Hop Test Bitter

This is a recipe I designed to test out hops I’m either unfamiliar with or just want to emphasize. Despite being slightly darker than one might expect for a hop-test beer, it really seems to work well, so much so that I try to have it around as often as possible. Given the lower OG, this is definitely a beer that doesn’t necessarily require a starter, though I always make one up just to steal some yeast for later batches. I’ve made this beer with Cascade, Centennial, and Calypso hops, among a few others, all have come out delicious with noticeably different hop character. This is also one of those beers I always use the no sparge method on. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

11_finished beer

Packaging Volume: 5 gallons
Estimated OG: 1.044
Estimated SRM: 11.6
Estimated IBU: 25-40 depending on hop choice
Estimated ABV: 4.2%

Boil Time: 60 Minutes

GRIST
7.0 lbs                Maris Otter (80 %)        
1.0 lbs                Crystal 60 (11.4 %)         
8.0 oz                 Victory Malt (5.3 %)         
4.0 oz                 Crystal 120 (3.2 %)

HOPS         
~8 IBU                 HOP OF CHOICE – First Wort Hop (FWH)
15.00 g               Willamette – Boil 20.0 min
15.00 g               HOP OF CHOICE – Boil 10.0 min
21.00 g               HOP OF CHOICE – Boil 5.0 min
21.00 g               HOP OF CHOICE – Flameout w/ 10 min steep

YEAST
1.0 pkg               WLP002 – English Ale Yeast

PROCESS
– Mash (full volume) at 152°F for 60 minutes (8.6 gallons)
– Chill to 64°F prior to pitching yeast starter
– Ferment at 66°F for 3-4 days then allow to free rise up to 72° over the next week
– Cold crash for 24+ hours after FG is stable (10-14 days)
– Package, carbonate, enjoy!


All recipes are designed for 5 gallons of packaged beer (5.25 gallons into the fermenter), 75% efficiency on a batch sparge setup, 1.15 gallon/hour boil-off, Tinseth is used for IBU, fermented in primary only, all additions before 30 minutes are measured by IBU contribution (not weight), yeast starters are made using the BrewUnited yeast calculator, Irish Moss/Whirlfloc added at 15 minutes left in boil, some salts are added to my filtered soft water. Consider using quality software to scale these recipes to your system, I prefer BeerSmith. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!
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33 thoughts on “Hop Test Bitter”

  1. Hi, I just finished kegging this beer, I used cascade and San Diego Super Yeast, which I harvested from a starter using your technique and also fined with gelatin using your technique. Cheers for a good beer 🙂

      1. It turned out a great easy drinking beer, cheers for that. The Victory is a good idea helping to make this an enjoyable beer besides just for hop testing, the biscuit note from this malt will have a home in my next English style beer. As for my choice of Cascade, it works well in his beer but I think I’m somewhat desensitized to this ubiquitous hop, and could have gone for bigger late doses. For a tweak to promote the hop aroma I’d suggest a quick cool to 180F then add the steep hops for a 30 minute steep and also consider a dry hop charge. How much do you think my usage of WLP090 over WLP002 affects this beer?

      2. In my experience 090 and 002 are pretty different, but I bet the 090 produced a great beer regardless! I may hop stand this beer next time I make it, good idea. Cheers!

  2. Great idea to have a standard base recipe for testing different hop varieties.

    Backing up a step or two, do you have a similar recipe (or thoughts on what you might do) for a “malt test mild” to provide a base for evaluating various malts? I am working on training my palate to recognize different malt characteristics, trying to put together a small batch recipe for something drinkable, if not necessarily to style,

    1. In those times I want to test a malt, I usually just make SMaSH beers using very minimal hopping, just enough to provide adequate bitterness and very little flavor or aroma. It’s simple and works rather well. Cheers!

  3. When brewing with higher alpha hops (for example, 16.5% Topaz) do you suggest adjusting one of the additions to keep it in the 25-40 IBU range? Or should I just let it ride?

    1. Not a weird question at all! I use BeerSmith and add enough hops at the FWH addition to equal 8 IBU, I think most brewing calculators are capable of doing this.

  4. I plan on trying this recipe using Bertwell hops (indigenous to Southern Ontario). I was curious what water profile you tend to use for this beer. I was planning on going with the “amber, balanced” Bru’n Water profile even though it is a “hop test” beer.
    Thanks!

    1. Man, I’m impressed that something with that much C60 ends up so nicely balanced. That’s a good recipe. The flavour and aroma of Bertwell are too subtle, which is probably why you only see it in one-offs up here, but I’ll be making this again… probably go classic English or classic American. Thanks again for the recipe.

  5. Hi, thanks for your posts – great info for us all 🙂
    Just a quick one as I am lazy with conversion. Is there any chance that in your recipes you could quote in metric also? Just makes it easier of us Europeans. 😉
    Thanks and continue the great work! Looking forward to doing some hop testing with this recipe!
    Cheers!

    1. Marshall Schott

      And do the hard work for you? Where’s the fun in that?!?!

      BeerSmith only allows for 1 type of measurment. Sorry 🙁

  6. Great idea with the hop test beer. I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. My first no sparge batch is actually in the fermenter now. I’ll definitely do it again. Made for a streamlined brew session that I could squeeze in on a work night. Thanks for the Beersmith tutorial as well. Getting my mash profile set up for no sparge made planning much easier!

  7. Any thoughts on how this would work with hops like Huell Melon or Mandarina?

    And thanks for pushing me to BIAB and no sparge – it has simplified my brew days to where my wife doesn’t even complain!

      1. Marshall Schott

        Hmm, I’m not really a big fan of any of the dry English strains I’ve used (S-04, Nottingham), and neither do I much enjoy US-05, hence I’d be compelled to use something like Saflager W-34/70, which I’ve found ferments super clean even when treated like an ale yeast!

  8. Looking to try this recipe out this summer as a hop test for Calypso. What do you think about adding a dry hop charge a few days before cold crashing?

  9. I noticed in one of the recent podcasts that this recipe is slightly different now.
    80% MO
    11% C10
    5% Victory
    4% C60

    Do you still keep the hop additions the same as before based on this new recipe?

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