Back when Hops Direct was trying to get rid of 2014 harvest, I bought a pound of Calypso to justify shipping and want to use it soon. Thinking of a 2 C’s (neither of which is part of the 4 C’s) Pale Ale. The other C being Citra.
My plan is Calypso early and late boil, Citra late boil and flame-out/whirlpool in a medium body ale using a clean American yeast. Roughly 1.050 OG and 40 IBU. Any experience/opinion on how they’d pair?
I’ve read a lot of mixed reviews of Calypso, so wanted to throw this out there for opinions before committing to something that may not be worth the effort. Also wondering if the harvest year has much to do with what Calypso will bring.
I think it sounds fine. I’ve only used 2014 Calypso, so I can’t compare it to a different harvest. But any hop can vary from harvest to harvest. I liked Calypso fairly well but didn’t use it with Citra. I got apple/pear, citrus and some tropical fruit from the Calypso, where Citra is pretty mango-y obviously. But I’m sure they’d work well together, as long as you’re prepared for a really fruity hop character.
I did an IPA that was 2:1 Calypso/Citra throughout, trying to stretch the Citra with Calypso, which I have a lot of. At that level the Citra still dominated.
I do think that Calypso really shines as a whirlpool hop; I use it as the primary hop in my APA and get tons of the pear and lime that Jon mentions. Haven’t brewed with any 2015 hops yet, but I’m sitting on 132 lb of 2014 Calypso.
The only descriptor that worries me is apple. I don’t know how dominant it is in Calypso, but it’s not something I enjoy too much of in my beer. Any idea where in the hop schedule it would be more pronounced? I was hoping that the tropical fruit from the Citra would bring that character out in the Calypso and compliment it.
I wouldn’t worry about the apple character - it’s not way up front. Sometimes I get pear as opposed to apple, to go along with the citrus and mild tropical character. It’s not gonna be like drinking an apple beer at all. Plus, as Sean mentioned, Citra is a more powerful hop by a good margin. Personally, I’d blend the 2 as Sean did (or even use more Calypso to balance the hops more evenly) and use the blend late, in whirlpool, and dry. It’ll be good.
That’s good to hear. I’ll rework my hop schedule to match the 2:1 ratio that Sean uses. Might even go 3:1 given Citra’s tendency to dominate. It sounds like a better starting point than what I had planned.
Thanks for the help. Planning on brewing this coming weekend. I’ll pass along results if anyone is interested.
Sorry to resurrect an oldie, but it so happens that I am planning a Calypso/Citra IPA in near future – and I thought this was my own idea! Apparently it’s been done before! Any more results or insights? I’m thinking of going like 4:1 or 5:1 Calypso to Citra, as I know Citra is so dang powerful. I’m also going to look into Hallertau Blanc for even more fruitiness, maybe then do 3:2:1 or something like that, with Blanc in the middle. Whatchy’all think!?
Calypso ranks as one of my least favorite new world hops for an APA/IPA. As a sole hop, it makes beers smell estery (instead of hoppy), as the aromatic character I get from pure Calypso doesn’t immediately register as “hoppy” to me. That said, Citra is pretty bold and pretty upfront in its “IPA-ness,” so I would probably try something like 2-1 Calypso to Citra, or maybe schedule Calypso earlier in the boil (Like FWH Calypso, 5 min Calypso, Whirlpool 2:1 w/Calypso and Citra, dry 2:1 with Calypso and Citra). I have had similar issues with El Dorado, and I found that I just like using El Dorado in beers that don’t require an IPA-like hop character (like in a stout or malt-balanced brown ale).
I have a couple ounces of Calypso on hand for some hop trial APAs. I read some reviews that characterize Calypso as having an “Orange Creamsicle” type flavor, which has me worried a bit. Maybe the Citra would push it over the edge toward dominant citrus and not so much sweet flavor. Either way, I’ll look forward to hearing your results.
Thanks for the feedback guys. I’m pretty much going to just hopburst this IPA, add them all in the last few minutes of the boil, as well as whirlpool and dry hop, for maximum flavor and aroma, and for bitterness I’ll either use just the late hops or use something more mild. I’ve read that Calypso is high in cohumulone and can give a very harsh bitterness and I don’t want that. Citra is no better on that front. So maybe some Magnum or Galena or something like that, or just the old homegrown Cascades.
Also I fully intend to sniff 'em before I use 'em anyway, and if they don’t do much for the aroma, it’s possible (though unlikely) I could just go with Citra all the way. But of course if I buy them then I might as well just dump them into the IPA, too. We’ll see. I’m still thinking and will smell them first and see if that inspires me on what I want to do.
skyler, I hear what you said about El Dorado. I used El Dorado as the base in an IPA last year. I’ll be honest, to me they were just extremely mild. I didn’t get any of the crazy fruity character that everyone talks about, not at all. They were just like a really bland Centennial or something like that. Maybe I got a bad batch or crop, I dunno. Whatever it is, I won’t bother trying those anymore.
The idea of Polaris, the minty hop, intrigues me as well… but not for this batch. Some other time. I’ll bet it would be great in a sweet stout.
Have you used Polaris? I wouldn’t call it mint, exactly. It’s an herbaceous quality like a Ricola cough drop. I get a similar character in Northern Brewer. And Polaris is really resinous as well. If you used it in a sweet stout, I’d use a really light hand.
Today I brewed my Calypso/Citra IPA. I used homegrown Cascade for the bittering and they ended up in line with what I wanted. I reserved the Calypso and Citra for the whirlpool in a ratio of 3:1. I am amazed at the pear character from the Calypso. In 3:1 it even overpowers the strong grapefruit and dare-I-say cattiness of the Citra. Now I am thinking about a 2:1 ratio might have been most appropriate. For dry hopping next week I’ll do either 2:1 or even 1:1 to help balance this out. Looking forward to it. The wort itself right now tastes like pear candy, so good. Would make some really good hop candy actually.
Sounds like it’ll be good either way, Dave. When I did the 3:1 , I either had some super potent Citra or some milder than usual Calypso (or both), because it balanced out pretty well for me. Regardless, sounds great!
For whatever it’s worth, I just tasted my Calypso/Citra IPA this evening. I was concerned that there would be way too much pear flavor from the Calypso. Not the case at all. The Citra overpowers as I’d originally feared once upon a time. So with dry hopping, I used up the 0.875 oz Calypso that I had in the fridge leftover from the whirlpool, and only used 0.125 oz Citra. This is only a 2-gallon batch, mind you. I figure this will be a good way to balance the pear from Calypso with the tropical catty craziness of the Citra. So we’ll see how that works out. I also noticed a super hot spiciness, like hot chili peppers, which I can only guess is either from my homegrown Cascades or from the Calypso? Wonder if you guys ever encountered this with Calypso. There was a lot in whirlpool so it could have gone crazy in the primary. Hmm.
I’ve never heard of anybody getting heat from a hops addition before Dave - I hope you don’t have a brain tumor or something… :o
I finally brewed with Calypso today and was surprised at their dried pear character. Reminded of fruit leather in a way. I brewed an APA with a FWH addition of Millenium, followed by a 170-deg whirlpool for 30 min with 1 oz Calypso. I hope 1 oz whirlpool in a 3-gallon batch will be enough to get a sense of their character. I have 2 oz of each of my “test hops”, so I was hoping to do a test APA followed by some combos.