Azacca Single-Hop Pale Ale - Homebrew Recipe and Results

When discussing modern hops it’s a mystery how Azacca can be left out of the picture, but we often find it in the background, in a supporting role to bigger named hops like El Dorado, Citra, or Galaxy. In Azacca’s defense, it is one of the newer hops out there, but we wanted to elevate it onto its own pedestal in a single hop pale ale. But what makes this hop worthy of elevation?

Hop Profile

According to Brooklynbrewshop.com, the Azacca hop was released in 2013 and ultimately named after the Haitian god of agriculture. It is a dwarf hop, meaning it is a low trellis variety, and it expresses notes of mango, tropical fruit, citrus, and woody and grassy aromatics. It is a complex hop, and a high alpha-acid (14-16%) adds to its diverse uses as a dual-purpose hop, though we often see it used at the tailend of brewing for its fruity aromatics and flavors.

Azacca is still new on the scene, but its impact is tasted everywhere. Which is why we had to take it for a spin. Check out our recipe below.

Recipe

Malt

• 2-Row - 34 oz (85% of mash)

• Caramel 15L - 4 oz (10%)

• Carapils - 2 oz (5%)

As easy as it gets. We kept the caramel notes light for summer and we added Carapils to increase body and head retention. We mashed our malt in 3.5 quarts of water at 150℉ for one hour and then sparged with one gallon of 170℉ water. We collected that sweet, sweet wort and moved onto the one-hour boil. Time for some hops!

Now, before we go to the boil, I think it’s time to be honest about this beer--it has more than one hop in it. BUT for good reason. We chose to use Magnum hops at the start of the boil to get a consistent bittering without a lot of extra flavor in order to test out the true winning qualities of Azacca: its aroma and flavor. But, Azacca, with its high alpha-acid (ours is 13.6%) is a fantastic bittering hop, so don’t be afraid to use it as such in your own beer, but watch those IBUs or you’ll have one bitter beer.

Now, with all the awkwardness out of the way: Onto the boil!

Boil - (60 min.)

• Magnum - 0.1 oz at the start (60 minutes)

• Azacca - 0.33 oz with 15 minutes remaining

• Irish moss clarifier (optional) - ⅕ tsp with 15 minutes remaining

• Azacca - 0.33 oz at flameout (0 minutes)

• Azacca - 0.33 oz dry-hopped 3-5 days after start of fermentation.

We then cooled the beer and added 4 grams of preactivated Cali yeast from CellarScience (4 grams yeast in 40 ml of 95-105℉ water for 20-30 minutes) and let it ferment for two weeks to let those delicious yeast and hop oils dance together. Then we added 0.85 oz of corn sugar for priming (skip this if you keg), bottled it (yield: 10 bottles), and waited another grueling two weeks.

Now for the fun. Here’s our first impressions of our Azacca single hop Pale Ale!

Results

• On the Eyes--Golden and slightly hazy with a one-finger cream-colored head that maintained pretty well. We have Carapils to thank for that.

• On the Nose--Mango for sure! And sweet, but with a touch of oakiness (the woody aromatics we were guaranteed), and some mild citrus. Onto the taste!

• On the Palate--Soft mouthfeel (thank you again Carapils), with the mango jumping right up to the front as it did in the aroma. The aromatic oakiness also comes through lightly in the flavor. There is also a mild fresh-cut grass flavor that complements the strong fruitiness. The Magnum hops provide a medium and consistent bitterness that doesn’t linger, though the strong mango flavor does. This pale ale coats the mouth a bit, is medium-bodied, and the slightest caramel note shines through to provide good balance between the fruity hop punch and the agreeable bitter finish.

Verdict

Single hop beers are always our favorite to brew, and getting to try a hop in its purest form provides us with more ideas and combinations for future brews. Azacca is an amazing hop to use in a single hop beer. It has fantastic bittering qualities and it brings an array of flavors and aromas to be tweaked and manipulated to meet the brewer’s preference. It’s easy to see why this hop is so common in hazy and juicy IPAs.

The balance and mouthfeel were both great in our Azacca single hop Pale Ale. The mango flavor was fresh and didn’t have that overripe flavor that sometimes occurs. With that in mind, I would consider adding a higher quantity in the dry-hop addition to our recipe to give the aroma a little more punch to meet the flavor. Azacca is certainly used more in cold side additions than in bittering, and we will adapt future brews featuring this amazing hop to that ideal. Other than that, this Azacca Pale Ale was very enjoyable, very fruity, very balanced, and a great companion to have in the hot summer months. Try it, tweak it, and…

Brew On!

Mr. Brew