Azacca

Ingredients
1

Who has brewed with this hop? I am going to make a well hopped APA with it soon and I am wondering if I should use it solo or pair it up with some cascade/centennial or maybe Amarillo/Chinook. Looking to do equal amounts (roughly 90-100g/3+oz.) 170F whirlpool and again dry. Thoughts on it alone or favorite pairings?

2

I used it once but it got drowned out by El Dorado. I hear good things about it though and bet it would be good with the hops you listed.

3

You could pair it with those hops, evenly with Cent/Cascade or evenly with the Amarillo but with Chinook backed off a tad.  Actually I made a single hop Azacca APA last year and liked it a lot. It has peach, citrus, and a slight touch of pine to me. Really nice hop IMO.

EDIT - I think on the intensity scale, it’s comparable to Cent/Cascade/Amarillo but has its own character.

4

I brewed a single hop last year with Azacca.

Here is what I wrote up about it:

I tried a new hop a couple of weeks ago, and just gave it a serious tasting.  BTW total oils for Azacca is 1.8.
The aroma is quite enjoyable: Tropical fruits & Citrus mainly
The flavor majors on Mango, and ripe pineapple and generic citrus (maybe bending toward tangerine), Juicy fruit gum.
The only disappointment was the character of the bitterness.  First, it is so reserved that I would characterize it more of a Pale Ale than an IPA, but I like substantial bitterness in my IPA’s so that may be all there is to that.  My wife thinks it is bitter enough to be an IPA.  But there is something about the flavor or character of the bitterness that I don’t like.

So if I do one again, I’ll use a different bittering hop and add a bit more flavor/late additions.  Overall I’d give it a solid B.

Here’s the recipe so you can see what I did:

Azacca IPA
Type: All Grain, 5.5 gallon, Boil Time: 60 min

Ingredients

10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row)  78.4 %
2 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)  15.7 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L  5.9 %
1.00 oz Azacca [14.86 %] - Boil 60.0 min  44.0 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) 
0.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 mins) 
1.00 oz Azacca [14.86 %] - Boil 10.0 min  16.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Azacca [14.86 %] - Boil 5.0 min  8.8 IBUs
2.00 oz Azacca [14.86 %] - Boil 1.0 min  3.8 IBUs
4.00 oz Azacca [14.86 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 5.0 min  17.5 IBUs
Re-Pitch  London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) Fermented at 68*
4.00 oz Azacca [14.86 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days  0.0 IBUs

Original Gravity: 1.060 SG
Final Gravity: 1.009 SG
Alcohol by Vol: 6.7 %
Bitterness: 90.1 IBUs
Color: 7.7 SRM

I also brew with RO Water, and according to Brun’ Water here is my finished water profile:
Calcium 110.6
Magnesium 15.6
Sodium 8
Sulfate 291.4
Chloride 29.5

5

Thanks for all the input. I decided I am going to feature it but not go it alone with the Azacca. Also based on the descriptions you guys gave I changed my thoughts on what to pair it with. Going to go with the following… 2:1 Azacca:Simcoe let me know what you think.

Apollo @60
90g Azacca in 170F whirlpool
45g Simcoe in 170F whirlpool

90g Azacca dry hop
45g Simcoe dry Hop

6

every time you mention that all Azacca, I tell myself I have to do that as I think I will like this hop…then I forget!  I’m on a mission to find that hop and buy some so I can give it shot.

7

Hops direct has 2015 leaf available if you like leaf.

8

YVH has the 2015 pellets in now FWIW.

http://www.yakimavalleyhops.com/Azacca8oz_p/hopsazacca2-2015crop.htm

9

i made a Mosaic/Azacca APA - I just put the dryhop kegs in the fridge to crash down this morning before work and will be jumping it to fresh kegs on sunday before football.

initial sample reading tasters and aroma as i was filling the dryhop kegs was spectacular.

I’m sure i’ll grab a taste on Sunday and can post more.

I think your simcoe mix is going to be money.

10

I did a Belgian ale with Azacca. It’s probably not the best way to showcase a hop, but I thought it went well with the yeast. I will certainly be using Azacca again!

11

Great. Let me know how that sample comes across. I thought it would be pretty safe and complementary to back up the Azacca with Simcoe, we will see.

12

I recently dry hopped an IPA with an oz.  That was all I had.  Kinda hard to tell a lot, but it was intriguing enough that I ordered a lb. to play around with.  I got the same fruity notes that Steve mentioned.

13

Sample was very tasty.  Hard to know what was mosaic and what was azacca.  Got a lot of tangerine, grapefruit zest pine and a hint of dankness

14

I get some tangerine, more peach, mango, citrus and slight pine from Azacca, but I get berry, generic fruit, and slight dank from Mosaic. They sound good together - never blended them.

15

Very nice! Thanks for the update. I get a herbal-lemony dankness from Mosaic that I find quite unique/makes it very distinct and easy to pick out. Apparently there was a well liked IIPA Victory put out a while back that was a combination of Azacca/Mosaic. Having no access to their beers I’ve never tried it.

16

I can confirm that Jon’s APA was delicious. Very tropical-fruity. Whatever the berry compound in Mosaic is, I don’t express that receptor, because Mosaic just tastes like “hop” to me.

17

Thanks, Sean !  I just think it translates pretty well to APA.

18

I brewed a Kolsch a couple of times with a buddy of mine with both Mosaic and Azacca and dryhopped with both, I got some mango and lychee from it, absolutely loved the combo in a pale ale.