Substitutions planned: Apollo for Columbus, Cascade for Centennial, and Mosaic for Simcoe.
Here are Vinnie’s kettle additions for a 6 gal batch…
3.50 oz (99 g) Columbus* 13.90% A.A. 90 min. (sub Apollo - 18% AA)
0.75 oz (21 g) Columbus* 13.90% A.A. 45 min. (sub Apollo - 18% AA)
1.00 oz (28 g) Simcoe 12.30% A.A. 30 min. (sub Mosaic - 12% AA)
1.00 oz (28 g) Centennial 8.00% A.A. 0 min. (sub Cascade - 5.5% AA)
2.50 oz (71 g) Simcoe 12.30% A.A. 0 min. (sub Mosaic - 12% AA)
AA % are fairly similar, with the exception of the Apollo. Should I sub the hops straight across (with an obviously smaller Apollo addition)? Or should I change the balance? I’ve never brewed with Mosaic before, so I’m not sure what to expect there.
Planning to follow the same plan for dry hopping too. Vinnie calls for equal amounts of each hop in a double dry hop.
There’s more going on here than just bitterness. I’m no expert but the different flavor profiles will, I presume, not blend the same as the original hop blend.
Sounds like a solid plan. I think those varieties are each good substitutions to get you in the same ballpark. I’d adjust the Apollo quantities for AA%, but otherwise an ounce-for-ounce substitution should work for each of those hops. The end result will be different, but should still be damn good. Mosaic is a fantastic hop, you’re gonna like it.
Obviously, as you mentioned, back the Apollo off to give you IBUs equal to the Columbus. In terms of intensity, Simcoe and Mosaic would be roughly interchangeable, though Mosaic is fruitier (in a good way IMO). And personally I would maybe increase the Cascade from 1 oz to ~1.5 oz because I feel that Cascade is a little less intense than Centennial. So this clearly won’t be Pliny in terms of hop aroma and flavor, but it who cares? Sounds good to me ! Cheers.
I substituted mosaic for Simcoe last year. Let me say the wife would drink it, as she hates the cat pee she gets in Simcoe. Makes a good DIPA. Brew it and enjoy.
i would not dryhop with the Apollo, if i were you.
I did an experiment for our club (based off what I saw on bertusbrewery.com) a few months back, where I dryhopped 12 bottles of Bud Light, each with a different hop for our club to experience the qualities of each hop.
Apollo was voted, hands down by all 15-20 or so people present as the worst dryhop by far. Rank, oniony and hot garbage were all descriptors I thought were appropriate. Most of the others were very nice, but that was putrid.
I like Apollo for bittering, but beyond that, I’d rethink it.
I misread the OP, Paul. Since I only use Apollo for bittering like you, I assumed that was his intention too and that the late hops would be the dry hops, not the whole hop schedule. But I would definitely not dry hop Apollo after trying a guy’s IPA once which was hopped only with Apollo. Wow…horrendous.
Thanks for the feedback. I had planned to dry hop with all three hops. I’ve made an all Apollo IPA before (bittering, flavor, aroma, and dry hop), and it didn’t have any of the unpleasant flavors/aromas that some of you have mentioned. I’m planning to evaluate how they all play together in the boil to determine what direction I want it to lean for the dry hop.
Oh, and I’m using BeerSmith to calculate the IBUs so I have a properly sized bittering addition.
Brewed on Saturday. Had a couple hiccups - flow issues on mash recirc, and ended up with more wort than planned in the kettle, which was also lower gravity than planned. Stirred the mash and everything moved right along. The volume/gravity issue was an easy fix: boiled an extra 30 mins before adding the first hop addition. All ended up well. The hop blend smelled fantastic. I got a lot of the blueberry notes people talk about in Mosaic. Can’t wait to taste the final product.
OG: 1.084. Now fermenting away at 67F in my temp controlled fridge after pitching a 2L starter of WLP090. Planning to dry hop with all three hops.
Curious how it turns out as I just ordered a half pound of Apollo from NB. I’ve never used it before and I really want to experiment with this hop. I am considering blending with Cascades and go for a big grapefruit flavor IPA. Cascades will go in for 20 minutes, 5, and flameout for a hop stand of 30 minutes or so. Considering putting some Apollo in at whirlpool with them and the hop stand.
Resurrecting a dead thread, but I’m curious. I have some new Apollo from YVH I was planning on using in my next IPA. How do y’all feel about Apollo as a flameout/dry hop addition?
Personally, I’ve had some fantastic Apollo and some mediocre ones. I’m guessing that the end result depends on growing and harvesting conditions.
At its best, Apollo is like the perfect marriage of Amarillo and Columbus, plenty of tangerine with some dank resin to back it up. The mediocre Apollo I’ve had has none of the orange notes and is just nondescript “resin” without much depth to it.
Been awhile since I brewed it but Apollo was not good as an aroma or flavor hop for me. Lingering sharp bitterness and little else as I recall. Mine were 1 year old though and repackaged in mylar looking nitro purged bags. Plenty of Alpha I will give them that.
I’m using it for the first time and have not even dry hopped the beer. Just the whirlpool additions are crazy enough (about 0.7lbs/bbl of Eureka), pretty amazing and happy that it’s still under the radar.
I did an Apollo SMaSH last year, it also had nice apricot overtones. It was good. Hop quality does vary yet everything from YVH this year has been stellar; no complaints. Your hop addition schedule looks great.
8.2% is way too syrupy for me yet Vinny pulls it off nicely. Wondering if it’s the sugar addition that makes that possible.