Hop Thief 8

[shacked]

I had HT8 on tap. It was pretty good and much better than the bottles I had on the weekend. Quite different to the others in the series but I still enjoyed it.

I think they have wound back the munich and removed the dark crystal. If i had to guess it's just base malt and light crystal plus maybe a touch of munich 1.

 

[skb]

I loved the HT8 was with a friend in Adelaide was on tap ... Very nice but bloody expensive schooner for $9, which when slamming them down is bloody expensive .... Or maybe I don't get out enough

 

[Rocker1986]

I think they have wound back the munich and removed the dark crystal. If i had to guess it's just base malt and light crystal plus maybe a touch of munich 1.

It says on the bottle pale malt, Munich and malted wheat.

 

[shacked]

It says on the bottle pale malt, Munich and malted wheat.

Well there you go!

 

[Brewman_]

Got a few bottles of HT 8.

It's a hop thief along the lines of the recent one's. Really only ever tried from 6 upwards.

It does have Malt and Hops, but may not be everyone's idea of an APA here.

I think it was reported at around the high 30's to 40's as far as the IBU's go. I'd agree with that. Quite well hidden cold but as it warms, that does come through.

Final gravity of around 1012 with an ABV of 5% puts the Starting gravity at around the 1050 mark. I think that FG of 1012 helps to balance that bitterness.

Hops. It's certainly not an overly hoppy APA. The hops are there, but not to the level that one might expect in say a craft APA. Cascade and Crystal are the hops.

On the Malt it was reported that they pulled back the crystal, seems to be the case with this one, say compared to HT 6, where I recall it being quite a bit sweater. I'm thinking a simple malt bill, Ale, Munich Light and Malted Wheat, and I just can't help myself to put a tiny bit of crystal in there.

Colour is around 17 EBC, deep gold / amber. looks great. Nice colour from that Munich.

I have put a recipe together for it on BrewBuilder.

I'll post it up if anyone is interested.

Cheers Steve

 

[BKBrews]

I tried it again tonight (bought 2 X 6 packs) and I still don't rate it. I actually liked it less tonight than I did the first time I tried it. I never tried the 6 or earlier, but 7 was much better I reckon.

 

[shacked]

Got a few bottles of HT 8.

It's a hop thief along the lines of the recent one's. Really only ever tried from 6 upwards.

It does have Malt and Hops, but may not be everyone's idea of an APA here.

I think it was reported at around the high 30's to 40's as far as the IBU's go. I'd agree with that. Quite well hidden cold but as it warms, that does come through.

Final gravity of around 1012 with an ABV of 5% puts the Starting gravity at around the 1050 mark. I think that FG of 1012 helps to balance that bitterness.

Hops. It's certainly not an overly hoppy APA. The hops are there, but not to the level that one might expect in say a craft APA. Cascade and Crystal are the hops.

On the Malt it was reported that they pulled back the crystal, seems to be the case with this one, say compared to HT 6, where I recall it being quite a bit sweater. I'm thinking a simple malt bill, Ale, Munich Light and Malted Wheat, and I just can't help myself to put a tiny bit of crystal in there.

Colour is around 17 EBC, deep gold / amber. looks great. Nice colour from that Munich.

I have put a recipe together for it on BrewBuilder.

I'll post it up if anyone is interested.

Cheers Steve

Yes, please post it up!

 

[Rocker1986]

I found a couple of six packs of HT7 in a bottle shop last weekend so I picked one up, it was definitely better than 8. SWMBO liked HT8 though, so I left them for her to drink :lol:

 

[Brewman_]

Here's the recipe on BrewBuilder. The HT6, and HT7 are there too.

 

[rude]

Tried this on the weekend at $12 a six pack why not

The beer was bright, great lasting head with heaps of hops would have been proud to have brewed that

A like the look of the recipe Brewman similar to what I put in APA except Im more conservative on the crystal malt
around 100 to 200 grams have gone 300g
Might have to try the 500g mark to see what it brings

Have played around with the munich 1 :icon_drool2: from 250g to 1Kg

 

[Brewman_]

Tried this on the weekend at $12 a six pack why not

The beer was bright, great lasting head with heaps of hops would have been proud to have brewed that

A like the look of the recipe Brewman similar to what I put in APA except Im more conservative on the crystal malt
around 100 to 200 grams have gone 300g
Might have to try the 500g mark to see what it brings

Have played around with the munich 1 :icon_drool2: from 250g to 1Kg

Hey Rude,
If you try the recipe let me know. I have not actually road tested this one.. It may need a little tweak.

