Serebrianka Hop: Deconstructed

The idea for this post was probably the inspiration that led me to actually start this blog, because it's the sort of post that I would find useful in my own homebrew research.  I'm sure I'm not the only homebrewer who has found some valuable information out on the old blogosphere, so I figured I'd give back with this experiment.

I bought a pound of Serebrianka hops from Hops Direct on a recent hop shopping splurge.  The price was right ($9 a pound!) and the description sounded nice, so I figured I'd try them out.  According to the site, this hop is an "Aroma Hop with a light perfume, mellow, ellegant, subtle, gentle, almost tobacco like smell."  They also ask me to "... give it a try and let us know what you think."  Okay, here it is!

The AA% is a low 3.5%, which is typical for a European aroma hop.  With some googling, I found that this is a Russian hop and is one of the father plants to the great American Cascade.  When I opened the bag, the aroma was pretty subtle, with a simple leafy note.  In order to get a good idea of how these hops work, I brewed a single hop pale ale.  The recipe pretty basic; 6% ABV, 45 IBU's, American Ale yeast and a touch of crystal malt.  I don't need to get too much into it here, but you can see my recipe on Hopville.

Great head formation and retention.  I've read that high use of low AA hops for bitterness can help with retention.   Hmm...

This was one of the final pours off the keg, so it's a bit cloudier.

Aroma/Flavor:

The aroma on the finished beer changed a lot as time progressed.  On day 7 of dry hopping, the beer smelled much like the whole-hops did, with gentle leafy notes.  By the time I kegged it on day 10, the fruitiness came out more.  This evolution continued in the keg, hitting its stride after a few weeks.  The fruity, Cascadian notes came through in the form of sweet orange peel and melons.  The European, herbal hop notes balanced it out, with a slightly minty, tobacco-y aroma that reminded me of a menthol cigartette.  But in a good way.  If that makes any sense. The flavor comes through with a standard caramelly sweetness on the front end of the palate, shifting in to a delicate, leafy bitterness on the finish.

Overall Recap: 

Even though I used an absurd amount of these hops (8 oz.), the character was delicate.  Never really leaped into my face like a high-alpha American hop would.  But, it was certainly unique and complex, so I will happily use them for something else.  I could see this working well as an aroma hop in a more malt focused beer.  Use it in a porter, stout or brown ale to get some nice complexity without giving it a noticeably or distinct hopiness.