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Author Topic: Belma Hops?!?!?  (Read 21666 times)

Offline markaberrant

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Re: Belma Hops?!?!?
« Reply #15 on: November 05, 2012, 01:30:08 pm »
It's extremely mild and soft.  Sure it is pleasant, but 1oz in a 4% pale ale contributed virtually zilch.

Offline mybeerpants

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Re: Belma Hops?!?!?
« Reply #16 on: November 08, 2012, 01:40:56 pm »
I ordered a pound of Belma pellets (along with 3 others  :P ) yesterday and plan to make an all Belma IPA in the near future. Belmapocalypse IPATM here I come!
So little to say and so much time.
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Offline hoser

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Re: Belma Hops?!?!?
« Reply #17 on: November 08, 2012, 02:35:52 pm »
Had a very light pale ale (4%) sitting on an ounce of Belma since last Friday, so 5 days.  Took a sample, fairly disappointing... especially compared to the other kegs I had also just dry hopped (2 other 4% pale ales, 1 with US Goldings, the other with Citra). 

Pretty much duplicated my observations when smelling all 3 packages of hops last week, the Belma was by far the mildest and least interesting.

I have noted this as well.  Compared to other high alpha aromatic hops, this one is VERY subdued.  I will say, however, the flavor is pleasant and inviting despite being mild.

Did a low gravity Northern Brewer LME MO blonde with 1/4oz at 20min, 1/2oz at 10min, 2oz in hop rocket and 1oz. dry hop.  The beer is pleasant and well balanced.  The SO likes it, so that is a win.  As mentioned, mild strawberry and melon flavors.  Citrus/crisp when cold, but seems to fades as it warms.  Low levels of grassy notes.  I think it would definitely be a good compliment to a strawberry wheat or blonde, but other hops would be better used in a hop forward beer like APA or IPA....

Offline 1vertical

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Re: Belma Hops?!?!?
« Reply #18 on: November 11, 2012, 03:25:10 pm »
I got my (pound) in this last week...How did they cram that much greenry
into that mylar...man this was what i would call a LONG pound.
Thank-you Hops Direct! Thank you forum members for the information and insight!

Brew day forthcoming  just not sure when...better get busy cause the world
is going to end next month!
A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.

Offline alcaponejunior

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Re: Belma Hops?!?!?
« Reply #19 on: November 12, 2012, 10:14:34 am »
I ordered a pound of Belma pellets (along with 3 others  :P ) yesterday and plan to make an all Belma IPA in the near future. Belmapocalypse IPATM here I come!

I was thinking about the same thing, an all Belma IPA.  That name is great! 

But then as 1vertical said...

Quote
better get busy cause the world is going to end next month!

How many end of the world IPAs are going to be brewed this month? 

And should I take the hops schedule I was going to use and just double it?  ::)

Offline nateo

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Re: Belma Hops?!?!?
« Reply #20 on: November 12, 2012, 10:24:33 am »
Why does anyone take the Mayan end of the world seriously, when the end of their world came 520 years earlier than they expected. That's not a stellar record (pun intended).
In der Kürze liegt die Würze.

Offline 1vertical

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Re: Belma Hops?!?!?
« Reply #21 on: November 12, 2012, 10:29:01 am »
Speaking for myself, No I do not take that date as having any credence
to the end of days.  But for those that do (i actually know someone who
does) you better get brewing!

I was going to do an all Belma Hop Brew.  Thinking several additions with
a full ounce going in for the entire boil including FWH.  Based upon style,
O.G. target, and not a huge hop presence. Prolly aim for 35-45 IBU.
I have some safeale 189 and some nice light pils malt....(thanx bb)
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Offline morticaixavier

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Re: Belma Hops?!?!?
« Reply #22 on: November 12, 2012, 10:37:18 am »
Why does anyone take the Mayan end of the world seriously, when the end of their world came 520 years earlier than they expected. That's not a stellar record (pun intended).

there are an awful lot of mayans out there who would beg to differ. The end of the empire may have happened 520 years ago but the culture persists today. that being said, alot of mayans think the obession with the mayan end of the world is pretty silly to.
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Offline alcaponejunior

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Re: Belma Hops?!?!?
« Reply #23 on: November 12, 2012, 10:44:47 am »
I take the end of the world seriously (as a serious excuse to have a party, that is). ::D

Offline nateo

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Re: Belma Hops?!?!?
« Reply #24 on: November 12, 2012, 10:48:31 am »
there are an awful lot of mayans out there who would beg to differ. The end of the empire may have happened 520 years ago but the culture persists today. that being said, alot of mayans think the obession with the mayan end of the world is pretty silly to.

