hoppy profile.
Chinook (11–13% alpha acid): This old-school high-alpha hop variety was once considered too dank and piney when dank and piney weren’t desirable. Now that many beer drinkers prefer intense hops, Chinook is quite popular. I love the resiny taste that comes through even when using it as a bittering hop. It’s perfect for many dark ales and a great secret weapon in a dry-hop blend.
Citra (10–13% alpha acid): This hop is a personal favorite and very popular with many craft brewers. It oozes mango, papaya, and other tropical-fruit aromas and tastes. It’s hugely popular with commercial brewers. In a short time, it’s become indispensable in IPAs and imperial IPAs. It’s also great for dry hopping, because it comes through strong. It can be overpowering and cloying by itself, but it plays well with other American hops.
Cluster (6–8% alpha acid): Never embraced by homebrewers, Cluster deserves a mention. For many decades, it was the hop used in America by almost all the large breweries. It has the taste of vintage American lager and is worthy of experimentation in your light lagers. Not recommended for dry hopping.
Comet (9.5–12.5% alpha acid): This love-it-or-hate-it hop has heavy resin and grapefruit character with a distinct wild American hop aroma.
Columbus (11–18% alpha acid): Generally called Columbus, this hop also grows under the names Tomahawk and Zeus, so brewers sometimes refer to it as CTZ. No matter what name it goes by, it’s the same hop grown by different companies. Perhaps because so many places grow it, it tends to have a lot of variation from year to year—and even farmer to farmer. In general, it has a fruity, minty, almost perfume-like intensity that you can smell from across the room. Many commercial breweries use it for its high alphas and aroma. Many also use it for dry hopping but usually blended with other hops.
El Dorado (14–17% alpha acid): Another heavy hitter with high alpha acid that’s a little more delicate with melon and mango aromas. Not an IPA hop. Use this in blond ales, wheat beers, and unique Belgian blondes.
Equinox®/Ekuanot™ (14–15% alpha acid): A new hop that boasts lemon or lime peel combined with an unusual green bell pepper note. It’s having a bit of a naming problem at the moment, so time will tell its final name.
Falconer’s Flight® (9.5–12% alpha acid): One of a few new proprietary hop blends, this one focuses on floral, citrus, and tropical fruit.
Falconer’s Flight 7 C’s® (9–10.5% alpha acid): This proprietary hop blend focuses on earthy, citrusy, and spicy notes.
Horizon (12–16% alpha acid): A clean-tasting hop that’s great for bittering additions due to its high alpha acid percentage, Horizon is fairly neutral in taste, making it a hop you can use for most styles. It isn’t used much for aroma or dry hopping, but it does have good levels of oils.
Mosaic® (11.5–13.5% alpha acid): A very popular new aroma hop with big berry and ripe mango notes that blends amazingly well with other hops or shines on its own. If you’re growing bored of the usual citrus/pine hops, give Mosaic a try in your next IPA.
Northern Brewer (7–9% alpha acid): This hop probably would have disappeared long ago if not for Anchor Brewing’s Steam Beer, which uses it exclusively. It has a distinct woody, earthy aroma and taste, which makes it a nice hop to blend with citrusy or piney hops. I wouldn’t dry hop with it on its own, but it could work in a blend with some Amarillo and Centennial.
Sorachi Ace (10–16% alpha acid): Originally cultivated in Japan, this hop now grows in America. Although marketed as being very lemony, it also can impart an intense dill character. Some companies now use the words “herbal” or “dill” as descriptors for Sorachi Ace. Use a small amount and blend it with other hops unless you’re working on something like a cucumber saison.
Simcoe (12–14% alpha acid): This hop made it cool to like dank, funky hops. A lot of breweries even brew 100 percent Simcoe beers to showcase its intense aroma and taste. Notorious for variations between crops, some Simcoe harvests have a distinct cat-pee smell, while others have glorious pine and citrus notes. Still others have hints of onion and garlic. If you come across a batch of Simcoe that you love, splurge on a pound or more. Simcoe is almost essential in modern West Coast IPAs and imperial IPAs. If you like huge hop aroma, then try dry hopping with a few ounces of straight Simcoe.
WHAT IS DANK?
