Hop test Amber ale.

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Gday all I'm at it again armed with some fresh Bairds Marris Otter grain and some new hops I'm dying to sink to the depths of my unquenchable beer belly:). I've flicked together a recipe using the grains I bought assuming I will be brewing a lot of ales going forward through our mildest of winters.

The hop I'm looking to taste in this recipe is Equinox T90 I've read the T90 part stands for 90% out off 100kg of processed hops in the pallets or something yea I'm confused on that one:rolleyes:. What has other Brewers experience been with this hop? I'm Reading some great reviews on YHA website tropical fruit orange herbal mmmm interesting the only downer I've herd about it is some people experiencing green peppers from it I hope not!:eek: Oh I'm pairing it with some Nelson sauvin I'm thinking will be a good combination.

What do you think of the malt profile I know the hops are quite strong so am looking to balance it out with the malt I will mash mid range to keep some body in there. We'll have a Squiz see what you think like it hate it let me know I'm all ears:).
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/489088/hop-test-amber-ale
 
I did some smash beers a while back to compare some of the fruitier not tropical hoos, and equinox was one of them (pretty sure not t90 though).
Pretty good from what I remember. There was a little green pepper taste there, but it was subtle
 
I did some smash beers a while back to compare some of the fruitier not tropical hoos, and equinox was one of them (pretty sure not t90 though).
Pretty good from what I remember. There was a little green pepper taste there, but it was subtle
Hopefully too subtle for my pallet jmcnamara but it confirms what I've read I just hope that if this T90 pellets are different there maybe no green pepper taste .
 
Here's hoping. I don't think I have the most refined palate, so who knows how it'll turn out for you.

On the bright side, if it works you've added another hop to your arsenal. If not, then you get to try another one to see if it's better. And you're making (hopefully drinkable) beer anyway. Win win win
 
I'd take that Chocolate Roast out of the bill for an amber and add a little more Special B or just a touch of C-120 if you need. Or even an ounce or less of Midnight Wheat just add a little color. A good amber shouldn't have an roast at all in the flavor but just malt, caramel and maybe a hint of toasty, bready notes. It's easy to get hung up on getting the right color and miss the flavor.

Also...I've been intrigued by the notion of green pepper notes in the hops. I'm not sure whether that refers to green peppercorns or Bell pepper, but either of those would be very interesting. Ripe Bell pepper has an indescribable aromatic quality that really is quite beautiful and peppercorns have been used to great effect in adding depth to the aroma and flavor profile of beers.

Sometimes a savory, aromatic note can give a whole new complexity. One of my best and favorite beers so far is my Sorachi Ace/Lemon Drop Saison. The dill flavors associated with Sorachi should be off-putting but it amazing how much it enhances the beer. That one in particular has a lot of subtle flavors from the malt and yeast but that herbal note really makes it click.
 
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I'd take that Chocolate Roast out of the bill for an amber and add a little more Special B or just a touch of C-120 if you need. Or even an ounce or less of Midnight Wheat just add a little color. A good amber shouldn't have an roast at all in the flavor but just malt, caramel and maybe a hint of toasty, bready notes. It's easy to get hung up on getting the right color and miss the flavor.

Also...I've been intrigued by the notion of green pepper notes in the hops. I'm not sure whether that refers to green peppercorns or Bell pepper, but either of those would be very interesting. Ripe Bell pepper has an indescribable aromatic quality that really is quite beautiful and peppercorns have been used to great effect in adding depth to the aroma and flavor profile of beers.

Sometimes a savory, aromatic note can give a whole new complexity. One of my best and favorite beers so far is my Sorachi Ace/Lemon Drop Saison. The dill flavors associated with Sorachi should be off-putting but it amazing how much it enhances the beer. That one in particular has a lot of subtle flavors from the malt and yeast but that herbal note really makes it click.
I'll see what amount of special B I've got left there JA or I'll take the chocolate out and make it a pale ale:D.
 
make it a pale ale:D

If it's hop flavor you want to explore, you might be well off to do that. You'll have a nice coppery beer out of even without the Chocolate. Got any Dark Munich around? Throwing a little of that in with the Maris will give you a bit of color and extra maltiness, too.
Any way you go, it should be a nice beer. ;)
 
If it's hop flavor you want to explore, you might be well off to do that. You'll have a nice coppery beer out of even without the Chocolate. Got any Dark Munich around? Throwing a little of that in with the Maris will give you a bit of color and extra maltiness, too.
Any way you go, it should be a nice beer. ;)
Yeah ill flick the chocolate roast malt out up the special b to 70g and call it hop test pale ale instead. So the chocolate roast malt is that for more darker beers like brown ale porter type beers?
 
So the chocolate roast malt is that for more darker beers like brown ale porter type beers?
I find that the chocolate-y roast flavor comes through even in small amounts. In beers where light roast flavor is appropriate it's great but in beers that should be rich and malty (notably ambers but bocks come to mind, as well) I think it gets in the way. Definitely would be appropriate for a porter or brown ale and, of course, any sort of stout and could be a subtle presence in a Black IPA, but shouldn't be overdone there.

I find that for guidance on things like those specific flavor notes the BJCP Guidelines - https://www.bjcp.org/docs/2015_Guidelines_Beer.pdf - are a great source. The flavor descriptions are detailed and will tell you whether you should avoid or accentuate certain ingredients.
 
