El Dorado Single-Hop Pale Ale - Homebrew Recipe and Results
Few hops have risen to prominence like El Dorado. And this hop couldn’t have come at a more perfect time with haze craze and juicy beers dominating taprooms today. So we had to single this hop out and scrutinize all of its angles. Luckily for us, this hop has many, and we can’t wait to see its tropical and stone fruit flavors on display alongside its high alpha-acid. But before we brew, let’s see what we can learn about this fresh hop.
Hop Profile
According to Yakima Valley Hops, El Dorado was first released to the public in 2010 by CLS Farms out of Washington state. But what makes El Dorado special? Well, it’s fruity notes for one. El Dorado is known for its fruity aromas and flavors like pineapple, melon, stone fruit, and it even lends a candy-like flavor and aroma to add to the juiciness. Beyond its fruity characteristics, El Dorado also contains a high alpha-acid content, between 13-17% (ours was 15.6%) making it an effective bittering hop for single-hop beers.
El Dorado is still new on the scene, but its impact is seen everywhere, and is still growing now. 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 bought a two-ounce back of El Dorado hops to make two pale ales out of. The first one (this one) will be brewed fresh, and the second one will be brewed with aged El Dorado hops. We chose to use Magnum hops at the start of the boil to get a consistent bittering without a lot of added extra flavor in order to see the effect of aging on the flavor and aroma of the El Dorado hops compared to its bittering qualities, which decrease with aging. But, El Dorado, with its high alpha-acid 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
Magnum - 0.1 oz at the start (60 minutes)
El Dorado - 0.33 oz with 15 minutes remaining
Irish moss clarifier (optional) - ⅕ tsp with 15 minutes remaining
El Dorado - 0.33 oz at flameout (0 minutes)
El Dorado - 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 all 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 El Dorado single-hop Pale Ale!
Results
On the Eyes--Golden and hazy with a one-finger cream-colored head that maintained pretty well. We have Carapils to thank for that.
On the Nose--Mild citrus (tangerine), tropical fruit (pineapple), and melon (watermelon/honeydew) jump out first. A malt sweetness lingers as well, promising good balance (fingers crossed). Onto the taste!
On the Palate--Soft mouthfeel (thank you again Carapils), with notes of citrus, melon, and stone fruit being the most prominent flavors. Pineapple is present, but subtle, adding its own sweetness. The beer as a whole is juicy sweet, though not cloyingly so, and balanced nicely with the gentle caramel malt from the Caramel 15L. The soft mouthfeel is very pleasant in this medium-bodied ale and the effervescence is right where we like it with just a little bite. More El Dorado, and without an accompanying hop, might be a little too sweet for me, though maybe not for other brewers. The Magnum did its job, as always, and gave us a consistent, clean bitterness. Again, El Dorado is a fantastic dual-purpose hop and can be used for bittering by those wishing to try.
Verdict
Single hop beers are always our favorite to brew, and getting to try the hop in its purest form always gives us more ideas and combinations for future brews. El Dorado is used widely but still feels like an up-and-coming hop. We really love its melon and tropical fruit qualities, and these make it a fantastic hop for adding juicy flavors and aromas. In our recipe, I would consider adding a higher quantity in the dry-hop addition to try and give the aroma a little more punch to meet the flavor. While drinking beers that utilize El Dorado hops, we noticed that it was used aggressively on the cold side and added some amazing aromas. Other than that, this El Dorado 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