For years I disliked Chinook as a hop because of its harsh bitterness. When I think back to my years of not liking IPA's, I associate them with hazy beers with a Chinook-heavy bitter bite, too much C-40 or C-60, and a little cascade/centennial floral note and a the sensation of sucking on grapefruit pith. These guys were probably 1.070 OG to 1.020 FG and I remember thinking "why do this to perfectly good pale ale ingredients?" That combination of big malt and sharp bitterness was the hallmark of an era of hoppy beers like Arrogant Bastard. Now you see it less and Chinook is used mostly as an aroma hop - I learned to love what it can do dry and really only use it dry and in whirlpool.
Personally, I don't care for harsh cohumulone bitterness nor mineral bitterness in my beers. In most styles, my preference is for smooth bitterness like Magnum, Summit, Apollo, Simcoe (too expensive, though), or any other low co-humulone high-alpha hop. Depending on the style, I might bitter with a low-alpha or medium-alpha hop (like Glacier or Perle) or an extract like HopShot. In an AIPA specifically, I tend to like CTZ best, but might use Apollo or Summit depending on what's available or the hop profile I'm shooting for.
Topic: Bittering with chinook question (Read 11019 times)