Originally a term for high-grade marijuana, “dank” has been adopted by brewers to denote an extremely pungent, oily hop variety. These hops usually have strong pine, herbal, and tropical-fruit characteristics, though some veer into onion and garlic territory. They are de rigueur in West Coast IPAs, imperial IPAs, and double red ales. Thus, many of them have become expensive (and rare) for homebrewers and commercial brewers alike.
The dankest hop varieties usually are high-Alpha varieties with high oil levels. Citra, Simcoe, Summit, and Columbus are the usual suspects, but brewers often finesse the hop aroma by combining a dank hop with a more refined variety such as Cascade, Centennial, or Amarillo.
Summit (17–19% alpha acid): This hop is about as bitter as a hop can get, so it makes an economical bittering hop. Some brewers like its pungent character, but it’s too much for me—although in a dry-hop blend it can add some complexity.
Zythos® (10–12.5% alpha acid): This proprietary hop blend aims for a citrus and tropical-fruit character.
British Hops
British hops are all about subtle differences in flavor. Unlike Citra’s big tropical fruit and Simcoe’s dank citrus and pine, there’s not as much over-the-top aroma to coax from these British hops, but it’s still worthwhile to experiment and go down the path of creating some classic British Ales. See page 84 for a recipe that goes overboard with British hops.
Challenger (6–9% alpha acid): This is a popular hop among commercial British brewers for both bittering and aroma. It has a light, fruity scent that’s great in bitters and British IPAs. It has a minimal dry-hop contribution.
East Kent Goldings, a.k.a. EKG (5–5.5% alpha acid): This is the most traditional hop for classic British ales, with more of a fruity, berrylike aroma and taste compared to Fuggle, especially in the pelletized versions. This character comes through in dry hopping, though it’s not as strong as American hops. Occasionally you can find a variety called Whitbread Goldings, which isn’t a true Goldings and isn’t as refined as EKG. In addition, you’ll often find Styrian Goldings, which isn’t a true Goldings either but is actually a Fuggle from Slovenia. Belgian brewers love Styrian Goldings.
Fuggle (4–4.5% alpha acid): A classic British ale hop that has a woody, fruity (dried apricot) aroma and taste with hints of pipe tobacco. Fuggle is a personal favorite in any traditional British bitter or pale ale. It has a minimal dry-hop contribution.
Northdown (7–9% alpha acid): This hop can be used for both bittering and aroma in the kettle. It derives from Northern Brewer and has a hint of the minty, woody character that Northern Brewer is known for. It’s especially good in darker ales. Not recommended for dry hopping.
Target (9–12% alpha acid): Target is ideal for bittering any British ale. It has a firm bitterness and blends perfectly with Fuggle or Goldings later in the boil. Not recommended for dry hopping.
German and Czech Hops
Four hops have the designation of noble hops: Hallertau, Saaz, Spalt, and Tettnang. These are the traditional hops used in lager brewing. They’re characterized by a low alpha acid percentage and low levels of cohumulone. Noble hops are admired for their smooth bitterness and delicate aromas. They should be your go-to hops for any classic European lager. Some exciting new hybrids crossbreed traditional noble hops with American Cascade hops with interesting results. I usually don’t recommend dry hopping with noble hops, but these new hybrids can work well with subtle dry hopping.
Hallertau (2.5–4.5% alpha acid): This classic German lager hop has an aroma of fresh straw and sometimes a hint of chamomile. The name Hallertau refers to the growing region, so you may see names such as Hallertauer Mittlefrau, Hallertauer Hersbrucker, and even Hallertauer Hallertau. Some subtle differences exist among the varieties, but they all can be substituted for one another in a recipe. American Hallertau, however, isn’t an appropriate substitute for the real (German) deal!
Hallertau Blanc (9–12% alpha acid): One of the most popular of the new German hybrids, this one pairs a hefty bittering potential with the aroma of white grapes, citrus, and lemongrass.
Huell Melon (6.5–7.5% alpha acid): Another of the new German hybrids that has notes of strawberry and honeydew melon.
Magnum (13–16% alpha acid): Another non-noble hop, Magnum has become the bittering hop of choice for many brewers on both sides of the Atlantic. It has a clean, smooth bitterness, and its high alpha percentage means less hop material in the kettle (and less money per batch) compared to noble hops.
Mandarina Bavaria (8–10% alpha acid): One of three new German hybrids bringing New World character into traditional hops, Mandarina has tangerine and orange notes emphasized by dry hopping.
