Summer

[Beersuit]

I made an American wheat with centennial and summer. Turned out a cracker of a beer. Planing a kolsch with all summer next brew day.
I really like this hop for its light spicy character. Dry hopping with it tends to bring out the fruit a bit more. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

 

[Not For Horses]

Ok so I've been using this hop a fair bit lately (maybe 6 or so beers) in combination with Citra, galaxy, Ella, cascade and motueka to name a few.
I've been struggling to see what it brings to the table so I've just done an all summer pale ale to about 32 IBU with additions at 20 5 0 and dry hop. Total of 10 g/L.
I can't help but feel a little underwhelmed.
It's got a nice smooth bitterness but flavour and aroma are pretty low.
The flavour is kinda watermelony and I get a hint of citrus aroma. But it's rather a small hint.

 

[stakka82]

So 200g in a 20l batch and you're underwhelmed?? Wow.

Don't know what quantities bridge rd use, but there is quite a good whack of aroma/flavour in their summer pale ale.

 

[HBHB]

I've used Summer in a number of Pale Ales, an IPA and a couple of Saison's.

At 2 g/ L it will bring up that fresh cut melon character and a little stonefruit/apricot combo. Doesn't really suit a lot of really dry finishing beers IMHO. But if there's enough malt body with a slight residual sweetness for a big load of hops, it can really pop.

That said, i have found it quite pleasant at 2g/L in AG Saisons with the funk, a bit of fruitiness is still quite pleasant and accentuated nicely with the fruity malt notes of 120L or Briess Extra Special Malt in the grain bill.

It's worth playing with a bit more. I think SAAZ is more of a breed reference than an indication of flavour.

Martin

 

[menoetes]

I wish I had read this post before using Summer for the first time in a summer blonde today. I dropped just under 1g/l @ 35, 25 & 10 minutes and from what you gents are saying, I might not have been heavy-handed enough. Maybe I'll just dry hop it with the 30g of Summer I have left and hope for the best...

 

[pajs]

Wonder how Summer might pair with Maris Otter?

 

[black_labb]

I made a very nice amber ale using summer, but most other beers I've used it in didn't seem to add much. I'd agree with the suggetion that it works well with a decent malt base.

 

[AJ80]

Wonder how Summer might pair with Maris Otter?

It pairs very very well. I've had success with a simple blonde grist of 85% Maris otter and 15% wheat with all summer. Mashed low for a dry finish and then went heavy on the dry hop (2.5g/litre) with us-05 as the yeast. Had an amazing honeydew melon flavour and aroma from the summer hops.

 

[mckenry]

Hmmmmm. Just used Summer at slightly >2g/L for an all Australian IPA. Underwhelmed. Nothing there really. Its a nice beer, beautifully balanced and if you were told it was an APA you'd believe it. Scarily, 7% alc is hidden. I wanted an IPA though, hence the 2g/L
I read how Summer comes into itself as a dry hop. I didnt get that at all.
Bit of a let down really. Its nice, but not a genuine dry hop champion.

 

[Bribie G]

Summer is now used by Cascade for their reduced strength new incarnation of Premium Lager. Haven't tried it yet as I'm miffed that their original Premium was not only 5% but finished with Hersbrucker. It was a fair drop that could hold its head up against a good Euro.

A stubby or two of the new Premium might give a clue about what flavours it imparts.

 

[fungrel]

Wonder how Summer might pair with Maris Otter?

Absolutely fantastic. It is THE hop to match with rye.

 

[Mardoo]

What timing of additions did you use?

 

[TheWiggman]

Copy-pasted from here:

I recently made a brew with 4kg of JW pale and 200g Redback. I've never used Summer before and similarly, went 100% to see what the hops were all about. I can't remember the exact details but went -

15g at 60 min
25g at whirlpool
25g in cube
35g dry hopped

Mangrove Jack's M44 sprinkled for my first successful APA with dry yeast ever. Got to 1.008 I think, around 5% ABV.
It's been 3 weeks in the keg and I cracked it yesterday. Very full-flavoured beer with a lot of malt and hops going on. The Redback adds a slightly amber hue which genuinely is pleasant to look at. There's a lot going on hop-wise, and it's more bitter than I thought it would be. Not getting a heap of melon like I expected, but the interesting... tangerine? flavour from the Redback is playing with the melon to make for a very interesting beer. Not my favourite, but I think would be well received by APA fans. It's like there's a bit of a fruit salad happening, mixing blue and yellow to make green. The pairing seems to work.

Regarding the hops, my impression is the later the better. I was expecting a light impact so went a little heavy (I call 100g in a pale ale getting heavy). Next time I would bitter with something else (or forgo it to a late addition), focus on the cube hopping with no late additions and dry hop to the same levels