Beer Forum

So my wife and I are expecting our first kiddo at the end of February. I'm going to brew a beer for my soon-to-be postpartum wife. They say that hops help with breast milk production ( )so a relatively hoppy beer is in order. Now, my wife doesn't really like the really grapefruity hop flavors and is also requesting something with a good malt background. I was thinking that JBA would be a good choice, especially since I've been wanting to brew it for a while. However, I wanted to find out what the hop profile was like. There is a decent charge of cascades in the last 10 minutes of the boil which I'm afraid might come across as grapefruity. Does it?

No I don't get grapefruit out of it. I think the northern brewer shines through the most.

Great! That is what my wife is wanting to hear.

and give it some conditioning time. i didn't care for it much right after kegging it, but after about 3 weeks cold conditioning it really turned in to a nice beer. so keep that in mind (better get brewing!)

I've heard that about the conditioning time too. Unfortunately, the next available brewday I have probably won't be until Mid February. I guess the wife will just have to be patient!

Travisty wrote:I've heard that about the conditioning time too. Unfortunately, the next available brewday I have probably won't be until Mid February. I guess the wife will just have to be patient!

I would disagree. I think while NB shines, I also get a significant citrus character to it, esp. if you drink it too young.

If you're worried about the grapefruit, cut down on the dry hops. It's a lot of citrus that is expected to fade out.

Alternatively, you could try to exchange it for something spicier/noble-like. IIRC, Tasty switched some of the centennial out for perle when he poured some at NHC.

i didn't mean that there wasn't any citrusy hop character, but it's not a grapefruit bomb. after a few weeks of conditioning i think the NB is the backbone of the hop character.

I brewed this a month or two ago, and was expecting a citrusy beer. Instead, mine turned out like my How To Disappear Completely clone: dark, dank hops with notes of leaf tobacco and pine. It was a bit of a surprise. I like it, but it wasn't what I was expecting.

Or did I completely screw up the recipe? (That is always a possibility.)