Perle (7–9% alpha acid): This isn’t a noble hop, but it’s used widely for bittering, even in famous ales such as Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
Saaz (3–4.5% alpha acid): Saaz is the classic Czech (Bohemian) lager hop. It has a delicate, fruity aroma and taste. It also has a smooth bitterness. It’s essential for Bohemian pilsners, such as the classic Pilsner Urquell. American-grown Saaz isn’t a good substitute, although American Sterling is—especially if you’re making an aggressive pilsner.
Spalt (4–5.5% alpha acid): This is a good all-purpose hop. It isn’t used as widely as other German hops, however, and can be harder to find. It’s the classic hop for brewing Düsseldorf Alt beers.
Tettnang (3.5–5.5% alpha acid): This is a popular all-purpose hop for any German beer. Its spicy, floral notes make for a unique pilsner, but it’s also fantastic in wheat beers or a Munich Helles.
Other Hops
Australian and New Zealand Hops
Hops from down under are finding their way into more and more North American breweries. Many have unique aromas and tastes that people really enjoy. These haven’t been used widely due to a lack of consistent supply, but some small and midsize breweries do use them. Galaxy and Nelson Sauvin™ in particular have stood out in recent years. The former brings intense citrus and passion-fruit taste, while the latter also is fruity but with some white-wine notes. Pride of Ringwood is an old-school Australian hop with none of the funk or flavor of new varieties. Its earthy aroma and taste are polarizing and likely best avoided.
Galaxy (12–16% alpha acid): One of the most coveted new hops, this Australian beast is oily and sticky with an aroma of pine, citrus, cannabis, and ripe tropical fruit. Fantastic as a dry hop, especially in funky Brett beers.
Kowatu™ (6–7% alpha acid): One of my favorites of the New Zealand hops, this has loads of tropical fruit combined with a bright pine note. Great for dry hopping.
Motueka™ (6.5–7.5% alpha acid): One of the mellower New Zealand hops with light citrus and tropical fruit aromas. Best used in lighter beers to let the hop shine.
Nelson Sauvin (12–13% alpha acid): Named after the Sauvignon Blanc grape, this variety is one of the most sought New Zealand hops in the craft beer scene. Big aromas of white grape, lychee, and mango leap from the glass. Great for dry hopping.
Rakau™ (6–10% alpha acid): This fairly restrained New Zealand variety has aromas of stone fruit (peaches and apricots) and is best used in light beer styles that let the hop shine.
Riwaka™ (4–6% alpha acid): Descended from Saaz hops, this New Zealand variety has a big juicy aroma of kumquats and citrus.
Vic Secret™ (14–17% alpha acid): A juicy, tropical aroma makes this Australian hop a great choice for dry hopping modern IPAs.
Wai-iti™ (2.5–3.5% alpha acid): This delicate, low-alpha variety features notes of lime zest and peach.
Waimea™ (16–19% alpha acid): Maybe my favorite New Zealand variety, this one pairs a monster level of alpha acid and oil with a huge tropical-fruit and pine aroma. Great for dry hopping.
Wakatu™ (6.5-8.5% alpha acid): This new Zealand varietal has pleasant floral and lime zest aromas.
European Transplants
Examples include Crystal, Liberty, Santiam, Sterling, Ultra, and Willamette
This handful of hops was bred to emulate European hops. Do they smell and taste exactly like European hops? Not really, but they’re all interesting with pretty low alphas (3–5 percent). If you’re trying to reproduce a traditional European beer style, don’t use these. If you’re looking for a unique take on a style or an accent hop to blend with another American hop, give them a shot.
Less-Hyped American Hops
Just because a hop isn’t highly sought doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying. Simcoe was around for years, and hardly anyone used it! By the time it became a brewers’ favorite, it almost had disappeared. Many breweries use lesser-known hops as secret weapons. Examples include Crystal, Glacier, Mount Hood, and Newport. They may serve as midboil additions, where they act as a nice flavor hop without using precious hops such as Simcoe and Amarillo. Or breweries may craft a dry-hop blend that uses some of the bigger names but balances them with other hops. Whether you want to see what they bring to a beer with a SMaSH recipe (page 42) or just experiment on the fly, you won’t have your own secret-weapon hops until you experiment with lesser-known varieties. Try checking the websites of your favorite breweries if you want to decode some of the hops you smell and taste in their beers. You might find one you like.
