Why Don't You Like Amarillo?

[kocken42]

@ Juzz - Keep it to recipe, once the beer is finished and you don't LOVE it, you can make changes from there. Just remember most of these lads (above) have done a bucket load of brews and probably have quite refined palates in regards to hop characters; they know what they like. There's a reason why the DSGA is highly rated, because it's a great beer true to style.

Keeping on topic, I have only used Amarillo twice, once by itself, and another time in a bit of a fruit-bowl cocktail of hops...it's performed to my senses perfectly both times.

 

[Hatchy]

I'm not a fan of amarillo for bittering, I love it late though. I haven't brewed with it for a while because there's too many hops I've never used that I want to brew with. May be time to brew another DSGA. I haven't brewed an AG batch of it yet.

 

[Effect]

Hmmm... Reading this thread im thinking "shit!"
I am a new AG brewer with about 7 brews under my belt and just made Dr. Smurto's Golden Ale (all amarillo) and thinking maybe I should sub the amarillo dry hopping for cascade...

I know its a little off topic.. maybe I should make a new post..

Just a little discerning when reading this thread ........ considering how the recipe was rated and raved about......... DAMN!

Leave it as is - its only natural that there is a some people who have had enough of the same flavor per and over again that they are sick of it - I'm sure that you will find more people who are sick of cascade than Amarillo. I think you will like the all Amarillo beer - I still like the all Amarillo beers, but I make more beers without Amarillo than I do with any Amarillo, so I think I just haven't gotten sick of that flavour and aroma yet.

Cheers
Phil

 

[O'Henry]

Amarillo.

It won't let you down?

 

[Hatchy]

That's a very good point. Does it say something about nicks beers that he's had to resort to drinking rexona? Or does he like licking armpits?

 

[juzz1981]

@ Juzz - Keep it to recipe, once the beer is finished and you don't LOVE it, you can make changes from there. Just remember most of these lads (above) have done a bucket load of brews and probably have quite refined palates in regards to hop characters; they know what they like. There's a reason why the DSGA is highly rated, because it's a great beer true to style.

Keeping on topic, I have only used Amarillo twice, once by itself, and another time in a bit of a fruit-bowl cocktail of hops...it's performed to my senses perfectly both times.

Thanks Acasta, Phil and MLP... will keep to the recipe.. just shit myself when I read a thread where people were saying about how they disliked it

Thanks for the advice

 

[bum]

just shit myself when I read a thread where people were saying about how they disliked it

With the possible exception of certain (bulk bought) varieties, there is no such thing as a bad hop - just personal preference and/or misuse. It most certainly is a hop that has a place in the brewery of anyone as long as they like it.

The recipe you've followed is very popular for a reason and if you don't like it it won't be because the ingredients were sub-par.

 

[peas_and_corn]

With the possible exception of certain (bulk bought) varieties, there is no such thing as a bad hop - just personal preference and/or misuse. It most certainly is a hop that has a place in the brewery of anyone as long as they like it.

The bolded part is the most important. IMO the bad rap POR gets is not only that it's associated with the megabreweries, but also that when too much of it is used in a brew it tastes bad. Amarillo I really like in my brews- those who have tried some of my APAs would know this- but I know that using it too much or pairing it with the wrong hops would cause problems. It's all about proper use.

 

[Ross]

Great bittering hop, lovely flavour hop & fantastic finishing hop... some of you guys need to HTFU

Cheers Ross

 

[Nick JD]

... some of you guys need to HTFU

Some of you guys need to lighten TFU.

Galaxy:

Since when did flavouring your beer with flowers make you HARD? It might make your boyfriend hard ... but that's because you are wearing those tight leather hardman pants.

 

[QldKev]

Hmmm... Reading this thread im thinking "shit!"
I am a new AG brewer with about 7 brews under my belt and just made Dr. Smurto's Golden Ale (all amarillo) and thinking maybe I should sub the amarillo dry hopping for cascade...

