Hop Flavours

[Hoppy Mad]

I recently brewed a beer with Galaxy hops a 14.9 aa hop from Australia.
I only used this hops as I have tried a beer here and it tases great.
My problem is I have a harsh bitterness in the beer. I think this is caused by the hops added for the 60 min boil.
I am proposing brewing this again and cutting the 60 min addition to a 30 minute addition.

Can anyone advise if I am on the right track? You don't have to have brewed with this hop however someone is sure to have had a similar experience with other high AA hops

My hop additions were.

60 mins 5 grams
20 mins 15g
10 mins 10 g
dry 20g for 4 days

Here is a link to the HBS i bought the hops from and the details of the hop makeup.
http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=1162

Thanks for the help.

Brendan

[Evan B]

Sounds to me like it might be a hop more suited to aroma purposes perhaps? Some hops have a more harsh bittering character than others. The level of Beta Acids will have more to do with your harsh bittering character than the Alpha Acids will. Take hops like Magnum and Warrior for instance; very high Alpha Acids, but very clean bittering.

I'd try again with a clean bittering hop for 60 mins, then add this Galaxy hop at the end to see how it does for aroma.

[Hoppy Mad]

Evan,

Thanks for the advice. I have tried a beer here in Aust. That used 100% Galaxy and it tasted great. I have contacted the brewer who has given some info but not all. He gave me the IBU range but nothing on the hop schedule. (He was a bit overprotective since he is 8 hrs drive away and only sells his beer locally in kegs). I have had to make this up myself.


Brendan

[Evan B]

Maybe try a small bittering addition, or none at all, then pile on the rest of your IBUs in the last 20mins.

[BDawg]

I agree with what Evan said.

1 oz of 14.9 %aa in a 5 gallon 1.050 beer for 60mins should give around 53.6 IBUs (Rager's formula)
That's quite bitter -- IPA range.
If you aren't used to IPAs, I can see how you might call that harsh, especially given that the
CoHumulone content for Galaxy is BIG- 35%, which is the beta acid most often cited for adding harsh bitterness.

see: http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=1161

Description:

Galaxy hop pellets. AUS - Crop '09 (AA 13.4%) Bulk price (450gm+) = $9.50 per 90gm
The Australian hop selection Galaxy is a high alpha dual purpose triploid cultivar with a
marked and unique hop aroma. Bred by Hop Products Australia at their Rostrevor Breeding Garden Victoria. Galaxy, when add late in the boil, has been found to impart a unique and pleasant flavour to beer. The striking flavour has been described as a combination of citrus and passionfruit, whilst still contributing significant bittering.
Origin
Galaxy was bred by Hop Products Australia at their Rostrevor Breeding Garden in Victoria
in 1994. It was bred by crossing a female tetraploid (J78) with a male derived from Perle.
Galaxy is 2/3 J78 and 1/6 a male derived from the Germany cultivar Perle.
Analytical Data
Yield (Kg/Ha) 2500 - 3800
Alpha acids (%) 13.0 - 13.5
Beta acids (%) 5.8 - 6.0
Alpha/Beta Ratio 2.3
Cohumulone (%) 35.0
Total Oils (ml/100g) 2.7
Myrcene (% of whole oil) 42.4
Humulene (% of whole oil) 1.5
Beta Caryophyllene (% of whole oil) 12.1
Farnesene (% of whole oil) 2.8
Hop Acids by HPLC (ICE)
Steam distilled essential oil analyzed by GC-MS

[Hoppy Mad]

I agree with what Evan said.

1 oz of 14.9 %aa in a 5 gallon 1.050 beer for 60mins should give around 53.6 IBUs (Rager's formula)
That's quite bitter -- IPA range.
If you aren't used to IPAs, I can see how you might call that harsh, especially given that the
CoHumulone content for Galaxy is BIG- 35%, which is the beta acid most often cited for adding harsh bitterness.

Thanks Bdawg

The info about the CoHumulone is what I was after.
FYI
I measured my hops in metric and here is the IBUs that promash gave me
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
5.00 g. Galaxy Whole 14.90 11.2 60 min.
15.00 g. Galaxy Whole 14.90 11.3 20 min.
10.00 g. Galaxy Whole 14.90 4.5 10 min.
20.00 g. Galaxy Whole 14.90 0.0 Dry Hop

The total IBU for the beer is 27

I think i will change my 60 minute addition to 30 mins and recalculate the IBU.
The beer is still drinkable but I can make better. This is also a good way to learn
about a specific hop.

Thanks all for the advice.


Brendan

[uncle_bad_touches]

it could also be your water if it's particularly hard. have you looked at your local water analysis?

[nathanm]

Go with a 30min addition. Perhaps Galaxy is similar to Chinook - give a harsh bitterness if boiled for 60 min. So people add them at 30-20min. You can still get a lot of bitterness from a high AA hop added at 30min, but it smooths the bitterness out.