Beer Forum

So I'm brewing again for the first time in about 2 years. I'm really excited. I've decided to go with Janet's Brown as my first recipe.

The question is about substituting hops. I have *a lot* of Centennial and Cascade hops (thank you Ironman). I would like to substitute them for the Northern Brewer. I'm just not 100% sure how I want to to. I'm basing it off the recipe here. So the original hop schedule, to repost it, would be as follows.

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.00 oz. Northern Brewer Pellet 6.50 19.0 Mash H
1.25 oz. Northern Brewer Pellet 6.50 30.8 60 min.
1.00 oz. Northern Brewer Pellet 6.50 6.6 15 min.
1.50 oz. Cascade Pellet 6.00 6.8 10 min.
1.50 oz. Cascade Pellet 6.00 0.0 0 min.
2.00 oz. Centennial Pellet 9.00 0.0 Dry Hop



I'm sure it will still be a good beer however I substitute. I'm just looking for suggestions on what people may think the best choice is. Thanks.

If your choices are Cascade and Centennial, I would use the Centennial as your substitute for the N. Brewer. I would not use the Cascade for the bittering hops ... I have tried it and don't like the harsh bitterness I get from them. Another option would be to use Chinook (if you have them on hand) as a replacement for the N. Brewer, as that is supposed to be a good substitute hop variety.

Enjoy and welcome back to brewing! Also brewing up a Janet's Brown this weekend.

Have you ever brewed Janet's Brown? If you have not, it would be a crying shame to substitute out the Northern Brewer. They are a huge part of the flavor in this beer. I can't think of another hop that would be able to contribube the distinct or subtle flavors that NB does. NB has a nice earthy flavor that I do not get from many other hops (maybe a bit from Nugget) in this recipe it also contributes an almost minty flavor that I don't think you can duplicate with any other hop. If you have brewed this in the past then go ahead and make substitutions and brew away. If you haven't please please please brew it the way Tasty designed it, this beer will not disapoint you.

pdbutts wrote:Have you ever brewed Janet's Brown? If you have not, it would be a crying shame to substitute out the Northern Brewer. They are a huge part of the flavor in this beer. I can't think of another hop that would be able to contribube the distinct or subtle flavors that NB does. NB has a nice earthy flavor that I do not get from many other hops (maybe a bit from Nugget) in this recipe it also contributes an almost minty flavor that I don't think you can duplicate with any other hop. If you have brewed this in the past then go ahead and make substitutions and brew away. If you haven't please please please brew it the way Tasty designed it, this beer will not disapoint you.

Very good point!

pdbutts wrote:Have you ever brewed Janet's Brown? If you have not, it would be a crying shame to substitute out the Northern Brewer. They are a huge part of the flavor in this beer. I can't think of another hop that would be able to contribube the distinct or subtle flavors that NB does. NB has a nice earthy flavor that I do not get from many other hops (maybe a bit from Nugget) in this recipe it also contributes an almost minty flavor that I don't think you can duplicate with any other hop. If you have brewed this in the past then go ahead and make substitutions and brew away. If you haven't please please please brew it the way Tasty designed it, this beer will not disapoint you.

+1
Ive made it 7 times, now. You NEED to have NB hops to make this beer. You just have to.
Otherwise, dont call it Janet's.
It looks like a solid beer how you have it, but it wont throw the flavor of the sweet nectar that we know as Janet' Brown.
Just sayin....

Tasty has said that if one were to use other than NB, he'd suggest Simcoe, Columbus, Summit or Chinook, in roughly that order.

spiderwrangler wrote:Tasty has said that if one were to use other than NB, he'd suggest Simcoe, Columbus, Summit or Chinook, in roughly that order.

+1