Hop Blends
Some hops are blends created by hop distributors. Examples include C-Type Blend, Falconer’s Flight, and Falconer’s Flight Seven C’s. They’re formulated specifically to be, for example, a citrusy blend or a tropical-fruit blend and often include unnamed, experimental varieties. Hop blends will be similar from year to year but are never exactly the same. Also, if a blend becomes unpopular or if demand for it declines, it could cease to exist a lot faster than an established hop.
1868 EAST INDIA PALE ALE
That isn’t a typo below: You add about 13 ounces of Fuggle hops at the start of the boil! Then you dry hop with an additional 2½ ounces of Fuggle. Buying hops by the pound is much cheaper and, for this recipe, a no-brainer. This recipe calculates out at 172 IBUs, but it produces a crisp, resiny, golden-colored ale with immense complexity. My tastebuds tell me it’s around 85 to 95 IBUs.
YOU NEED
basic brewing equipment (page 3)
12½ gallons filtered brewing water (page 12)
17 pounds Maris Otter pale-ale malt (100%)
59 alpha acid units Fuggle hops at 90 minutes (172 IBU, calculated)
2½ ounces Fuggle hops (dry hop)
fine-mesh strainer
1 Whirlfloc tablet
2 packages London Ale III WY1318 yeast (or a 2-liter starter made from 1 pack, page 110)
3¾ ounces dextrose/corn sugar (optional, use only for bottling)
TARGETS
Yield: 5 gallons
OG: 1.067–1.069
FG: 1.012
IBU: 172 (calculated)
Note: This is a 6½-gallon batch, which allows for 5 gallons of finished beer after hop absorption in the kettle and fermentor.
1. Mix the malt with 6 gallons of water at 165°F or the appropriate temperature to mash at 150°F. Mash for 60 minutes.
2. Recirculate the wort until it’s fairly clear. Run off the wort into the kettle.
3. Sparge with 6½ more gallons of water at 165°F. Run off the wort into the kettle.
4. Bring the wort to a boil and add the hops. Don’t be afraid—do it! After 60 minutes, use a fine-mesh strainer to remove as much hop material as possible. Keep running the strainer through the wort and disposing of the collected hop residue. At the end, you’ll have a pile of spent hops the size of a bowling ball.
5. Once you’re finished, add the Whirlfloc tablet and continue to boil for 20 minutes. Put your wort chiller into the wort at least 15 minutes before the end of the boil.
6. When the boil finishes, cover the pot with a lid or a new trash bag and chill to 68°F. Siphon the wort into your sanitized fermentor and pitch two packs of liquid yeast or a 2-liter starter.
7. Ferment at 68°F for one week, then let it warm to 70°F for the second week. Add the dry hops when fermentation slows down (usually after five to seven days).
8. Keg or bottle the beer. (If you’re bottling, I recommend 3¾ ounces of dextrose/corn sugar for this beer.)
HOPPING TECHNIQUES
TRADITIONAL HOPPING
Homebrewers originally emulated the basic hop schedule of many commercial breweries. It goes like this: Add the amount of hops you need to get the bitterness you want at the start of the boil, add a small amount of hops 20 minutes before the end of the boil for hop flavor, and throw in another small addition at the end of the boil for hop aroma. This strategy can make fine beer. But it doesn’t quite emulate commercial breweries thanks to the whirlpool rest that commercial breweries perform. (See “Hop Bursting,” page 88).
MASH HOPPING
I remember when the idea of adding hops with the grain was introduced to the homebrew community. I didn’t understand how hops could contribute bitterness if they never got above 160°F. So I did an experiment where I added 6 ounces of Cascade hop pellets into a simple mash of pale malt. No other hops were added throughout the boil. While I wish I could say I was blown away, the resulting beer had no notable bitterness or aroma (as expected). The mash temperature was too low to isomerize the alpha acids in the hops. The exception would be in a decoction mash, where you bring the grain and the hops to a boil. Old German brewing texts refer to this technique as “hop roasting.”
FIRST-WORT HOPPING
Homebrewers jumped on this technique after reading about it in a German technical publication. First-wort hopping (FWH) involves adding your hops to the wort as you start to collect it in the kettle. The hops soak into the wort until you collect the total amount and bring it to a boil. Then you continue the boil as usual. The original publication stated that professional tasters preferred a beer brewed using FWH (as opposed to adding the hops after the wort had already come to a boil) and claimed that it gave the beer a smoother bitterness. It didn’t take homebrewers long to assert that it gave great hop aroma as well! Most modern brewing software calculates the bitterness addition of first-wort hops as similar to that of a 20-minute addition. In practice, I didn’t find that to be true. See the experiment at right.