Cheers

 

[Droopy Brew]

Grabbed a carton from Dans for $50 to take camping on the weekend. I reckon its a good drop with a good hop presence. Probably a little easier drinking due to less crystal -it is a bit lighter on the palate.
Makes me wonder about the handling of this beer when you hear comments that there is no hop presence reported by some.

 

[technobabble66]

I've always been a huge fan of Hop Thief.
Tried #8 over the last 2 days while on holiday in port Douglas. I'm hoping it's either a poorly kept or old 6-pack or my tastebuds & nose are on the blink.
Very little hops presence compared to the previous 7 iterations. And I have to admit I prefer the heavier malt balance of the previous ones also. I can appreciate the malts are still reminiscent of the others, but a more sessionable variant. So I s'pose that's fine, but I definitely prefer the more solid version.
I was really looking forward to this as I'm very keen to see what Crystal brings, but honesty struggled to pick anything, even the cascade, let alone something new like Crystal. I found the previous hop thief's were always a great combo of solid malt with strong tropical hoppiness and a great dank undertone - makes me wonder if they should've been classed as an Amber Ale, now that I think about it. None of that in this one.
Sad face.
Tbh, I thought it still had a certain characteristic "hop thief" sweetness from the crystal malt(?) - something I liked in the previous hop thief's but assumed they'd eliminate to make it more sessionable.

I'll try it somewhere on tap to check if I got a bad one or was having an off day, but so far very underwhelmed.

 

[Rocker1986]

A like the look of the recipe Brewman similar to what I put in APA except Im more conservative on the crystal malt
around 100 to 200 grams have gone 300g
Might have to try the 500g mark to see what it brings

There is only 55g of crystal malt in that recipe, not 550g.

 

[Brewman_]

Yes that's right. 1% crystal - 55g for that batch size. There's not much Crystal in that beer in my opinion.

Cheers Steve

 

[Rocker1986]

On the bottle labels it doesn't mention the use of crystal malt at all, just pale, Munich and malted wheat.

 

[Brewman_]

Yeah I noticed that. Not sure the labels accurately list the ingredients. I read somewhere they pulled it right back, so I am thinking maybe 1%

It's the impression I got when I tasted it.

 

[rude]

There is only 55g of crystal malt in that recipe, not 550g.

So there is thanks for that must have been on the sip when reading that

To be honest I dont like a lot of crystal in my APAs usually 100g carramunich11 does me

My next mash in will be an APA then a English bitter if ever I can get the time

That recipe is pretty much what I do but I have never used crystal hops or POR for that matter

Have seen some crew using munich 2 for there APAs which looks interesting

cheers Rocker for the pickup

 

[Dan Pratt]

Here's the recipe on BrewBuilder. The HT6, and HT7 are there too.

HT_8.jpg

Hey brewman.

Id like to comment on the recipe regarding the hops. 38ibu from the bittering charge is way off. I've had that beer a few times now and definitely not a strong bittering edge like that.

It's more like 50% at 60mins and the rest late.

 

[Black Devil Dog]

I've always been a huge fan of Hop Thief.
Tried #8 over the last 2 days while on holiday in port Douglas. I'm hoping it's either a poorly kept or old 6-pack or my tastebuds & nose are on the blink.
Very little hops presence compared to the previous 7 iterations. And I have to admit I prefer the heavier malt balance of the previous ones also. I can appreciate the malts are still reminiscent of the others, but a more sessionable variant. So I s'pose that's fine, but I definitely prefer the more solid version.
I was really looking forward to this as I'm very keen to see what Crystal brings, but honesty struggled to pick anything, even the cascade, let alone something new like Crystal. I found the previous hop thief's were always a great combo of solid malt with strong tropical hoppiness and a great dank undertone - makes me wonder if they should've been classed as an Amber Ale, now that I think about it. None of that in this one.
Sad face.
Tbh, I thought it still had a certain characteristic "hop thief" sweetness from the crystal malt(?) - something I liked in the previous hop thief's but assumed they'd eliminate to make it more sessionable.

I'll try it somewhere on tap to check if I got a bad one or was having an off day, but so far very underwhelmed.

