After using Chinook in a stout and really liking the aroma, I figured I’d make a single-hop IPA to see what this hop in particular could do. We found a recipe on HomeBrewTalk, and came up with this.

Brewer’s Notes

This will be the first beer run through the new fermentation chamber. Brew day was uneventful, Mashing was done on the cooktop and was controlled +/- 5 degrees F. Sparge was done with a rinse in 1 gallon of 168F water. OG reading was high, but had a large amount of sediment and a high temperature. Moved to fermenter and will pitch yeast when temp comes down.

Color is mid-amber. Has good bitterness, with fairly easy malt, more malt flavor on the finish. Smooth and mellow, not roasty. Bitterness is mild but present, not sharp.

OG: 1.064 @ 75F, target 1.053
FG: 1.013 @ 69F, target 1.013

Fermenting Notes

Primary

Target Temperature range: 65F
First use of the fermentation chamber, so we are playing with it a bit

Average: 68.6F
Standard Deviation: 1.15

chinook_primary_ferment

7/2/2013 – 1.013 @ 69F – racking to secondary
Light amber / red color. Fair amount of suspended particles, and a light hop aroma. Fruity, apples (good kind). Not balanced, watery mouthfeel with bitterness on finish. Needs time to fill out and add body and hop aroma. Very easy drinking.

Secondary

Target Temperature range: 65F

Average: 66.1F
Standard Deviation: 0.55

Chinook secondary ferment

7/10/2013 – starting dry hop
7/17/2013 – ending dry hop
7/20/2013 – 1.012 @ 65F – bottling.
Added 3.75oz corn sugar to prime. Mild hop aroma, pine. Sweeter on first taste, with strong bitter finish and aftertaste. Not really getting resin, but more of a one-dimensional east IPA flavor. Color is deep gold with some suspended particles. Would benefit from filtering. Expect this is due to about 1oz of the dry hop coming out of the bag.

Tasting Notes

8/4/2013
Bottles are opened. Light amber with heavy chill haze. Mild aroma, buttery. Not as much mouthfeel as I’d like. Feels thin. Malt comes out with hop bitterness finish, especially as beer warms. Hop flavor is still one-dimensional as expected. It is very drinkable, but would not brew again. Use Chinook as a base hop with others for layering.
9/8/2013
Updating with notes, the beer went over well at the homebrew club, none to bring back. Have received good comments from others, and almost through my bottles. Not a go-to beer, however. Interesting test, and fun to try.

Recipe