Yeast Off: "US-05 vs Hophead" IPAs by
@pilgrimhudd
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I had these side by side last night, a couple of very nicely made IPAs
Clarity is really good which I'm certain is a consequence of
@pilgrimhudd starting to dabble in water treatment, and it's great to see how adding a bit of gypsum has such a profound effect.
It's not quite crystal clear, just a tiny bit of hop haze which I reckon is pretty much par for the course after dry hopping unless you use finings.
This means you can see the steady stream of bubbles rising through the glass and hence both pints kept a decent head throughout. And carbonation is bang on for the style.
To be totally honest I'm actually not that keen on the flavour, which is rare for me when it comes to IPAs
I do like piney-resiney but for me these go beyond that and are just a bit too intense for me.
I did get a bit of fruitiness in the background so I wonder if that has faded bit since packaging. I've used Chinook and Simcoe together a few times so I wonder if somehow it's the El Dorado pushing it over the edge, or something about how the three work together
I found the Hophead one more intense so for that reason I'd say I prefer the US-05.
But I think either is full of potential and any negatives are purely down to my tastes.
There's a really nice supporting maltiness in the background so I think the grain bill is just right.
All in all I would say do it again exactly the same, just with different hops (such as your 3C's IPA), and I think you've got a winner
Great job, and no question very well made, thanks for sharing