Beer Forum

Listening to the last Vinnie C. Sunday show, he mentioned Russian River has a single hop beer pale ale they make to help them evaluate how a particular hop tastes/smells, etc. in a beer.

I wanted to know if anyone had a suggestion for the grain bill for such a beer. I assume it would be very simple to allow the hops to be easily evaluated. Should I just use all Pale Ale or 2 row or add a little crystal or other grain to round out the beer. I emailed Vinnie with this question, but don't expect to get a reply due to his schedule.

Looking for suggestions.

Thanks

I think you're on the right track. Try a simple bill with 2 row and crystal 20 first.

DeepEllumBrews wrote:I think you're on the right track. Try a simple bill with 2 row and crystal 20 first.

+1, I think this is the recipe for 2HA. A great showpiece for centennial.

Just have to first say Vinnie C. is a fantastic supporter of home/craft brewing...

Below is his email response to my question on his single hop grain bill.

I’ve got the Hop 2 It recipe on my computer at the pub but not on my computer here at the production brewery so I am going to guess. The bottom line is to keep the specialty malts simple so that you can really taste the hops and learn from them. If there is too much crystal malt the sweetness from this malt will muddy up the hop character.

OG: 1.054
ABV: 5.5%
BU’s:35

Malt:
92% 2-Row
5% Acidulated
3% Crystal 40

I might have a little Munich in there as well and a long time ago I had some carapils in the recipe but I think more recently we dropped the carapils as sometimes it has its own distinctive character on a pale ale that sometimes gets in the way of the hops.

I hope this helps,

Vinnie


Vinnie Cilurzo
> Brewer / Owner
> Russian River Brewing Company
> 725 4th St.
> Santa Rosa, CA 95404
> Tele: 707.545.2337 x 200
> Fax: 707.546.4750

This was actually discussed in depth as an experiment in my other forum that Im apart of, its called SMaSH brewing. Single malt and single hop. I recently made a Simcoe SMaSH, and its excellent. I would recommend starting out with a OG of 1.045 minimum. I made mine at 1.033 and its a little too light. My recipe was for 70% eff.

7 pounds pale 2 row
.5 ounce simcoe 60 min
.5 ounce simcoe 10 min.

strike and sparge according. mashed in at 152.

This is a VERY tasty brew, but really shows you the characteristics of the hop being used. I plan on doing this with a different hop every time with the next one being Pearle.

Maybe start with 8-10 pounds 2 row next time to boost the OG.

Cheers