I agree there are still descendants of Mayans alive today, though there are basically no pure-blood Mayans (if there ever were to begin with) and in every meaningful way they're a different people today than they were pre-contact. A lot of Mayans these days are protestants, though that's a fairly recent development. Many were Catholics before that.
In der Kürze liegt die Würze.

Offline 1vertical

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Re: Belma Hops?!?!?
« Reply #25 on: December 27, 2012, 11:22:52 pm »
Speaking for myself, No I do not take that date as having any credence
to the end of days.  But for those that do (i actually know someone who
does) you better get brewing!

I was going to do an all Belma Hop Brew.  Thinking several additions with
a full ounce going in for the entire boil including FWH.  Based upon style,
O.G. target, and not a huge hop presence. Prolly aim for 35-45 IBU.
I have some safeale 189 and some nice light pils malt....(thanx bb)

Hyd. Tube of primary to secondary transfer with this beer was an interesting
Orange/tangerene note on the back of the tongue.  Nice ....pleasant
A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.

Offline alcaponejunior

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Re: Belma Hops?!?!?
« Reply #26 on: December 28, 2012, 07:48:06 am »
I ordered a pound of Belma pellets (along with 3 others  :P ) yesterday and plan to make an all Belma IPA in the near future. Belmapocalypse IPATM here I come!

All belma IPA... done.  Haven't bottled yet tho.

Offline ibru

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Re: Belma Hops?!?!?
« Reply #27 on: December 28, 2012, 10:41:07 am »
Please keep us posted how the IPA turns out. I picked up a pound a month ago when I stopped there. I'm thinking of using them in a lighter beer (blonde or wheat) as suggested earlier.

Bruce

Offline Crispy275

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Re: Belma Hops?!?!?
« Reply #28 on: January 02, 2013, 02:00:40 pm »
I brewed the 2008 Big Brew recipe (Fill in the Hop Blonde Ale) a few days ago.

For 12 gallons I added one ounce at 60 minutes, 2 ounces at 3 minutes and 2 ounces at knockout. I have found that I get a fair amount of flavor even with the very late additions as my wort chiller takes almost 15 minutes to cool everything down.

I will rack it over in a week and determine at that time if it should be dry hopped, or even just dry hop one of the carboys and not the others.

Will provide tasting notes at that time.
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Offline alcaponejunior

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Re: Belma Hops?!?!?
« Reply #29 on: January 16, 2013, 03:32:44 pm »
More on Belma hops.  I just popped the second bottle.

http://alcaponejunior.wordpress.com/2012/12/19/belma-ipa/#comment-1204

Quote
OK. It’s been a week, and I’m trying the second bottle of this one.

It’s better conditioned now, although will probably still do well with another week or so of conditioning.

Appearance is pretty murky, light brown or dark tan, with a great, lasting head and awesome lacing. Appearance could improve.

The bitterness is about right for what I had in mind. It’s not overly bitter, but is sufficiently so. I didn’t intend it to be heavily bitter.

Flavor is a bit less that what I’d find optimal for an IPA. I think it needs something besides just belma… cascade might be nice. Late hopping with belma probably isn’t the way to go.

Aroma is pretty good, but if you compare it to something like Ruination, this beer falls short.

Now I know I’m not an expert like Mitch at Stone, but I think this beer was done properly enough to draw reasonable conclusions from this tasting.

I am going to say that belma is a good bittering hop, good for milder beers that don’t require that sharp, pungent, in-your-face hop forwardness like AIPAs or DIPAs. It would probably be better suited to English styles, mildly hopped American styles, or as a general bittering hop.

I do like the aroma that the dry hops lent to this beer, but it’s again not really IPA worthy. Again, good for styles that are less hoppy than IPAs.

I am still quite pleased with my Belma hops, I just won’t use them for super cheep IPA hops. They won’t go to waste, however. I will use them as a general bittering hop, or a hop for milder beer styles. Short of doing a side-by-side with magnum or warrior, I can’t say whether they’d really be a replacement. I don’t intend to do such a comparison, BTW! These will be fine for bittering.

In the end, I’ll drink every one of my somewhat milder than expected Belma IPA. It was a good experiment, and the beer is pretty good anyway.