Bravo or Magnum

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ozdevil

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My question is would magnum hops be a good substitute for Bravo hops

I have magnum hops in my freezer and i am not wanting to make a single purchase just on bravo hops as postage not worth it.


I'm stepping down from an A.G brew and i havent put this recipe in brewfather or beersmith

but its an extract which is coopers recipe of the month the breaky oatcream ipa

but its asking for bittering hops of bravo

i found i can get bravo hops, but i heard magnum is a very similar hop and i know magnum is good bittering hop correct me there if i am wrong

whats your thoughts
 
Magnum is a pretty clean bittering hop, so as long as you’re using it early in the boil (and not looking for any flavour or aroma) you should be fine.

Scratch that, just looked at the recipe... given it’s a flameout addition, you’re looking for flavour not bitterness. And magnum is not going to give the same flavour impact as bravo (or many other hops).

Do you have any alternative hops you can use? Maybe an American/Australian/Kiwi variety?
 
Magnum doesn't really work as an aroma hop, we did a big experiment in our club with dry hopping Coors with lots of different hops, Magnum just tasted woody and bitter, not a nice hop flavour.

Bravo is considered a bittering hop but it's great as an aroma hop or dry hop as well, particularly because of its high oil content and high linalool content... the linalool is one thing the yeast can biotransform in a modern oatcream neipa giving that juiciness.

Good thing is bravo is cheap as well. last time that I bought some it was 200g for like $17 or $18 posted.

Substitutes would be any modern citrus-heavy hop - citra/mosaic/galaxy/vic secret/motueka/comet/hbc 586/nectaron/amarillo/simcoe and the like

Anyway looking at that recipe they look to be trying to do a hopstand but honestly i wouldn't worry, as you're dry hopping with two of the most intense hop varieties out there in Citra and Galaxy... the Bravo will just get lost behind them. Plus doing the hopstand just after boiling is going to add loads of bitterness especially for 30 mins. I'd just leave them out, an oat cream IPA is all about low bitterness, sweetness from the lactose and creamy mouthfeel from the yeast.
 
One of the main (unusual) flavour components of Bravo appears to be it quite high Geraniol content (yes smells like Geraniums). A substitute that is also high in Geraniol would be a good call Citra and Cascade are both up there and fairly available.
Mark
 
Yep MHB I meant Geraniol not linalool, brain and fingers not connected properly, oops. Citra is high in both geraniol and linalool
 
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