Altus
Has massive spicy, dank, and resinous aromas that lend to soft tangerine and herbal, grassy notes. Booming with high alpha and oil content, Altus™ is the perfect dual-purpose flavor-forward bittering hop and has changed the way we typically look at high alpha varieties. From a Mexican Lager all the way up the pike to a triple IPA, Altus™ can repurpose itself in many recipes for those who dare to explore the creative potentials behind this variety.
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Contessa
Presents several similar qualities to that of traditional German noble hop varieties, but is grown right here in the US. Contessa gives pleasant floral, light pear, green tea, and lemongrass notes with smooth, well-rounded bitterness.
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Triumph
Intended as a higher-alpha (approx. 9-12%) aroma variety with high myrcene and humulene content and low cohumulone, Triumph can be used as a standalone hop or as part of a blend in everything from lagers to pale ales. Intense and fruity with prominent peach, lime, and orange, followed with suggestions of spice and pine.
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Trident
Trident™ was developed for those seeking a hop forward punch to the nose fruity, citrus, tropical, passion fruit blend to fit any beer style. Trident™ is a specialized blend with a much wider range of aroma and flavor characteristics than any single hop variety could generate on its own. Although, Trident™ is perfectly balanced as is, it can also be used with other unique Hopsteiner proprietary varieties to build an even more unique, and potent flavor profile.
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Current AA__Approximately 11%

Ever changing blend of hops for interesting IPA's.

No 18 blend is:

Southern Cross 33.33%, has delicate citrus and spice notes

Jarrylo 33.33%, contributes banana, pear, orange, and fruity spice

Azacca 33.33% with citrus and very ripe mango notes

Amarillo 33.33% adds a strong orange, grapefruit component, with floral notes

Use in: IPA, IIPA, American ales

Current AA__Approximately 10%

Ever changing blend of hops for interesting IPA's.

No 17 blend is:

Columbus 16.66%

Simcoe 33.33%

Azacca 33.33%

Mosaic 16.66%

Use in: IPA, IIPA, American ales

Hop Substitutes: None

Occasionally we end up with yeast that doesn't sell within it's best by date or within the recommended dates set by the manufacturer. We decided to try brewing with some old packages to find out if it would create beer or just do nothing . For this experiment we brewed a Belgian Dark Strong, referred to as a Quad or Belgian Quad.

Brew date was 12/20/20. Two days prior to brewing we took 3 different Belgian yeast strains (2 packages each of Wyeast 3522, Wyeast 1388, Wyeast 1214) and made a 3 liter starter with a gravity of 1.035. All of the packages were dated prior to 5/15/2020.

Typically our starters have a small krausen; This starter showed no signs of activity other than a change in color and take on a milky appearance. After completing our brew session and chilling our wort we pitched our yeast with little expectations.

Our backup plan was to pitch dry yeast should the liquid yeast starter not show any sign of reducing gravity. However we didn't need it. Only after 2 hours of pitching our liquid yeast starter did it begin to show major signs of activity. The fermentation started so quickly and vigorously that is sounded like someone was knocking from the inside of our fermentation chamber.

The resulting beer has all the Belgian characteristics one would expect from a Belgian style beer.

Should we try this experiment again we will start with one package and do a multi-step starter to increase the cell count prior to pitching in our wort.

In conclusion, is using older, out dated yeast a great idea. Probably not so much. But if there are any viable cells in the package and you preform a starter, especially a multi-step starter you can save on that package of yeast that may have been forgotten about in the back of you fridge.

Happy Brewing

Ingredients:

• 7.5 lb 2-Row Pale malt
• 5 lb Munich malt
• 3 lb Vienna malt
• 0.75 lb White Wheat malt
• 0.75 lb Crystal 120L malt
• 0.5 lb Chocolate malt
• 0.5 lb Blackprinz
• 2.0 oz Hallertau Traditional pellet hops, 4.2% AA (60 min)
• 1.5 oz Hallertau Traditional pellet hops, 4.2% AA (15 min)
• 0.5 oz Hallertau Traditional pellet hops, 4.2% AA (0 min)
• Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager yeast

Specifications: Original Gravity: 1.083 ABV: 8.0% IBU: 35 SRM: 35 FG: 1.020

Boil Time: 90 minutes

Efficiency: 70%

• Directions:
• Mash at 150°F for 90 minutes.
• Boil wort 90 minutes, adding hops as noted.
• Ferment at 62°F in primary one week, lager in secondary for six weeks at 35°F
• Bottle with 3/4 cup corn sugar or force carbonate.

What looks to be becoming a holiday tradition we've crafted another holiday ale this season.

To give a little background, last year, back when we could gather and celebrate together, oh those were the times, Shanna asked if we had enough time to have a holiday ale on tap for the upcoming Christmas party we were hosting. She asked this on December 15th. All I could answer was "if we make it today, maybe" We were able to pull it off and created a beer that didn't end up being too spicy or "hot" given it's very short conditioning time. The most received comment on the beer was that it tasted like a melted gingerbread cookie. Sounds good, right? You should make it again. Agreed but we failed to write anything down in our haste to make the beer.

