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Single-hop Simcoe brewing is a West Coast IPA education in a single batch, Simcoe’s pine-passion fruit-dank character is the defining profile of the classic West Coast DIPA, and when you brew with nothing but Simcoe from bittering through dry hop, you get the clearest possible picture of why Pliny the Elder and its contemporaries smell and taste the way they do. I’ve brewed Simcoe single-hop West Coast IPAs as a deliberate style study and the result is one of the most recognizable and satisfying in the single-hop series.
Single-hop Simcoe West Coast IPA recipe (5 gallon / 19L batch)
Target stats: OG 1.065, FG 1.011, ABV ~7.0%, IBU 65, SRM 5–7, clear to slightly hazy golden. Grain bill: 11 lbs (4.99 kg) American two-row pale malt. 0.5 lb (227g) Crystal 15L, very light caramel sweetness without the heavier character that would clash with Simcoe’s resinous profile. 0.25 lb (113g) Carapils, head retention. Keep the grain bill simple and dry, Simcoe performs best in lean, well-attenuated West Coast IPAs where the resinous pine character isn’t competing with malt sweetness. Hops, all Simcoe: Bittering (60 min): 1.0 oz Simcoe, 35 IBU. Simcoe’s very low cohumulone (15–20%) makes it one of the cleanest-bittering hops available, 1.0 oz at 60 minutes in a West Coast IPA is appropriate and produces smooth bittering. Flavor (15 min): 0.5 oz Simcoe. Aroma (5 min): 0.5 oz Simcoe. Whirlpool at 82°C (180°F), 20 min: 1.0 oz Simcoe, the higher whirlpool temperature (versus NEIPA protocols) is deliberate; West Coast IPA benefits from the more integrated, slightly caramelized hop character that hot whirlpool additions produce. Dry hop (post-terminal gravity, 5–7 days): 1.5 oz Simcoe. Total Simcoe: 4.5 oz. Unlike the Citra and Galaxy single-hop recipes, the Simcoe dry hop is post-terminal gravity only, Simcoe’s low geraniol means early biotransformation-period addition provides minimal benefit. Single dry hop addition is appropriate. Yeast: White Labs WLP001 California Ale or Fermentis US-05, clean, attenuative American ale yeast for maximum hop clarity and dry finish. Ferment at 18–19°C (64–66°F) for minimal ester contribution. Water: West Coast mineral profile, calcium 100 ppm, sulfate 150 ppm, chloride 80 ppm. Higher sulfate than NEIPA recipes is deliberate: sulfate accentuates Simcoe’s dry, resinous bitterness and creates the crisp, clean finish of classic West Coast IPA. Process: Single infusion mash at 65°C (149°F), lower mash temperature for high attenuation and dry body. 60-minute boil. Single dry hop at terminal gravity for 5 days. Cold crash 48 hours. Fine with gelatin for West Coast IPA clarity. Package at 2.5 volumes CO2. Consume within 6–8 weeks, West Coast IPAs age reasonably well relative to NEIPAs.
Common Questions
What is Simcoe’s “catty” off-note and how do I avoid it?
Simcoe’s “catty” character, a note that tasters describe as cat urine or black currant, and which is considered a fault at high intensity, comes from specific sulfur-containing thiol compounds (particularly 4-mercapto-4-methylpentan-2-one, or 4MMP) that occur naturally in Simcoe at low levels. This is the same class of compounds responsible for the pleasant “black currant” character in Sauvignon Blanc wine, but in beer at higher concentrations it tips from interesting to off-flavored. The catty note becomes a problem when: Simcoe is used at very high dry hop rates as a solo variety (3+ oz/gallon) without other hops to moderate the thiol expression; hops are aged or poorly stored, concentrating the thiol character through myrcene oxidation; fermentation is conducted at too-warm temperatures with stressed yeast, which can amplify sulfur compound development. Prevention: use fresh-crop Simcoe stored properly (frozen, sealed), keep single-variety Simcoe dry hop rates at 0.5–1.0 oz/gallon maximum, and blend Simcoe with low-thiol varieties (Centennial, Columbus) to dilute the 4MMP concentration. The Simcoe catty character was more commonly reported as a homebrewing complaint before modern cold-chain hop storage became standard, well-stored Simcoe from a quality supplier rarely produces noticeable catty character at the dry hop rates in the recipe above.
