Tasted: Used IPA

By scot in Home Brewing on Thursday, November 10th, 2016

Used IPA was my initial attempt at an northeast india pale ale (NEIPA). Since brewing this beer, I have added two more NEIPA brew days to my repertoire: Smiles IPA and Baller IPA. Each iteration has been a better beer. This could be due to hops, malt and/or process, as I have changed them each time. I like variety.

When adding 14 ounces of hops to beer, especially Amarillo hops, I expect great things. The vast amount of Amarillo hops was driven by two things: needing to get rid of 2014 hops and Daisy Cutter.

Using up old hops is a no brainer. I don’t feel they lose much in terms of aroma and flavor, in spite of the alpha acid drop off. Keeping them in the freezer in vacuum sealed bags helps keep them fresh as possible.

Being inspired by Daisy Cutter has been on the short since 2009, the first time I tasted the beer. The floral power of Amarillo jumped out at me and ever since I have wanted to brew up a home brew worthy.

Look: Hazy but still able to see through the beer quite well. Pale gold to gold in color. Pure white, wispy looking foam covers. Great staying power. Sporadic lacing throughout.

Aroma: Strong lemon. One dimensional.

Taste: Lemon is strong again. Really the only characteristic that sticks out. Light, clean malt.

Drinkability: Dry finish. Light end of medium body, possibly bigger. Crisp. Low bitterness. Good balance.

Overall: There is nothing off on the base beer, just nothing exciting. The hops are subdued to the nth degree when they should be shining. Could this be a water issue? I know I have hard water. Nevertheless, I learned a bit on the NEIPA process and will revisit going forward.

It could be process. It could be the age of the hops. It could be the change in my palate and nose. No matter, I didn’t get the hop profile from this beer that I was attempting to achieve. After being let down with this beer, I tried the original Daisy Cutter. Not what I remembered. I will only use Amarillo in conjunction with other hops going froward. Enjoy!

Note: looking up Amarillo hops again, interestingly it seems that citrus is now described as the main aroma/flavor with most description not listing floral in the profile. Has the hop changed?

Useless Fact: The name LEGO came from the Danish, “LEg GOdt,” which means “play well.”