[jaybeerman]

Ok, I've read 50 different descriptions of the bravo hop.  Can someone w/actual brewing experience offer a flavor and aroma description?  It seems like there are quite a few new-ish hops that I haven’t had the chance to use yet.  Once I get back into the swing of things, I'd like to try out

ivanhoe
rakau
pilgrim
galaxy
apollo
opal
and a few others that I'm surely forgetting

Anyone have anything to say about those varieties?  Thanks for the help. cheers, j

[richardt]

I used Bravo pellets last year on an AAA.  Aromawise, I found it to be faintly floral or herbal--but not in a "hmm--I wanna smell more of that"-kind-of way.  Similar to sniffing geraniums or marigolds; they're better to look at.  Flavorwise, I found it was earthy, bitter, raspy almost ?metallic? bite (but I had no copper or iron issues that I could identify).  Some other brewers who tasted it weren't too keen on it either.  I'll probably not use it again unless someone makes a beer that showcases it bettter for me to try.

[jaybeerman]

I used Bravo pellets last year on an AAA.  Aromawise, I found it to be faintly floral or herbal--but not in a "hmm--I wanna smell more of that"-kind-of way.  Similar to sniffing geraniums or marigolds; they're better to look at.  Flavorwise, I found it was earthy, bitter, raspy almost ?metallic? bite (but I had no copper or iron issues that I could identify).  Some other brewers who tasted it weren't too keen on it either.  I'll probably not use it again unless someone makes a beer that showcases it bettter for me to try.

thanks.  would you care to share the hop schedule and amounts that you used? (not that your description sounds good, i'm just curious)  cheers, j

any other opinions?

[gordonstrong]

Galaxy has a unique passionfruit quality.  Very popular now in Australia.  Just starting to show up here.

[maxieboy]

Galaxy has a unique passionfruit quality.  Very popular now in Australia.  Just starting to show up here.

Did you brew your APA with these hops yet? It looks like I'll be able to finally brew a single hop AIPA with 'em in the next day or two.

[phillamb168]

Galaxy has a unique passionfruit quality.  Very popular now in Australia.  Just starting to show up here.

Sounds like I might have to do a "Galaxy-Class HopShip" APA sometime soon. APA = Australian Pale Ale...

[gordonstrong]

Galaxy has a unique passionfruit quality.  Very popular now in Australia.  Just starting to show up here.

Did you brew your APA with these hops yet? It looks like I'll be able to finally brew a single hop AIPA with 'em in the next day or two.

Yes, but I haven't kegged it yet.  Need to get some cleaned first.  I have about a dozen waiting to be cleaned.

[morticaixavier]

I did a barley wine with all ivanhoe back in January.

It's very fruity, from gravity and taste tests during fermentation there was a HUGE pineapple character (both my wife and I thought it was like drinking pineapple juice and rum) that settled down into a more subdued tropical/pineapple/passionfruit character. It's a good multipurpose hop as the AA% is around 8-9 but it has lots or aroma and flavour as well. I am thinking of trying a cali common with it at some point. It is a cluster type hop so it's related to northern brewer.

[jaybeerman]

Galaxy sounds great, I can't wait to try a rakau vs galaxy experiment. 

The ivanhoe sounds interesting too, though I'm not a big fan of pineapple, I do like cluster and was thinking of trying it in either a cali or a session stout.

thanks, j

[richardt]

I used Bravo pellets last year on an AAA.  Aromawise, I found it to be faintly floral or herbal--but not in a "hmm--I wanna smell more of that"-kind-of way.  Similar to sniffing geraniums or marigolds; they're better to look at.  Flavorwise, I found it was earthy, bitter, raspy almost ?metallic? bite (but I had no copper or iron issues that I could identify).  Some other brewers who tasted it weren't too keen on it either.  I'll probably not use it again unless someone makes a beer that showcases it bettter for me to try.

thanks.  would you care to share the hop schedule and amounts that you used? (not that your description sounds good, i'm just curious)  cheers, j  any other opinions?

