I recently brewed a Saison using Belma hops exclusively. My goal was to test Belma hops in a beer that I thought would complement them nicely. Here is the recipe for 5 gallons:
3.5 lbs Belgian 2 row
3 lbs Belgian Wheat malt
.5 lb. Munich
.25 oz. Caramunich (56 SRM)
.75 lbs. Orange Blossom Honey
1 oz. Belma in the mash
.25 oz. Belma 60 min.
.25 oz. Belma 10 min.
1 oz. Belma 5 min.
1 oz. Belma hopstand for ~10 min.
No dry hopping
Wyeast 3711 French Saison yeast
This resulted in, according to BeerSmith:
5.4% ABV
24 IBU
5.4 SRM
This is my first attempt at brewing a Saison, and I have little experience drinking them too, so I am mainly going off of the BJCP style guidelines for evaluation.
The beer turned out good, but there is very little Belma flavor discernable. Next time I would seriously increase the hop additions (while eliminating the mash addition). So given that this was an experiment to test Belma hops the one thing I learned is that they are very light in flavor - which I had heard - but since I was brewing a Saison, I figured it would show through… but no.
I would also ferment a little warmer, as I got very little of the phenolic character from the yeast that I was hoping for. I fermented at 66*, then ramped up to 73* as I saw primary fermentation ending. I think I’d ferment at 69* next time.
So not a waste. It still is a pleasant, maybe even a good, light-tasting beer. Perhaps a good gateway homebrew for BMC drinkers.
That’s what I’m reading pretty much everywhere and even in dryhopping the results are pretty mild to virtually non-existent. Some people seem to have good results using them in a blend with other hops but they still aren’t getting a lot of character from the Belma hops. I’ve also read a few people say they used them for bittering but didn’t seem to get a lot of bitterness out of it, although I’m not sure exactly how alpha acids can be milder in one hop but not in all others.
I’m sitting on a couple pounds in my freezer myself so I plan on doing a little experimenting and if I am getting the same results as everybody else I guess I will continue to use them for bittering until somebody smarter about hops than I figures out a better use.
“I guess it was a good idea to brew this with Conan yeast, then, because the two together created one of the most intensely fruity IPAs I’ve ever had in my life. I have never encountered a beer that smelled (and tasted) so much like strawberries — I mean, this smells more like strawberries than beers I’ve had which were actually brewed with strawberries. It’s absolutely bonkers.”
I sure would love to get some Conan yeast…
So I am thinking / wondering if it isn’t some yeasty magic that occurs to bring the flavor to the foreground. I want to keep playing with Belma. Mainly because of the unique flavors, but also it is a very inexpensive hop at $5.25 / lb.! Unfortunately I don’t know anyone in Vermont, so I guess no Heady Topper for me. Hopefully there is a different yeast that can pull some goodies out of Belma!
Thanks for the follow up. I don’t remember seeing any oil specs on the Belma hops, but I can’t help wondering if that is the issue here. I’m due for doing another batch on single-hopped brews soon, and Belma is on the list. Sounds like you really need to push the late additions if you want to get a lot of character out of this one, though.