FIRST-WORT HOPPING EXPERIMENT
For this experiment, I brewed two batches of a typical pale ale. To the first batch, I added 40 IBUs’ worth of hops at the start of the boil. To the second batch, I added the same amount of hops at first wort. No other hops or mineral additions were made. According to those who claim the first-wort hopping would give the bitterness only of a 20-minute addition, my IBUs should total 24.
Lab analysis showed however that the first wort-hopped beer had 39 IBUs (reassuringly close to the target of 40), while the traditionally hopped beer had 38 IBUs—close enough to assume that the same amount of IBUs exists in both first-wort and traditionally hopped beers.
A blind tasting panel of BJCP judges had difficulty finding much difference between the two samples, but they slightly preferred the traditionally hopped beer over the first-wort hopped beer. They described the traditional beer as being less harsh and having a bit more hop character.
The takeaway from this experiment is that you should calculate first wort-hops not as a 20-minute addition but as a start-of-the-boil addition. Any dreams of a great hop aroma from FWH are probably still just dreams.
HOP BURSTING (WHIRLPOOL HOPPING)
When commercial breweries turn the heat off on the kettle, they do what’s called a “whirlpool rest.” Usually the wort stays in the kettle, but some breweries have a separate whirlpool tank. Either way, a pump gets the wort spinning, which usually takes 10 to 15 minutes. Then the pump is shut off, and the brewer waits another 15 minutes for the wort to stop spinning. This process deposits most of the hop residue and break material in the center of the tank, so the wort that runs into the fermentor is clearer than it would have been without the whirlpool. The wort then goes through a heat exchanger (wort chiller), which can take another 60 minutes.
These extra steps mean that the hops that a commercial brewer adds at knockout (when the heat is turned off) are sitting in near-boiling wort for at least 30 minutes and up to 90 minutes. Even though the wort isn’t boiling vigorously, it’s still hot enough to extract bitterness and aromatic oils from the hops. This can wreak havoc if you’re trying to calculate hop bitterness in a homebrew recipe. Normally end-of-the-boil additions don’t add any bitterness, but a hop addition sitting near boiling for 45 minutes can provide significant bitterness.
Knowing this, homebrewers started experimenting by adding more and more hops at the end of the boil and letting it sit hot for 30 to 60 minutes. The prevailing wisdom (and my own experience) shows that you’ll get around a third to a half of the bitterness that you’d get with a start-of-the-boil addition. So if you normally add 1 ounce of a 15 percent alpha acid hop for bittering an IPA, you want to add 2 to 3 ounces of the same 15 percent alpha acid hop at the end of the boil and then wait 45 minutes before starting to chill. This should get you the same level of bitterness but with retaining more of those volatile hop oils that normally boil off.
The technique of adding most or all of the hops at the end of the boil is called “hop bursting” or a “hop stand.” The goal is big hop aroma and taste with a rounded bitterness. (See the Hop-Bursting Pale Ale recipe, page 92, for an example.) Of course, you also can combine hop bursting with a small bittering addition.
DRY HOPPING
Tossing an ounce or two of hops into a beer near the end of fermentation and letting them sit in there for a few days will give you a bright, fresh hop aroma. This process is known as dry hopping.
In the past, British brewers were the main proponents of dry hopping. They added a few handfuls of hops into a cask before bunging it up. But over the last decade, homebrewers and commercial brewers in America have been pushing the envelope of hop aroma, experimenting with any technique that will provide something more intense. This ongoing quest has produced a wealth of variations on dry hopping for maximizing aroma and flavor.
Basic Dry Hopping
After the primary fermentation has finished (five to seven days), throw anywhere from ½ to 6 ounces of hops (preferably pellets) into the beer. Allow it to sit at room temperature for three to seven days to absorb the aromatic hop oils. Some brewers think a shorter time results in better aroma; others think a longer time is key to more hop character. I like three to five days of dry hopping, and you can see why on the next page. If you can chill the fermentor before transferring the beer to a keg or bottling bucket, the pellet residue will settle to the bottom of the fermentor (especially if you use a fining such as gelatin, page 123).