J,
just got home and looked over my brew notes from that 10 gallon batch of AAA which used both Citra and Bravo hops. 
OG was 1.050, FG was 1.013.  ABV = 4.8.  Calculated IBU's was around 28.8. 
Hop schedule was
FWH (or 60 min):  0.5 oz Citra
30 min:                  0.25 oz each of Citra and Bravo
20 min:                  0.25 oz each of Citra and Bravo
10 min:                  0.50 oz of Bravo
5 min:                    0.50 oz of Bravo

I was really looking forward to drinking this beer.  But, it was disappointingly bitter.
I think the reason it was such a sucky beer was the new water build that I did using the BeerSmith water profile builder (v1.4).
The ions may have been right, but I was way off on the pH during the mash (4.1), though I got it back up (to 5.1) with the second batch sparge.
Given that, it may not be fair at all to make any opinion about the Bravo hop profile based on my experience.

I highly recommend Martin B's Bru'n water calculator.  Since I began using it this year, I've hit my mash and sparge pH's within 0.1 or 0.2 points every time (i.e., if any deviation occurs, my result is usually 0.1 or 0.2 pH points higher than the calculated 5.2).

[jaybeerman]

just got home and looked over my brew notes from that 10 gallon batch of AAA which used both Citra and Bravo hops. 
OG was 1.050, FG was 1.013.  ABV = 4.8.  Calculated IBU's was around 28.8. 
Hop schedule was
FWH (or 60 min):  0.5 oz Citra
30 min:                  0.25 oz each of Citra and Bravo
20 min:                  0.25 oz each of Citra and Bravo
10 min:                  0.50 oz of Bravo
5 min:                    0.50 oz of Bravo

I was really looking forward to drinking this beer.  But, it was disappointingly bitter.
I think the reason it was such a sucky beer was the new water build that I did using the BeerSmith water profile builder (v1.4).
The ions may have been right, but I was way off on the pH during the mash (4.1), though I got it back up (to 5.1) with the second batch sparge.
Given that, it may not be fair at all to make any opinion about the Bravo hop profile based on my experience.

I highly recommend Martin B's Bru'n water calculator.  Since I began using it this year, I've hit my mash and sparge pH's within 0.1 or 0.2 points every time (i.e., if any deviation occurs, my result is usually 0.1 or 0.2 pH points higher than the calculated 5.2).

Oh...I think I'll still give them a whirl at least once.  thanks for the reply

[BrewingRover]

I bottled an APA the other day that was 100% Calypso. They had a huge pear aroma coming out of the bag but it was muted in the flat beer. It will be interesting to see what comes through when it's carbed. It tasted slightly floral and I think they'd blend well with Styrian Golding or EKG.

[jaybeerman]

I bottled an APA the other day that was 100% Calypso. They had a huge pear aroma coming out of the bag but it was muted in the flat beer. It will be interesting to see what comes through when it's carbed. It tasted slightly floral and I think they'd blend well with Styrian Golding or EKG.

Seems that apple and pear are popular hop aromas at the moment.  Do report back once you have it carb'd.  The reason I was interested in the bravo hops was this wonderful review, "Aromas of light fruit (apple and pear) with a flowery note dominate. Very light hint of tangerine and apricot, and slight earthy background."  So I did a google search and found that about 50% of the reviews were negative and really negative at that.  Seems that some of these hop descriptions are slightly embelished, on the other hand I take the opinions of some homebrewers with a grain of salt.  where did you find your calypso? cheers, j

[BrewingRover]

Seems that apple and pear are popular hop aromas at the moment.  Do report back once you have it carb'd.  The reason I was interested in the bravo hops was this wonderful review, "Aromas of light fruit (apple and pear) with a flowery note dominate. Very light hint of tangerine and apricot, and slight earthy background."  So I did a google search and found that about 50% of the reviews were negative and really negative at that.  Seems that some of these hop descriptions are slightly embelished, on the other hand I take the opinions of some homebrewers with a grain of salt.  where did you find your calypso? cheers, j

Hopsdirect had Calypso for around $9 a pound when I ordered a bunch of other stuff last fall. I figured it was worth a gamble at that price.

[jaybeerman]

Hopsdirect had Calypso for around $9 a pound when I ordered a bunch of other stuff last fall. I figured it was worth a gamble at that price.

indeed.  That's how I ended up trying Mt Rainier, which I now think is a great hop.