Recipe Idea - Por Single Hop, Single Malt

[rossp]

Hey All,

Pride of Ringwood seems to get a bit of a bad reputation as it's the main hop used by most Aussie macro breweries. The little bits I've used have had a freakin wonderful smell but I've only ever used it for bittering.

Having a quick chat about it with Dave @ Greensborough Home Brew and another customer a few weeks back made me think it might be worth while giving an all-POR brew a go. The other bloke there was going to try it but was pretty sceptical!

What do you think of the following recipe?

Batch Size: 26.00 L
Boil Size: 31.31 L
Estimated OG: 1.041 SG
Estimated Color: 4.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 29.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.50 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 100.00 %
20.00 gm Pride of Ringwood [9.00 %] (60 min) Hops 18.4 IBU
20.00 gm Pride of Ringwood [9.00 %] (20 min) Hops 11.1 IBU
10.00 gm Pride of Ringwood [9.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
1 Pkgs American Ale (DCL Yeast #US-05) Yeast-Ale

Probably mashed at about 67 for moderate body; might also just use aussie pale malt instead of the Marris Otter.

Am I nuts?

 

[drsmurto]

Hey All,

Pride of Ringwood seems to get a bit of a bad reputation as it's the main hop used by most Aussie macro breweries. The little bits I've used have had a freakin wonderful smell but I've only ever used it for bittering.

Having a quick chat about it with Dave @ Greensborough Home Brew and another customer a few weeks back made me think it might be worth while giving an all-POR brew a go. The other bloke there was going to try it but was pretty sceptical!

What do you think of the following recipe?

Batch Size: 26.00 L
Boil Size: 31.31 L
Estimated OG: 1.041 SG
Estimated Color: 4.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 29.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.50 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 100.00 %
20.00 gm Pride of Ringwood [9.00 %] (60 min) Hops 18.4 IBU
20.00 gm Pride of Ringwood [9.00 %] (20 min) Hops 11.1 IBU
10.00 gm Pride of Ringwood [9.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
1 Pkgs American Ale (DCL Yeast #US-05) Yeast-Ale

Probably mashed at about 67 for moderate body; might also just use aussie pale malt instead of the Marris Otter.

Am I nuts?

Last year a few of the locals did a single hop challenge where we each brewed the same beer, same grist, same yeast, same IBU so the only difference was the hop used and the amount used to bitter with to keep the IBU the same.

I too was skeptical when holty put his hand up to do POR but it was a very nice beer. Fresh POR flowers were used with a similar hop schedule you have listed but with 80% JW pils, 15% munich and 5% caramunich.

Will be brewing with my homegrown POR flowers soon and wont be holding back at all with the late additions. The aroma when i picked them was gorgeous.

 

[Bribie G]

Nothing wrong with all-POR ; I've made a lot of them in my quest for Bulimba Draught :super: but of course get the flowers - latest season are available now. I think there's a bit of a cultural cringe about POR, some of the Euro and UK hops are quite underwhelming unless they are 'supported' by other hops. Target and Progress spring to mind here (my own individual taste of course but I wouldn't want to be making a SMASH with them)

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

I was talking to another brewer last night and mentioned that I may try and make an Australian IPA. I was going to bitter with POR then finish with Aussie cluster. I think it should work
GB

 

[katzke]

A single malt and single hop beer is lots harder then it sounds.

The good thing is most will let you do anything you want to the malt. So look at toasting it or even smoking it. There is even some info out there on doing a crystal type malt with a smash beer.

One thing to remember is to use a base malt you like. I have found that I do not like Meris Otter. If you like It then use it.

The last bit of advice is make sure you brew by the book. A single malt and single hope beer is like brewing a delicate lager or pilsner. The flaws are much easier to detect in beers like that.

 

[rossp]

A single malt and single hop beer is lots harder then it sounds.

My thoughts behind doing it single malt was just to keep things simple. I don't mind Marris Otter but can't say I want to pay the price premium unless it's needed. After thinking about this a bit I'll probably leave the hop additions as-is (using flowers if available) and go with perhaps an 85/10/5 split of base ale, wheat, light crystal or even just 90/10 ale/wheat. Will most likely make up my mind when I get to the brewshop.

Thanks for the feedback

 

[hazard]

Pride of Ringwood seems to get a bit of a bad reputation as it's the main hop used by most Aussie macro breweries.

POR also used by Coopers, and I don't think you can lump Coopers in with terrible mega swill.

 

[QldKev]

Why not drop the single malt;
and brew AndrewQld's CPA, but using your original hop schedule. Your overall IBU is extremely close to as a bonus. (you end up with 1 IBU more)

QldKev

 

[rossp]

POR also used by Coopers, and I don't think you can lump Coopers in with terrible mega swill.

You'll note I didn't say it's used for swill, I said it's used by macro (=large) breweries which I would have thought included Coopers. My main point was just that many people see POR as "the hops used in VB", even though as has been pointed out in this thread there is much more to it than that.

 

[hazard]

You'll note I didn't say it's used for swill, I said it's used by macro (=large) breweries which I would have thought included Coopers.

But you did say that its got a bad reputation because its been used by large breweries - so by implication, Coopers has contributed to this bad reputation. I don't agree, I think Coopers has a good reputation - and I didn't think it was a macro brewer.