Looks good! Nobody's going to argue if you want to call that an Amber...it's the sort of beer that would fit easily into more than one category even at a competition.
A lot of beers that I brew are on the borders between styles. My preferred IPAs for having on tap is essentially a Pale with a little extra hop profile.
Report back on the results...I'd like to hear more about the Equinox.
 
I've been intrigued by the notion of green pepper notes in the hops. I'm not sure whether that refers to green peppercorns or Bell pepper, but either of those would be very interesting. Ripe Bell pepper has an indescribable aromatic quality that really is quite beautiful and peppercorns have been used to great effect in adding depth to the aroma and flavor profile of beers.

It's unripened green bell pepper in equinox/ekuanot.
 
Just putting it out there I'm not totaly locked in with the yeast I'm going to cook this recipe up with. I have selected wlp090 Sandiego super yeast so far but I'm just wondering what you all thought if I threw some 34/70 at it at 18c.

Reasoning I like that its clean free of esters I like that it leaves the beer with a great malty flavour and also doesn't cloud out any hops in the beer. Is this a stupid idea:rolleyes: whatdya's thinko_O?

Sort of an ale fermented with lager yeast at ale temperature...:rolleyes:
 
My experience is that you'll get some of the light sulfur notes typical of lagers. That will age out with time, but your hops will fade as well. For an Amber like this, I think you'll do well to avoid the lager yeast. I'd stay with the cleanest ale yeast you can find. Be cool to experiment with a lager-fermented IPA, though.
I did something similar using S-23 lager yeast and S-33 ale yeast together for a Cream Ale (Pilsner, flaked corn, Saaz and Cluster). The result is just about perfect for that style where light, dry malt flavor is desirable. That S-33 is supposed to be Belgian but I have yet to get any spicy character out of it. It's fairly clean and neutral and in this case, fermenting at 60 to accommodate the lager yeast, it lends a nice fruity softness to the flavor and creamy, full mouthfeel.
 
My experience is that you'll get some of the light sulfur notes typical of lagers. That will age out with time, but your hops will fade as well. For an Amber like this, I think you'll do well to avoid the lager yeast. I'd stay with the cleanest ale yeast you can find. Be cool to experiment with a lager-fermented IPA, though.
I did something similar using S-23 lager yeast and S-33 ale yeast together for a Cream Ale (Pilsner, flaked corn, Saaz and Cluster). The result is just about perfect for that style where light, dry malt flavor is desirable. That S-33 is supposed to be Belgian but I have yet to get any spicy character out of it. It's fairly clean and neutral and in this case, fermenting at 60 to accommodate the lager yeast, it lends a nice fruity softness to the flavor and creamy, full mouthfeel.
Yea I did some looking around last night on the net and I've herd people say their ales turned out boring. I'm going to stick with SD 090 it's just been a few months in the jar I'll have to spin up a small batch first and see if there are any viable cells left in there.
 
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I have to try that yeast. Heard nothing but good from the guys who use it. I've been wanting to step away from the US-05, though it's produced pretty consistently good beers.
 
if you use Sandiego give it extra oxygen and nutrients or it can blast out of the gates then stall, Ive had it ferment out completely in 4 days
 
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if you use Sandiego give it extra oxygen and nutrients or it can blast out of the gates then stall, Ive had it ferment out completely in 4 days
And its got a narrow fermentation range dont ferment it cool it doesnt like it it ferments best warm
 
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Baird's Marris Otter is low diastatic malt 40 to 45 L. The malt is slightly under modified and it is low protein. IOB testing procedures.
A decoction method would work well with the malt. The malt is high in starch content but, low in enzyme strength. The malt looks like pretty good stuff.
Boil a small portion of mash and use the boiling mash to reach 149F in the main mash. Dextrinization begins at 149F. When mash is boiled complex starch enters into solution. The starch is called amylo-pectin. The starch is responsible for the body in beer. During a rest at 149F Alpha will release limit dextrin from the starch. A and B limit dextrin are types of sugar responsible for body. The sugar is tasteless and non-fermenting. Amylo-pectin is the most prolific starch in the kernel. If the starch isn't boiled amylo-pectin ends up in the compost pile. Basically, it's money in the fertilizer pile. Home made style beer produced by an infusion method doesn't require the sugar. Beer, other than home made style of beer requires the sugar.
 
Baird's Marris Otter is low diastatic malt 40 to 45 L. The malt is slightly under modified and it is low protein. IOB testing procedures.
A decoction method would work well with the malt. The malt is high in starch content but, low in enzyme strength. The malt looks like pretty good stuff.
Boil a small portion of mash and use the boiling mash to reach 149F in the main mash. Dextrinization begins at 149F. When mash is boiled complex starch enters into solution. The starch is called amylo-pectin. The starch is responsible for the body in beer. During a rest at 149F Alpha will release limit dextrin from the starch. A and B limit dextrin are types of sugar responsible for body. The sugar is tasteless and non-fermenting. Amylo-pectin is the most prolific starch in the kernel. If the starch isn't boiled amylo-pectin ends up in the compost pile. Basically, it's money in the fertilizer pile. Home made style beer produced by an infusion method doesn't require the sugar. Beer, other than home made style of beer requires the sugar.

So it's go low diastic power but it should be still fine with a simple single infusion mash? You think step mash schedule instead? Some of the stuff you talked about went straight over my head so you think boil some of the grist in a seperate pot Decoction style to bring out this Amylo-pectin.
 

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