[narcout]

Trying to use up some hops to make room for some fresher ones...

APA - 6 gal. batch

94% Rahr 2-row
6% Bairds Crystal 50/60L

.75 oz. Centennial 60 min.
.5 oz. Centennial 30 min.
.5 oz. each of Columbus/Vic Secret/Citra at 10 min.
1 oz. each of Columbus/Vic Secret/Citra at 2 min.
1 oz. each of Columbus/Vic Secret/Citra dry hops

WLP007 (Dry English Ale) - 2 pouches

I'll spare you the water chemistry details.

I'm familiar with Centennial and Citra.  I've brewed an all Vic Secret APA before, but it was a while ago and I can't really remember it (pine and fruit?).  Columbus I've used several times but I don't have a good concept of what it brings.

Think they'll work well together? 

[a10t2]

Haven't personally used VS, but if it were me I'd be tempted to switch the Columbus and Centennial as much as possible. Just not a big fan of CTZ as a late hop. A whole lot of pine/dank, if that's what you're going for.

[erockrph]

Vic Secret is very tropical - big on passionfruit. I use it with Citra all the time - that's one of my favorite combos for a fruity/tropical IPA.

As far as Columbus goes, I agree with Sean - it's a whole lot of dankness. The combo works if you want something to balance the tropical side of the Citra/Vic Secret, but if it were me, I'd follow Sean's advice to swap it with the Centennial. The floral/citrus of the Cents will do a lot more to enhance the Vic/Citra combo.

[denny]

Vic Secret is very tropical - big on passionfruit. I use it with Citra all the time - that's one of my favorite combos for a fruity/tropical IPA.

As far as Columbus goes, I agree with Sean - it's a whole lot of dankness. The combo works if you want something to balance the tropical side of the Citra/Vic Secret, but if it were me, I'd follow Sean's advice to swap it with the Centennial. The floral/citrus of the Cents will do a lot more to enhance the Vic/Citra combo.

And I disagree with you both.  Late Columbus is a mainstay of my brewing.

[Robert]

Vic Secret is very tropical - big on passionfruit. I use it with Citra all the time - that's one of my favorite combos for a fruity/tropical IPA.

As far as Columbus goes, I agree with Sean - it's a whole lot of dankness. The combo works if you want something to balance the tropical side of the Citra/Vic Secret, but if it were me, I'd follow Sean's advice to swap it with the Centennial. The floral/citrus of the Cents will do a lot more to enhance the Vic/Citra combo.

And I disagree with you both.  Late Columbus is a mainstay of my brewing.

That's funny, Denny.  I find Columbus doesn't add much but a bit of earthiness which I don't entirely like -- like I think you find Fuggles, one of my favorites.   There might be some individual,  genetic things going on with the ways we perceive these hops (like with cilantro or broccoli.)  Only way to know if you like it is to try it.

[denny]

That's funny, Denny.  I find Columbus doesn't add much but a bit of earthiness which I don't entirely like -- like I think you find Fuggles, one of my favorites.   There might be some individual,  genetic things going on with the ways we perceive these hops (like with cilantro or broccoli.)  Only way to know if you like it is to try it.

Sure could be. Could also be terroir related. I just used some Chinook grown in MI and they seemed a lot different than the Chinook grown around here.

[Robert]

Great point there.  I've used Cascades from two different growers here in OH and I'd describe them as more earthy, herbal and pungent rather than the floral and citrus you get from the PNW.

[narcout]

Thanks for the replies.  I decided to replace all of the Columbus with Centennial since I had enough on hand. 

Maybe I'll do an all Columbus APA soon so I can get a better feel for it.

[narcout]

Well, I entered it in a recent comp, and it scored a 34.5 (which I'm reasonably happy with).   

The only constructive criticism was that the hop character was too spicy.  It was described as citrusy, spicy, fruity, grapefruit, and dank, but the judges thought the hop character should veer more towards citrus/pine and be less spicy.

I actually have a bit of this left in the keg, which is rare by the time I get scoresheets back, so I have a chance to have another glass with their comments in mind. 

The Bairds Crystal resulted in a slightly darker beer than the Simpson's Medium Crystal I usually use.