I want to make an American IPA that involves the following four hops:
Ekuanot
Simcoe
Columbus
Chinook
I’ve had each of them individually in homebrews and loved them, but now I want to use all of them together. It will be a simple 5-gallon extract beer with light DME and some Crystal 10 for steeping–looking at roughly 6-7% ABV and 50-70 IBU when all is said and done. At this point, I don’t have any other direction or flavor preferences with this brew. I do love huge hop flavor and aroma in IPAs though.
Which of the hops do you think would be best for early-boil, late-boil, flameout, dry-hop, etc? Also what kind of ratios of each? Thanks in advance!
IMO, Simcoe should be used early and Columbus late. That being said, I would suggest:
1 oz. Simcoe @ 30 mins.
1 oz. Chinook @ 10 mins
1 oz. Columbus @ 5 mins
2 oz. Ekuanot @ 7 days
Although I don’t have firsthand experience with Ekuanot, it is classified as an an aroma hop vs. the Chinook, which is dual use. As I have read, it also brings more characteristics vs. the Chinook such as lemon and lime citrus, papaya, apple, green pepper and herbs. So, I think it would make a good dry hop.
If you can identify what you liked about each of the hops it would help to determine which addition(s) you use each for.
If you thought the aroma of a particular hop was great, use it as an aroma addition. Likewise with flavor and bittering qualities. Aside from that, you have the option of trying the recommendations of others here or experimenting on your own. If you chose to use the recommendations of others, be aware that your preferences may be much different than theirs.
Interesting that no hop was used at 60 or FWH - for a traditional American IPA (non-NEIPA), I would use a little up front for bittering (they are all pretty high alpha hops, so just a little goes a long way if used early). For me, probably the Chinook, saving the Simcoe for a little pine punch later as a flavor, aroma, or post-knockout addition (at your choice of zero, whirlpool, hop stand or mid-chill). You probably can’t go wrong with those hops, though.
I use that schedule for a very hoppy IPA that I brew and it’s plenty bitter - 78 IBUs. The OP was looking for 50-70. Without entering the recipe into a calculator, I’m guessing this schedule would generate about 60-65 IBUs. As mentioned, all, the hops have high AA and earlier additions would push the IBUs very high. My preference is to add mid to late to retain more flavor and aroma.
I have completely stopped doing whirlpool and most late additions. They just don’t seem to give me the same bang I get from cold short dry hopping. That also means I don’t have to worry about IBU from late additions.