Note: When you’re brewing an imperial IPA or other big beers that need three to four weeks of aging to mellow the alcohol, it’s best to add dry hops after three weeks of aging in order to retain the most aroma.
Dry Hopping Warm vs. Cold
In the past, homebrewers preferred to cool their beer after fermentation and then dry hop, mainly to emulate what commercial breweries were doing. At a commercial brewery, once beer has finished fermentation, it’s usually given an additional day or two to allow the yeast to “clean up” any fermentation off-flavors. It’s then crashed to 32°F to flocculate the yeast cells (force them to sink to the bottom) and to form chill haze, which then will be filtered out.
But there’s a drawback to dry hopping after the beer has been crashed. Hop oils don’t absorb nearly as well into solution as they do at fermentation temperatures. The Catch-22 is that, until you crash the beer, the yeast takes much longer to settle out. So brewers had a conundrum: Dry hop warm with the yeast in solution and get better oil extraction, or dry hop cold so the hop oils aren’t affected by the yeast. The consensus these days is that dry hopping warm yields the best results, even though yeast will drag some of the hop oils out of solution.
HOP BIOTRANSFORMATION
On the cutting edge of hop aroma research is a new technique called “hop biotransformation.” In layman’s terms, yeast is interacting with the hop compounds and turning them into something else. Instead of the traditional method of dry hopping, in which fermentation ends and most of the yeast has dropped out, this new technique advocates dry hopping in the middle of fermentation to have the hops and yeast interact. This method is very popular with brewers of the new NE IPA style.
I haven’t experimented with this new technique enough to say much about it, but it looks promising as a way to create new aromas from hops. If you belong to a homebrew club, consider having two brewers brew the same beer with the same hops but using the different dry-hop techniques. Then have a blind tasting.
Some commercial breweries now go through the trouble of crashing the beer for a day or two to flocculate the yeast, then letting the beer warm back up to fermentation temperatures to dry hop. This works best when the fermentation vessel allows for the removal of yeast from the bottom (such as a conical fermentor). In practice, the slightly higher utilization rate probably won’t make a huge difference in a 5-gallon batch. Homebrewers, who as a rule are less concerned about the bottom line, can add a pinch more hops to achieve a similar effect.
Dry Hop Contact Time
If you ask 10 brewers how long you should dry hop, you’ll probably get 10 different answers. Even among pros known for their hoppy beers, the contact time frequently ranges from 3 days to 14. To get some data on different contact times, I split a batch into four kegs and dry hopped each for a different length of time. The goal was to find out if there was a sweet spot where waiting any longer didn’t add more aroma.
Recipe and Process
I brewed the Malverde IPA found on page 96. After fermentation, I crashed the beer to 40°F overnight to settle the yeast, then split the clear beer into four CO2-purged kegs and allowed them to warm back up to 65°F. Over the next two weeks, I added hops to each keg. These were the pellet hops for each 3-gallon batch: ⅔ ounce Simcoe, ⅔ ounce Columbus, ⅔ ounce Centennial, and ⅔ ounce Citra.
Keg 1 was dry hopped for 14 days total.
Keg 2 was dry hopped for 7 days total.
Keg 3 was dry hopped for 5 days total.
Keg 4 was dry hopped for 3 days total.
At the end of 14 days, all beers were crashed, transferred into fresh CO2-purged kegs, and carbonated. The beers then were tasted blind by BJCP judges and fellow brewers in random orders. The results were clear: The vast majority of tasters thought that the beer dry hopped for 3 days had the hoppiest aroma. Several also liked the beer dry hopped for 5 and 7 days, which they thought had a bit more hop taste than the 3-day dry hop. (Almost all tasters thought that the 5- and 7-day beers were identical.) Last and perhaps most importantly, nearly every taster thought that the 14-day batch had the least appealing hop aroma and taste. The take-home lesson here is that at 3 days you have absorbed most of the aromatic oils from the hops that produce aroma (at least when using pellets).
Multiple Rounds of Dry Hopping
Not satisfied with a single addition of dry hops, some hop-crazed brewers use a staggered approach. They start by adding some dry hops during the last day of active fermentation. After waiting around 3 days, they add another dose of hops. Then, after an additional 3 days, they add even more dry hops. The logic behind this method is that different components of hops are extracted depending on how much yeast is in solution. The brewers are hedging their bets by staggering the hops throughout the clarification process.
