Author: Marshall Schott

Tommy, from House of Pendragon Brewing Co., recently asked me if I’d be interested in testing out a new hop called Perle Cross, I guess his supplier sent him an 8 oz sample and he wanted to get an idea of the characteristics this hop imparts in a beer before using it on the commercial scale. I jumped at the opportunity.

Prior to using them, I hit the interwebs in search of any information I could find about Perle Cross. I found essentially nothing, not even on the Hop Union website. I asked around a bit and initially received no leads. Finally, someone informed me they’d once had a Perle Cross single hop beer made by Odell Brewing Co. called Criss Cross Pale Ale. The reviews of that beer weren’t terribly helpful, with most folks commenting more on the whole beer as opposed to the hop character. I kept digging and was eventually pointed to a tweet by Sam Tierney:

Perle Cross was like a Sazzer-type noble hop with the intensity of Galaxy or Citra.

Okay, so intensely spicy and “noble” with some floral and earthy qualities to boot? It was difficult for me to integrate the word “intense” with “noble” into a cohesive picture, it just felt incongruous, which made this project all the more interesting and fun. I began to ponder my options. Should I use a small dose in a Bohemian Pilsner, or perhaps copy what Odell did and use a moderate charge in an American Pale Ale? No, I wanted to get the true character of this hop, the essence of Perle Cross to punch me in the face. I talked with Tommy and we settled on using all 8 oz in an IPA, the recipe of which was:

Batch Size: 11 gallons

OG: 1.066

FG: 1.010

ABV: 7.4%

SRM: 6.6

IBU: 48

19.5 lbs US 2-row

3.0 lbs Gambrinus Munich 10L Malt

1.25 lbs Gambrinus Honey Malt

~27 IBU Magnum @ 60 min

50g Perle Cross @ 10 min

50g Perle Cross @ 5 min

70g Perle Cross @ flameout w/ 15 min steep

60g Perle Cross @ dry hop (3 days)

WLP090 San Diego Super Yeast

Mash 152˚F for 60 min

Boil for 60 min, chill to 65˚F, pitch yeast starter and ferment at 66˚F for 3 days, ramp to 72˚F

Most of the Perle Cross was saved for later additions and dry hop in order to preserve as much flavor and aroma as possible. Upon opening the mylar bag, the pungency became very evident. Many of the more popular hops sort of smell the same in pellet form, though there are a select few that are very identifiable (e.g., Amarillo, Apollo, EKG). This hop fit solidly in this category, emitting a rather intensely resinous aroma. This made me hopeful the beer would be equally as pungent.

I made the 10 gallons, split them between 2 fermentors for an exBEERiment (carboy vs. bucket), and pitched the yeast. When I checked the beers during active fermentation, the smell emanating from the chamber was quite strong, though I fully accept this perception was potentially biased by expectation.

In line with Sam’s description, the Perle Cross IPA had that rich resinous character of a beer hopped with heaps of Citra or Galaxy, though the flavor and aroma was uniquely spicy with some earthy notes. One unwitting taster actually asked if I had added any spices to the brew. My experience drinking this beer can best be described as somewhat bewildered, as it had all the qualities of a standard IPA with a very noticeable and perhaps unexpected noble-esque hop character. Was it bad? Not at all, all 10 gallons were consumed without complaint, but I’m not sure this is a hop that works terribly well on its own, at least for an IPA. I do think it’d work well blended with more citrus/melon type hops in hoppier beers, as it seems to impart a nice mid-palate fullness. I also think this might be really interesting in smaller doses in some German style lagers. Finally, the unctuous spiciness of Perle Cross may meld very well with some Belgian yeast strains.

Support Brülosophy In Style!

All designs are available in various colors and sizes on Amazon!

Follow Brülosophy on:

| Read More |

18 Ideas to Help Simplify Your Brew Day

7 Considerations for Making Better Homebrew

List of completed exBEERiments

How-to: Harvest yeast from starters

How-to: Make a lager in less than a month

| Good Deals |

Brand New 5 gallon ball lock kegs discounted to $75 at Adventures in Homebrewing

ThermoWorks Super-Fast Pocket Thermometer On Sale for $19 – $10 discount

Sale and Clearance Items at MoreBeer.com

If you enjoy this stuff and feel compelled to support Brulosophy.com, please check out the Support Us page for details on how you can very easily do so. Thanks!

Advertisements

Share this: Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Tumblr

Email



Like this: Like Loading...