[quote]It smells like Ammonia? You have a f*cked up sense of smell!
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How do you know what I smell? And how do we all know we are smelling/tasting the same things? As I said, I don’t doubt that others only get awesome smells from Simcoe, but I get a totally different experience. To me,this means there has to be a genetic component. And I am sure that these catty smells will vary from batch to batch, but I have drank the same beer next to others that get zero cattiness, and all I get is urine. Sad, but at lease there are plenty other hops out there for me to enjoy!
How do you know what I smell? And how do we all know we are smelling/tasting the same things? As I said, I don’t doubt that others only get awesome smells from Simcoe, but I get a totally different experience. To me,this means there has to be a genetic component. And I am sure that these catty smells will vary from batch to batch, but I have drank the same beer next to others that get zero cattiness, and all I get is urine. Sad, but at lease there are plenty other hops out there for me to enjoy!
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Okay, but if you’d never heard anyone else describe it as “catty” (which that description drives me up the wall), would you have come to the same conclusion on its description? Some descriptions people use are crazy. Bready, doughy, earthy, spicy…I get. But catty? Might be a genetic thing, but there is certainly no ammonia in your hops. And I’m sure they don’t burn your nose either when you smell them.
But either way, I think I’m complaining to a brick wall here. You smell what you smell. The only constant is the thing you’re smelling. Simcoe smells like Simcoe, regardless of what you perceive. This reminds me of the Matrix…
[quote]Okay, but if you’d never heard anyone else describe it as “catty” (which that description drives me up the wall), would you have come to the same conclusion on its description? Some descriptions people use are crazy. Bready, doughy, earthy, spicy…I get. But catty? Might be a genetic thing, but there is certainly no ammonia in your hops. And I’m sure they don’t burn your nose either when you smell them.
But either way, I think I’m complaining to a brick wall here. You smell what you smell. The only constant is the thing you’re smelling. Simcoe smells like Simcoe, regardless of what you perceive. This reminds me of the Matrix…
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I don’t understand your point. Whenever we describe tastes and smells aren’t we always trying to compare it to other things that gave us similar experiences? When I smelled cat pee it had NOTHING to do with other peoples experiences, but the smell to me best compared to times when I have smelled cat pee. In the end, EVERY taste and smell we experience is relative, and so that’s the only way we can describe it to others.
Simcoe is proprietary. It is grown on at least 3 farms according to the Hopunion Hop Variety Handbook. On a video, Vinnie Cilurzo sais he uses Simcoe differently (boil, dry hop, etc) depending on which farm it was grown on.
How can we know as consumers what farm ours was grown on? Are they all close to each other (same climate, similar soil, etc) or is one in Utah and the others in Washington?
From memory, the farms are, Carpenter, Loftus, and Perrault. I don’t know the exact locations of those. I know that hops are grown near Moxee, Toppenish, and from Sunnyside to Prosser. So different sections of the valley.
12 kg pale malt
450 grams crystal 60L
360 grams Munich malt (I’ve got it, and it might add a little maltiness + a little color correction)
60 grams magnum FWH (calculated as 20 minutes) giving 28.5 IBU
24 grams simcoe with 5 minutes remaining for 3.2 IBU
24 grams cascade with 5 minutes remaining for 1.3 IBU
60 grams simcoe for a 45 minute hop stand
60 grams cascade for 45 minute hop stand
Ferment half with White labs burton ale and half with reused yeast from Prairie Ale Project 'Merica saison.
I could do that but I’d have to figure out where to pull it from cause this recipe already has all the simcoe I own in it. I suppose I could order for the dry hop.