Dry Hopping in the Keg
Adding hops into a clear, finished beer as it’s being kegged is the traditional approach for British cask beer. The benefit to this late hop addition is that the hop aroma is trapped in the keg—and there’s little yeast to inhibit hop oils from staying in solution. One downside is trying to contain the hops. Putting pellets in a nylon bag results in minimal surface contact, and leaving any form of hop loose in a keg will inevitably clog up the works. Using whole hops loosely packed into muslin bags works well, but keep in mind that the hop character will be constantly changing over the weeks that you’re consuming the beer. Some homebrewers caution that the beer may take on a grassy flavor if the hops are left in for too long, but I haven’t found that to be the case.
HOP-BURSTING PALE ALE
This beer has a clean, simple malt bill that lets the hop bursting take center stage (page 84). To emulate the brewery whirlpool effect, after you add all the hops at the end of the boil, let them sit for 45 minutes before chilling. That way, the hops will isomerize slowly while the aromatic oils are extracting. Pinpointing the IBU level you’ll get from adding the hops this way can prove difficult. Brewing calculators say 0, but my experience says that it should be around 40 to 60 IBUs.
YOU NEED
basic brewing equipment (page 3)
9 gallons filtered brewing water (page 12)
10 pounds North American 2-row malt (90.9%)
1 pound medium crystal malt (40°L) (9.1%)
1 Whirlfloc tablet
24 alpha acid units Chinook hops at 0 minutes
24 alpha acid units Citra hops at 0 minutes
15 alpha acid units Columbus hops at 0 minutes
2 vials or packages California Ale WLP001/American Ale WY1056 yeast (or a 2-liter starter made from 1 pack, page 110)
3¾ ounces dextrose/corn sugar (optional, use only for bottling)
TARGETS
Yield: 5 gallons
OG: 1.055–1.057
FG: 1.012
IBU: likely 40–60
1. Mix the malt with 4 gallons of water at 165°F or the appropriate temperature to mash at 150°F. Mash for 60 minutes.
2. Recirculate the wort until it’s fairly clear. Run off the wort into the kettle.
3. Sparge with 5 more gallons of water at 165°F. Run off the wort into the kettle.
4. Bring the wort to a boil. Boil it for 75 minutes. Add the Whirlfloc tablet at 30 minutes. Put your wort chiller into the wort at least 15 minutes before the end of the boil. When the boil finishes, turn off the heat and add all the hops, but don’t start to chill the wort yet. Cover the pot with a lid or a clean trash bag and wait 45 minutes. Then chill to 65°F.
5. Siphon the wort into your sanitized fermentor and pitch two packs of liquid yeast or a 2-liter starter.
6. Ferment at 65°F for one week, then let it warm to 68–70°F for the second week.
7. Keg or bottle the beer. (If you’re bottling, I recommend 3¾ ounces of dextrose/corn sugar for this beer.)
NE JUICY IPA
It’s rare for a style to appear almost from nowhere and take the beer world by storm, but that’s exactly what has happened with NE (New England or Northeast) IPAs. What makes them different from a typical West Coast IPA? One glance will tell you that it even looks different. These new IPAs embrace and even strive for a strong haze that sometimes borders on murky. The huge aroma focuses on citrus and tropical-juice character. The bitterness tastes more subdued than that of its West Coast sibling, and it has a much fuller body. Some breweries even add lactose to sweeten the beer to add to the “juice” aspect.
YOU NEED
basic brewing equipment (page 3)
12½ gallons filtered brewing water (page 12)
14 pounds English pale ale malt
4 pounds flaked oats
14 alpha acid units Columbus hops at 60 minutes (38 IBUs)
8 ounces Citra, Galaxy, Waimea, or Nelson Sauvin hops (end of boil)
2 packages London Ale WY1028 or WLP013 yeast (or a 2-liter starter made from 1 pack, page 110)
8 ounces Citra, Galaxy, Waimea, or Nelson Sauvin hops (dry hop)
4.4 ounces dextrose or corn sugar (optional, use only for bottling)
TARGETS
Yield: 5 gallons
OG: 1.066–1.070
FG: 1.014
IBU: 40–50
Note: This is a 6½ gallon batch, which allows for 5 gallons of finished beer after hop absorption in the kettle and fermenter. This beer is all about freshness and should be consumed within a few weeks of packaging. Kegging is recommended if possible. Also, if adjusting your mineral content, use the Malt-Forward Water Profile (page 59).
