11.21.2011

Apollo Hops - Need to get me some of these hops!

I need to get me some Apollo hops.  They sound amazing.  Dank, Orange, Citrus, Pine, tons of oil, and super high AA%!  I think I'll get me some of these!  Sounds like Amarillo on crack!

I recently heard about these hops because I had listened to a  podcast on The Brewing Network show Can You Brew It  where Jamil and crew breakdown a homebrewers beer called "The Dankness".  What initially interested me was the fact that they were going to talk about scaling up a homebrew recipe created by Nathan Smith to a recipe for commercial production.  This has been of particular interest to me because I've been wondering about hop utilization and how that will change (presumably increase) on a larger scale.  While their podcast fell a bit short in that, they did talk about these Apollo hops that I think I'll need to be using in my next version of The Chronic.  

On a side note of my hop utilization questions.   I ended up getting a pretty decent answer to this question.   Last week I attended a "Technical Tour" put on at Harriet Brewing by Owner/Headbrewer Jason Soward.  This was the first technical tour at Harriet and since Jason was a homebrewer-turned-Pro I figured he'd have a lot of answers to the few questions I have left about professional brewing operations.    Obviously one of my biggest concerns is scaling up a recipe.   On the tour I think I asked 10 times more questions then anybody else...but hey...I needed clarification...and that's what I do...ask questions (I am in sales).   Jason has a 10 hectoliter(8.5 bbl) bavarian brewhouse and he said that the hop utilization didn't change too dramatically from his homebrewing set up (keggle system).  If anything, he said his hop utilization increased 5-10%.  This was much less then I had imagined.  My research on larger systems had come up with people saying that they get 3 times more hop utilization going from a homebrew to a 15 bbl system (which didn't make sense in my mind).   Another thing I learned was how to do a decoction mash on a professional style brew house as Jason explained his process to me in depth!  It basically requires the monster of all brewing pumps! 

I also wanted to say that I was extremely impressed with Jason as the tour went along.  He was extremely technical and could rift back and forth from subject to subject with ease.  You could tell that he knows his shit inside and out and I'm extremely excited for Harriet's continued success.  I know that he will be around for a long time and that is a great thing for Minneapolis!    If you haven't tried any Harriet beers, SEEK THEM OUT!

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