My idea of an AW lines up with yours. Summer crusher, indeed. Funny, because on occasion, I've also tried to get a touch of lemon/lime from the hops, though I'm not opposed to late additions. Sorachi Ace was supposed to contribute lemon/lime but instead it made for a nice dill sauce. 
Closest I've come is a small Motueka/Lemondrop combo added at flameout. The beer was great, the citrus...present, but slight. I may bump them next time, or even dry hop.
In this group I made the American Wheat, a Blonde Ale and a Cream Ale. All lighter styles, all with S-04. The American Wheat had Loral, the Blonde Ale had Liberty and the Cream Ale has flaked corn and Sterling hops. All clean and refreshing beers. I like the concept of using hops to bring some citrus but dry hopping is going to do something contradictory to what I want to do and that is to make a beer that I consider to be "smashable" but has a lot of late hops. I could use some extract or lemon/orange zest, etc. but typically I get to that point in the recipe design and decide NOT to do that and instead make it plain and have the opportunity to drink it plain when the desire exists or add a lemon wedge which I consider to be the best form of flavor you can get because it's natural and you're adding it right when you're drinking the beer. In a world with a lot of wild beer styles, my preferences don't align with many brewers or beer drinkers... but I think I have been saying that for over 20 years. 
I'm not 100% sure I understand...are you saying that a dry hopped beer can't be "smashable"? Or, it's just not your idea of what a simple crusher should be?
No right or wrong answer in my opinion, I'm just being nosy.
It's a personal preference. I make a lot of beers where there is one hop addition at the start of the boil and that's it. Totally out of line with most other homebrewers. Occasionally I find myself out somewhere and I'll order something that I might not brew myself like an IPA. First off, they're typically too strong to "smash" unless I don't mind sounding sloppy all night but also, all the late hops (while great when you just have a few sips) start to fatigue my tasebuds at some point and I find myself burning out on it. You could have a 4.5% "All Day IPA" kind of thing which would take care of issue #1 but the late hops make it so I have to downshift to something less hoppy. Boring and weird compared to most brewers today. 
Ok, I got you. I think there's a disconnect though. Whenever someone mentions "Dry hop" today, it seems like it's understood to mean "like an IPA". I think an AW can be dry hopped with just a sprinkling of hops so that it doesn't create that fatigue you mention, but it does build on some sense of aroma/flavor, be it lemon or lime or whatever. It's unheard of anymore to use <=.25oz to dry hop. Why bother, right? But, in the right circumstance, I think a small dose can be effective without getting in the way. Just my opinion.
You mentioned earlier that you used Loral because it might add some lemon, but used it at the top of the boil (an admittedly short boil). Would you expect lemon to come through from that addition? Can't say that I've ever noticed any particular hop contribution (other than bitterness of course) from a beer that only had a bittering charge.
Sorry to be a pain, I find this interesting.
Topic: Pics of recent brews? (Read 584653 times)