I was in Port Douglas that same weekend,

I bought a carton of HT8 from Dans in Cairns, never tried it before, but liked HT6 & 7.

Even though I was there with Corona / Wine / Bourbon drinking companions, I was fairly sure that over the next 4 days/nights I'd be able to get through them.

During the first stubbie, I quietly thought 'holy ****, I've got another 23 of these to get through'.

There was a certain taste that I hadn't experienced before and I put it down to the hops, my understanding is that they used Crystal and Cascade hops, I've never used Crystal hops before.

After the first couple of beers, I got used to the flavour but still found them much less enjoyable than the 2 earlier versions.

I did finish them all, but that's more to do with me not wanting to leave any behind, than the beer being very nice. I won't buy it again.

 

[Brewman_]

Hey brewman.

Id like to comment on the recipe regarding the hops. 38ibu from the bittering charge is way off. I've had that beer a few times now and definitely not a strong bittering edge like that.

It's more like 50% at 60mins and the rest late.

Hey Pratty,

So your saying you think the 38 IBU's is right, but half from the 60 minute addition and half from the late hops?

 

[Rocker1986]

Have seen some crew using munich 2 for there APAs which looks interesting

cheers Rocker for the pickup

No worries mate.

Yeah I use Munich II in my APAs at about 10% usually, and medium crystal at around 5%. MO makes up the 85%, and that's all I use. They always turn out bloody nice too.

 

[Dan Pratt]

Hey Pratty,

So your saying you think the 38 IBU's is right, but half from the 60 minute addition and half from the late hops?

Hey brewman,

38 is high. Id go more towards the low 30's at 32ibu and start with 16ibu at 60mins and 16ibu at 10mins.

The abv and malt do balance the hops and its not as solid hop wise as HT6. With cascade and crystal low alpha they would be using something else for bittering and Id suggest ISO extract over POR but a good starting bittering hop for Aussie made, POR or even Topaz could be what they use.

 

[Brewman_]

Hey brewman,

38 is high. Id go more towards the low 30's at 32ibu and start with 16ibu at 60mins and 16ibu at 10mins.

The abv and malt do balance the hops and its not as solid hop wise as HT6. With cascade and crystal low alpha they would be using something else for bittering and Id suggest ISO extract over POR but a good starting bittering hop for Aussie made, POR or even Topaz could be what they use.

Hey Pratty,
I think that might give more hop flavour than what I was getting in my sample, but I get where your coming from.

Might have to make it this weekend.

Cheers for the comments. Will keep it in mind for V2.

Cheers Steve

 

[technobabble66]

FWIW, HTA 4 & 5 were "around 35 IBUs" and 35 IBUs respectively - words of Tony Jones (... the MSB head brewer, not the TV dude)

But i'd say that's a "smooth" bitterness - so maybe the equivalent of 30-33 IBUs of something a bit sharper, like POR. Or maybe the malts smoothed it out intrinsically anyway.

Also fwiw, i believe they used Super Alpha for bittering in HTA 7 (courtesy of shacked, word from the brewers at MSB).
(They used 5 hops in that one, but only mentioned the ones they dry hopped with (Galaxy & Mosaic) - the others were Super Alpha in the boil, plus Cascade & Simcoe in whirlpool.)

 

[shacked]

FWIW, HTA 4 & 5 were "around 35 IBUs" and 35 IBUs respectively - words of Tony Jones (... the MSB head brewer, not the TV dude) But i'd say that's a "smooth" bitterness - so maybe the equivalent of 30-33 IBUs of something a bit sharper, like POR. Or maybe the malts smoothed it out intrinsically anyway. Also fwiw, i believe they used Super Alpha for bittering in HTA 7 (courtesy of shacked, word from the brewers at MSB). (They used 5 hops in that one, but only mentioned the ones they dry hopped with (Galaxy & Mosaic) - the others were Super Alpha in the boil, plus Cascade & Simcoe in whirlpool.)

Yup, that's correct. That's what both Chuck Hahn and one of their brewers told me about HT7.

FWIW, my HT7 clone (version 3) was about 30 IBU (according to brewmate) and seemed a little light on. For my 4th attempt I went 40 IBU as follows:

20IBU from FWH
10IBU from whirlpool
10IB from cube.

I do a 20 min whirlpool.

I think the 8 is less bitter than 7. 30 to 35 seems about right.