[chinaski]

Greetings!
Despite taking too much pride in brewing mostly with my own homegrown hops, I'm planning on brewing an IPA with commercial hops sometime soon.  Why not try some of them new-fangled hops/techniques/recipes?  The goal here is to take a step into modernity that I cannot get with the old-school C- hops that I typically use.

I'm intrigued by: the Denny Kong recipe (https://wyeastlab.com/resource/denny-kong-wcipa-1217-pc-west-coast-ipa/) and Morebeer's Phatasm-based IPA kit (https://www.morebeer.com/products/phantasm-hazy-ipa-grain-beer-brewing-kit-5-gallons.html).  I lean more old-school west-coast but am not opposed to drinking a Heady Topper or Sip of Sunshine when someone offers one- I can go either hazy (as long as its got some base bitterness) or non-hazy...

Denny's comment about the cost of the hops for the Kong has given me pause- but sometimes you get what you pay for!

What would you choose & why?

thanks!

[erockrph]

Honestly,  don't waste your time with Phantasm. The flavor is far more subtle than the hops you'll be using, and it just ends up getting lost.

I like IPAs with huge hop flavor like a NEIPA, but with a firm bitterness like a West Coast. Grain bill is usually 95% Pale/Pils/Vienna base and 5% Crystal malt (20-60L depending on my mood). I bitter to 70ish IBU with Columbus or Chinook, and then use mostly cryo hops ( a lot - 1-2 oz/gallon) at flameout/whirlpool, and then again for dry hops. I generally use BRY-97 or Verdant IPA for my yeast.

Hop choice is where the fun comes in. I almost always use Citra for 1/4 to 1/2 of the hops for the high oil content and a base mango/citrus character, and then I stack on other varieties depending on what I'm looking for. There are so many varieties to play with, and you really can't go wrong with just about any combination.

[denny]

Greetings!
Despite taking too much pride in brewing mostly with my own homegrown hops, I'm planning on brewing an IPA with commercial hops sometime soon.  Why not try some of them new-fangled hops/techniques/recipes?  The goal here is to take a step into modernity that I cannot get with the old-school C- hops that I typically use.

I'm intrigued by: the Denny Kong recipe (https://wyeastlab.com/resource/denny-kong-wcipa-1217-pc-west-coast-ipa/) and Morebeer's Phatasm-based IPA kit (https://www.morebeer.com/products/phantasm-hazy-ipa-grain-beer-brewing-kit-5-gallons.html).  I lean more old-school west-coast but am not opposed to drinking a Heady Topper or Sip of Sunshine when someone offers one- I can go either hazy (as long as its got some base bitterness) or non-hazy...

Denny's comment about the cost of the hops for the Kong has given me pause- but sometimes you get what you pay for!

What would you choose & why?

thanks!

Keep in mind that I brewed an 11 gal batch, so for a "normal" batch it wouldn't be quite so expensive. Could you use less hops? I have no idea because I haven't done it. It likely wouldn't be the same though. I can tell you that the beer is stunning and IMO worth the cost.

[chinaski]

Appreciate the feedback!  As a frugal, former midwesterner I decided on another route, mostly thanks to a less-than-ideal home hop harvest, a timely sale at Hops Direct, and a timely post by the Brew Dudes on using Tree House's IPA guidelines I'm awaiting arrival of some Comet, Simcoe, and Citra hops from 2022 harvest year.  Recipe will probably lean harder on bittering than the recommendations.  Never used Comet and I'm still making my mind up on using Simcoe.  Spent a lot less than either of the two original recipe options- my penny-pinching father would be so proud!  I'll post the recipe I use when the time comes.

[BrewBama]

I saw that Brew Dude video and just brewed that Tree House framework beer. It’s still in conditioning but a sneak taste is pretty good. I used Warrior, Citra, Simcoe, and Amarillo. I used Lallemand’s New England yeast.

[chinaski]

Cool.  Let me know how it turns out- their video got me interested.  Hop Direct also through in a half pound of Belma hops so I'll have to decide what to use them for sometime in the future- I bet Brew Dudes have some notes on Belma as well.

[denny]

Cool.  Let me know how it turns out- their video got me interested.  Hop Direct also through in a half pound of Belma hops so I'll have to decide what to use them for sometime in the future- I bet Brew Dudes have some notes on Belma as well.

I think maybe they did that because they can't sell them! I have yet to hear a good review of them. If anyone here likes them, I'd be interested in hearing some positive comments.

[chinaski]

Appreciate the feedback!  As a frugal, former midwesterner I decided on another route, mostly thanks to a less-than-ideal home hop harvest, a timely sale at Hops Direct, and a timely post by the Brew Dudes on using Tree House's IPA guidelines I'm awaiting arrival of some Comet, Simcoe, and Citra hops from 2022 harvest year.  Recipe will probably lean harder on bittering than the recommendations.  Never used Comet and I'm still making my mind up on using Simcoe.  Spent a lot less than either of the two original recipe options- my penny-pinching father would be so proud!  I'll post the recipe I use when the time comes.

As a follow-up to this (and another post of mine about hop extract)- the beer turned out well.  I didn't quite follow the Tree House recipe guidelines to a T; I couldn't bring myself to put that much chloride into an IPA and I attempted to hit a higher bittering IBU with hop extract.  Used Lallemand's New England/Conan strain instead of London III.  The resulting beer is definitely a hazy IPA.  Next time, there will be less chloride and more sulfate (I'm on "Team sulfate" as I just read from John Kimmich) and there will be more hop extract for bittering a bit more assertively.  I've got enough hops to re-brew this one sometime.  I've abandoned the expense of multiple ounces of Cryo and the thiol business...

[erockrph]

Appreciate the feedback!  As a frugal, former midwesterner I decided on another route, mostly thanks to a less-than-ideal home hop harvest, a timely sale at Hops Direct, and a timely post by the Brew Dudes on using Tree House's IPA guidelines I'm awaiting arrival of some Comet, Simcoe, and Citra hops from 2022 harvest year.  Recipe will probably lean harder on bittering than the recommendations.  Never used Comet and I'm still making my mind up on using Simcoe.  Spent a lot less than either of the two original recipe options- my penny-pinching father would be so proud!  I'll post the recipe I use when the time comes.

As a follow-up to this (and another post of mine about hop extract)- the beer turned out well.  I didn't quite follow the Tree House recipe guidelines to a T; I couldn't bring myself to put that much chloride into an IPA and I attempted to hit a higher bittering IBU with hop extract.  Used Lallemand's New England/Conan strain instead of London III.  The resulting beer is definitely a hazy IPA.  Next time, there will be less chloride and more sulfate (I'm on "Team sulfate" as I just read from John Kimmich) and there will be more hop extract for bittering a bit more assertively.  I've got enough hops to re-brew this one sometime.  I've abandoned the expense of multiple ounces of Cryo and the thiol business...

If you're looking for a more assertive bitterness, I'd recommend CTZ or Chinook traditional pellets over extract. I've never gotten a really assertive bitterness out of extract.