 

[Nick JD]

PoR deserves its reputation IMO. It's a pretty boring hop.

Doesn't mean it makes bad beer though - just kinda uneventful beer.

 

[drsmurto]

PoR deserves its reputation IMO. It's a pretty boring hop.

Doesn't mean it makes bad beer though - just kinda uneventful beer.

To use the words of our friend townsville....

Maybe the reason you think POR is a bad hop is to do with your abilities as a brewer?

I jest......

Am looking forward to using my fresh POR now, i just bumped it up the list as i want to be able to definitively show one way or the other what fresh POR can do.

 

[mckenry]

Seems the flowers get the nod. I made an all PoR years back with pellets. Dont remember the late amounts, but the beer had a slight dirt taste to it. Didnt like it at all, and a mate even asked if I'd used river water. Havent tried them since, but am willing to give the flowers a go...

 

[Nick JD]

Maybe the reason you think POR is a bad hop is to do with your abilities as a brewer?

I jest......

Could be, Doc - but probably isn't. I do like POR, don't get me wrong ... it just ain't Citra, or Nelson, or Amarillo, or any other hop that makes me think, "Yum".

And on saying that I've just started drinking a batch of a CPA yeast Ale with 35g of POR at 10 minutes and it's really nice. Still tastes like an "Australian" beer though. I can't see commercial breweries lining up to add POR as a late addition.

I have the same feelings towards Cluster. A bit dull.

POR makes MAN BEER. No girly fruitiness. No, "Oh daaaaarlings, I'm getting plum and gooseberry and passionfruit aroma from this."

POR makes beer to eat with STEAK, with your hands, raw. Ugggggg. I heard someone on this forum describe POR as the smell of a cupboard in an old house, and I agree while thinking WTF?

 

[thanme]

POR makes MAN BEER. No girly fruitiness. No, "Oh daaaaarlings, I'm getting plum and gooseberry and passionfruit aroma from this."

POR makes beer to eat with STEAK, with your hands, raw. Ugggggg.

:lol:

 

[rossp]

LOL at some of the responses. Pride of Ringwood seems to be quite the polariser!

My aim here is to make an easy drinking unoffensive beer to give my palette a break from some of the overly hoppy, overly bitty, or overly malty beers that we tend to brew. I'm not looking to clone anything commercial, I'm not looking to come up with something groundbreaking, I'm just trying something that doesn't seem to get done too often. Isn't that how we learn and advance our craft?

I'll try to brew this on the weekend... the above hop schedule with 90% pale malt, 10% wheat malt. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[manticle]

Could be, Doc - but probably isn't. I do like POR, don't get me wrong ... it just ain't Citra, or Nelson, or Amarillo, or any other hop that makes me think, "Yum".

And on saying that I've just started drinking a batch of a CPA yeast Ale with 35g of POR at 10 minutes and it's really nice. Still tastes like an "Australian" beer though. I can't see commercial breweries lining up to add POR as a late addition.

I have the same feelings towards Cluster. A bit dull.

POR makes MAN BEER. No girly fruitiness. No, "Oh daaaaarlings, I'm getting plum and gooseberry and passionfruit aroma from this."

POR makes beer to eat with STEAK, with your hands, raw. Ugggggg. I heard someone on this forum describe POR as the smell of a cupboard in an old house, and I agree while thinking WTF?

It's not a punch in the face with fruit but neither are fuggles. To my mind, while personal tastes are obviously important, there is no such thing as a bad hop, just a hop that doesn't suit. I wouldn't call cauliflower a bad vegetable because I don't like to eat it.

I don't find it boring either - only some of the beer that's commercially brewed with it is.

PS - not suggesting you were saying it was bad - that was general.

 

[Nick JD]

I wouldn't call cauliflower a bad vegetable because I don't like to eat it.

I would. Satan's anal-bleached hemorrhoids.

 

[Florian]

I did an aussie lager a while back with 30g POR at 60 minutes and 22g at flame out. 4kg Premium pils, 1kg of rice and a touch of carapils made it a geat lager, which impressed the in laws at my daughter's birthday. A few of them did not want to believe that I brewed that, and were convinced they were drinking Beck's (as that's what it was bottled in, but obviously worlds apart in taste).

I used pellets at that time, but now that I have 500g of fresh flowers in the freezer I am keen to give it a go again.

Florian

 

[Silo Ted]

After all the bad rep with the POR I bucked the system and brewed one with some one year old pellets that were previously only used for bittering, but that time it was for flavour too and while it wasnt a great beer for many reasons, it had a really pleasant taste. I entered it into the ESB comp and scored around 90/150. This is going to be my choice of single hop beer for five or six brews over the next 12 months in between others of course, and with fresh material, because I reckon the bad reputation is unwarranted. I also want to make the perfect aussie ale so what better than POR. I know what you mean on the Nelson and Amarillo though, they are super tasty, but for me they getting a bit too much. An overload of Nelson Savin might have done it, and an easy hand is what I think is required with that one or youll end up with a weird perfume beer

That reminds me I have to pull my finger out and get a starter going tonight for the aussie ale thats been sitting in my laundry waiting for pitch.