Since we won't be able to gather this year we still decided to make a holiday ale, albeit much sooner in the season. We hope to put together gift baskets for family and friends to be dropped off that will include this year's holiday ale. For this years ale we put together an extract recipe:

• Fermentables
• 6.6 lbs. Pale ale LME
• 1.0 lb. Pilsen Light DME
• 0.75 lb. Corn Sugar

• Steeping Grains
• 6.0 oz. Cara Brown
• 6.0 oz. British Dark Crystal I
• 4.0 oz. Chocolate
• 4.0 oz. Chocolate Wheat

• Hops
• 1.0 oz. Columbus
• 2.0 oz. Fuggle

• Spices
• Sweet Orange Peel
• Cinnamon
• Cardamom
• Ginger
• Five Spice
• Nutmeg
• Clove

We steeped the specialty grains at 152 F° for 20 minutes in 2 gallons of water, added the LME and DME and brought to a boil. Added a 1.0 oz. of Columbus hops at 60 minutes, 1.0 oz. Fuggle at 40 minutes and another 1.0 oz. of Fuggle and 20 minutes before added 1.0 oz. of sweet orange peel and about 1 tsp each of the listed spices. Cooled down to 90 F° and topped up with cold clean water to 5.25 gallons. Added oxygen and pitched 1 packet of S-04 dry yeast. Fermentation started in about 6 hours at 68 F° and iss bubbling away. If this beer tastes as good as it smells in the fermentor we'll be happy. We will try to update once we get o sample this beer on how it turned out. Until then happy holidays and feel free to share any brewing holiday traditions you may have.

Shanna's Holiday Ale

We’ve decided to continue writing a little bit about some of the new hops that we bring in to try and give you a better idea of their characteristics.

First up, Lubelski Hops

Lubelski Hops with an alpha acid of 2.8%

Sometimes marketed as Lublin or Lubelski, it’s high humulene content is outdone only by its rare, high levels of farnesene. This oil profile results in interesting aromas of magnolia and lavender.

Pedigree: Derived from Saaz
Brewing Usage: Aroma
Aroma: Noble-like, floral, earthy.

We went with a recipe that has done very well for us in many competitions, a Trappist Single

For this 10-gallon all-grain batch we had a very simple grain bill:

Floor Malted Bohemian Pilsner - 50.0%
Belgian Pilsner- 50.0%

Our hop addition was:

60 min – 8.0 oz - ~40 IBU

The results from this hop are really interesting. It has a very delicate spicy aroma and subtle floral, rose petal-like characteristic. It plays nicely with the Belgian blend of yeast used (Wyeast 3787 High Trappist and Mangrove Jack’s M31) without dominating the beer. When we brew this again, we will add a late addition to try and make the hop presence even more prominent in the aroma.

This beer it crystal clear and very easy to drink, almost too easy. A nice light summer-time beer with plenty of interest to invite you back for a sip

We have some more hops from this region that we will use soon to see how they compare to Lubelski.

Verdict: Any beer that you’d use Saaz or any noble hop in could be replaced by Lubelski, especially if you want a lower spicy presence from your hops.

Cheers!

https://www.farmhousebrewingsupply.com/lubelski-pol-4-oz/

Pretty basic grain bill with a some emphasis on malt :

2row - 77.2%
Vienna - 10.5%
British Cara - 5.3%
Carapils - 5.3%
Acidulated - 1.8%

Starting gravity was 1.063

Our hop addition were:

60 min -.08/oz - 12.9 IBU
15 min -.1.5/oz - 9.3 IBU
10 Min - 1.5/oz - 5.1 IBU
0 Min - 1.5/oz - 0 IBU  15 Min whirlpool @ 180

Dry hopped with 4/oz for 5 days

The results from this hop is really amazing, one of the most dynamic single hopped beers we've ever brewed.  We expected the bittering to be a little aggressive/rough...and it is but not in an off putting way.  It really holds the entire beer together and lets you know you are drinking an IPA.

The flavor is multi dimensional; Citrus fruits up front, with a distinctive fruity middle (Tropical, sweet, tangerines), it all transitions into a wonderfully spicy finish.  Some get black pepper, some have said anise, I get subtle pine notes. It has a funk to it as well, hard to place the actual flavor but its the same "wild" flavor I've got from other Neomexicanus hops(Medusa, Willow Creek).

This aroma is where this hop really shines, it literally just explodes out of the glass, huge fruit notes (mango, red fruits, pine, citrus). Just an amazing aroma and really distinctive.

This hop is really worth a try and is a nice departure from the typical IPA suspects.

Cheers!

Here is a breakout of the #14 hop blend:

Enigma 14.28%

Waimea 14.28% 

Vic Secret 14.28% 

Green Bullet 14.28% 

Topaz 7.14% 

Pacific Jade 7.14% 

Nelson Sauvin 7.14% 

Orbit 7.14% 

Pacific Gem 7.14% 

Helga 7.14% 

Southern Cross 7.14%

Here is a breakout of the #13 hop blend:

Ahtanum10.52%

Apollo10.52% 

Azacca10.52% 

Cascade10.52% 

Centennial10.52%

Meridian10.52% 

Simcoe10.52% 

Galaxy5.27% 

Citra10.52% 

Chinook10.52%

Here is a breakout of the #12 hop blend:

Bodicea   14.29 

Apollo      14.29 

Cascade  14.29 

Kohatu     14.29 

Azacca    14.29 

Calypso    14.29 

Palisade    14.29

Here is a breakout of the #11 hop blend:

Fantasia    14.3%

Citra          3.58%

Amarillo     3.58%

Centennial  3.58%

Chinook     3.58%

Magnum    14.3% 

Equinox     14.23%

Columbus  14.23%

Apollo        14.23%

Kazbek      14.23%

Here is a breakout of the blend: