In theory I know the answer to this but wanted some experienced advice.
I usually use magnum for bittering addition for my IPAs. I wanted to try bittering with chinook this time and wondering what the difference will be everything else being equal. Specifically, will there be any taste difference (increased pine?) or just a different (less mellow) bitter.
Thanks
Depending you how much Chinook you use, you might get a little bit of pine. But you may never notice it, either. IMO, Chinook is a much better bittering hop for IPA than Magnum is.
+1. Magnum gives a smooth, pretty neutral bitterness where Chinook gives a more coarse IPA-like bitterness. I bitter IPAs with either Chinook or Columbus.
I used to bitter APA and IPA with Magnum but Denny talked me into Chinook. I do same IBUs away before. To me its a sharper, brighter, bitterness and supports the other flavor/aroma hops better when using American late hops.
Now you type this. Just back back from LHBS with some Magnum for the APA I’m brewing this coming week. LOL! Well, I’m still going to use it for this batch but what would you use Magnum for? 'Cuz I will have a bunch left over!
Lagers, or any beer where you want a smooth, neutral, clean bitterness.
Remember that if you find 100% Chinook bittering to be a little too resiny/rough, just back it off and use a combo Chinook/Magnum. You’ll be able to find the ratio that is perfect for your tastes with a few tries.
Same with me… Especially Columbus. I actually never buy magnum. I’ll use warrior for neutral bittering. I also use nugget in most porters and stouts.
+1. Magnum is my go-to bittering hop for higher-gravity lagers (i.e. Bock, Dopplebock, etc). You can use a half ounce or so and get most of the bittering you need. You’d need several ounces of a lower alpha hop to get the same.
Cool, thanks, decision made
I like to use hercules.
I’ve settled on first wort hopping with Chinook for roughly 50% of my IPA IBUs and also use a 60 minute addition of another more neutral bittering hop for the other 50%. Works well in my IPA.
By this, is it safe to assume you mean that this applies to the BITTERING additions, and the flavor/aroma additions are counted separately?
I mainly use Cluster when I use a kettle-only hop.
Yes. Although I tend not to do any other hop additions until 5 minutes left in the boil for my IPAs.
Everyone’s palate is different, but I find bittering with Chinook to be overly abrasive and harsh. Every IPA I’ve bittered with Chinook, I struggled to finish the keg. I use Warrior for clean and Columbus for that li’l something extra for all my IPAs now. Save the chinook for dry hopping. Good luck.
It’s all personal preference. I bitter IPAs with Chinook or Columbus (Warrior on the occasion) and like them all. I have an Arrogant Bastard-type beer (bittered with Chinook) on tap now that’s anything but abrasive. Each his own.
Columbus is definitely a nice medium bite.
Love this hop for IPA bitter additions.
I remember some of the old Chinook IPAs being rough back when it was ubiquitous. However, I’ve never had that problem when using it for bittering, and I like it better than Columbus (and want to save Simcoe and others for later).