I know its a little off topic.. maybe I should make a new post..

Just a little discerning when reading this thread ........ considering how the recipe was rated and raved about......... DAMN!

Who are you making the beer for? THEM or YOU?

Amarillo is one of my best hops; but brew what you like.

QldKev

 

[Guysmiley54]

Opinions are like arseholes, everyone has one and most of them stink!

My opinion?

I can see the trap of overusing floral/fruity hops in the early stages of brewing, because out of my first 5 brews 4 of them have been fruity APAs Of course, there will be many who never liked those styles/flavours in the first place.

Stick to the recipe to see it through. If you find that it's not really for you don't worry, the hops will fade in the bottle over time. Personally, I love DSGA and I'm sure you (and your mates) will too

 

[Ross]

Thanks Acasta, Phil and MLP... will keep to the recipe.. just shit myself when I read a thread where people were saying about how they disliked it

Thanks for the advice

Juzz, the good doctors recipe is a James Squire Golden Ale clone. If you love the beer you'll love the clone. If you haven't tried it, grab a bottle from just about any bottle shop.

Cheers Ross

 

[HoppingMad]

Smells like Rexona deodorant, which is great if you want your beer to taste like armpits.

You drink Rexona?

I prefer Norsca deodorant myself. That rich piney aroma of the scandanavian hills - aahh. It's delicious in a pint glass.

Maybe that's why I like amarillo. The pine thing really floats my boat. Give me a pine cone ale anytime.

Jokes and silly stuff aside, I can agree with some of the comments here - this is a very overused hop. Have a mate that makes quite flawed beers and he hops the crap out of them with this stuff - which covers up the issues, that is until you pop the bottle in the cellar and then detect all his temp/ferment problems later when the aroma melts away. People use this stuff because it works for them. But few use it well to make nice balanced beers. They use it to make resinous tasting tree sap.

There are so many great hops out there, and plenty of rippers being made out of New Zealand - people should use amarillo as a 'gateway drug'
to fruity hops then harden the hell up and experiment with some of the other good stuff that will get them buzzing. But for a newbie hopper playing with the fruit, or an experienced brewer tinkering with combining it with different hops, it still has a place.

Hopper.

 

[glaab]

like the shiela in the chicken ad says, " if you don't like amarillo there's something very very wrong with you ! ' '

 

[Bubba]

I love Amarillo, and started using it exclusively but now have added POR at a longer boil for bitterness and earthy, woody flavour balances out the fruit and spice of the Amarillo nicely. I use POR for 30mins and Amarillo 10mins for mainly flavour and aroma.

 

[argon]

Great bittering hop, lovely flavour hop & fantastic finishing hop... some of you guys need to HTFU

Cheers Ross

I concur... i have nothing but love for Amarillo... brew after next will be a 100% Amarillo with 20% rye... Rymarillo. That distinct fruity hop profile should balance nicely against the spiciness of the rye. :icon_drool2:

 

[felten]

I'm drinking a 5% rye bitter atm with amarillo as the bittering hop and heaps of cube+dry styrians. Its got a great orange flavour/aroma going on, I'm not sure where it comes from but it works well.

 

[MarkBastard]

There's some comments above that are taking anti-Amarillo comments to mean anti-fruity-hop comments.

Let me state two of my favourite hops are Galaxy and NS, but I still don't like Amarillo very much.

 

[Guysmiley54]

There's some comments above that are taking anti-Amarillo comments to mean anti-fruity-hop comments.

Let me state two of my favourite hops are Galaxy and NS, but I still don't like Amarillo very much.

Fair play.

In my very limited experience, it seems that many of the American hops have very lemon/grapefruit driven characteristics, Amarillo is quite different with its orange/mandarin overtones. For me, this is the fun of brewing! Find out what you like, and brew it the way YOU want it. Even though I'm very early on, I reckon the journey is as much fun as the end result