1. Mix the malt with 6 gallons of water at 165°F or the appropriate temperature to mash at 150°F. Mash for 60 minutes.
2. Recirculate the wort until it’s fairly clear. Run off the wort into the kettle.
3. Sparge with 6½ more gallons of water at 165°F. Run off the wort into the kettle.
4. Bring the wort to a boil and add the hops. Put your wort chiller into the wort at least 15 minutes before the end of the boil.
5. When the boil finishes, cover the pot with a lid or a new trash bag and add the 8 ounces of whirlpool/knockout hops. Let sit for 5 minutes.
6. Chill to 68°F. Siphon the wort into your sanitized fermenter. Don’t worry about leaving hop residue behind; there’s going to be a lot.
7. Pitch two packs of liquid yeast or a 2-liter starter.
8. Ferment at 68°F for one week, then let it warm to 70°F for the second week. Add the dry hops when fermentation slows down (usually after five to seven days.) For maximum haze, don’t fine with gelatin. Cold crash it overnight to drop the hops out.
9. Keg or bottle the beer. (If you’re bottling, I recommend 4.4 ounces of dextrose/corn sugar for this beer.)
IPA THREE WAYS
I love, love, love IPAs. New England, West Coast, Burton-on-Trent, black, white—I love them all. A lot of variations exist among IPAs in terms of color and malt profile, but the basic recipe for all of them is about the same: an OG of 1.062–1.067 and an IBU of 60–70, not too heavy on the crystal malt. Brewing a good IPA isn’t rocket science, but making a perfect one is a never-ending quest. After more than 100 attempts, I’ve found that the recipe below is pretty close to perfect (for me, and for now). It includes several variations if you want to get into black or white IPAs.
MALVERDE IPA
YOU NEED
basic brewing equipment (page 3)
12 gallons filtered brewing water (page 12)
16 pounds North American 2-row malt (94%)
1 pound German melanoidin malt (6%)
22 alpha acid units Columbus hops at 75 minutes (61.9 IBU)
1 Whirlfloc tablet
5.5 alpha acid units Centennial hops at 15 minutes (5.8 IBU)
6 alpha acid units Simcoe hops at 5 minutes (3 IBU)
½ ounce each Simcoe, Citra, and Centennial hops at end of boil
1 ounce each Simcoe, Columbus, Citra, and Chinook hops (dry hop)
2 vials or packages California Ale WLP001/American Ale WY1056 yeast (or a 2-liter starter made from 1 pack; page 110)
3¾ ounces dextrose/corn sugar (optional, use only for bottling)
TARGETS
Yield: 5 gallons
OG: 1.064–1.068
FG: 1.011
IBU: 70
Note: The recipe is for 6½ gallons. You’ll have a lot of hop residue in the kettle, and you want to get at least 5½ gallons of finished wort going into the fermentor. Once you dry hop with 4 ounces of hops, you’re going to lose another ½ gallon of beer.
1. Mix the malt with 5½ gallons of water at 165°F, or the appropriate temperature to mash at 150°F. Mash for 60 minutes.
2. Recirculate the wort until it’s fairly clear. Run off the wort into the kettle.
3. Sparge with 6½ more gallons of water at 165°F. Run off the wort into the kettle.
4. Bring the wort to a boil, add the first addition of hops, and boil for 75 minutes. Add the Whirlfloc tablet with 30 minutes left in the boil. Put your wort chiller into the wort at least 15 minutes before the end of the boil. Add the hop additions as listed at left.
5. When the boil finishes, cover the pot with a lid or a new trash bag and chill to 65°F. Siphon the wort into your sanitized fermentor and pitch two packs of liquid yeast or a 2-liter starter.
6. Ferment at 65°F for one week. Let it warm up to 68–70°F during the second week, adding the dry hops after primary fermentation slows down (usually after five to seven days).
7. Keg or bottle the beer. (If you’re bottling, I recommend 3¾ ounces of dextrose/corn sugar for this beer.)
VARIATIONS
Black IPA: Substitute 1 pound of German Carafa III, Briess Black Prinz, or Midnight Wheat malt for 1 pound of the 2-row malt. Everything else stays the same.
White IPA: Change the grain bill so that half of the 2-row is wheat malt. Eliminate the melanoidin malt and add ½ pound of rice hulls. Everything else stays the same.
