Cluster hops...

Anybody have any experience using Cluster hops?

I'm laying out a Cali. Common, and was thinking of using NB for bittering, and a combo of Cluster and NB for flavor and aroma.

I've never used this hop before. Has anyone used them with good results?

They are citrusy and they lean toward a grapefruit taste. Leinenkugels uses cluster hops in most of their beers.

I don't find anything in the way of grapefruit in Clusters. They are an older American variety, once very common but replaced for the most part with newer high alpha hops. They sometimes get a bad rep as being "catty". I like them a lot in certain beers like CAP and some pale ales. Clusters aren't really known for their flavor and aroma but IMO they would work very well in a Cal Common as a bittering hop. I might switch the additions with the NB or try using something like Willamette as the finisher to get a different beer than an Anchor knockoff.

I highly recommend them. I use them in my Rye Ale(see pull down menu) with Willamette. I think clusters as well as the combo of clusters/willamette bring out a nice balanced, slight hoppy, good flavor to a malty type beer. A nice alternative to the usuall C hops in american brews.

The more you use of the Cluster the more the grapefruit flavor comes out. At about 5 ounces it is there.

Forrest

Austinhomebrew said:

The more you use of the Cluster the more the grapefruit flavor comes out. At about 5 ounces it is there.

Forrest

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That may be but why would you want to? I like Clusters and always use them in some of the older style (pre C-hop) American beers that I brew. A couple of ounces of of Cascade/Centennial would seem a much more pratical not to mention economical way to get grapefruit presence. Myself, if I want grapefruit I cut one in half or buy a carton of Tropicana.

I have a Cluster SMaSH on tap right now. At first I didnt really care for it, but it has grown on me and I really like it now. Its a really clean, crisp hop presence in the beer. I have 3 ounces of hops in the beer and I detect no fruitness that you would get with other C hops

Thanks for the replies!

I wasn't too sure how the Cluster hops would interact with the Northern Brewer, but I think I'll go ahead as planned. Should make for an interesting combination. Besides, how bad can it REALLY turn out?

Thanks again!!!

BigEd said:

I don't find anything in the way of grapefruit in Clusters. They are an older American variety, once very common but replaced for the most part with newer high alpha hops. They sometimes get a bad rep as being "catty". I like them a lot in certain beers like CAP and some pale ales. Clusters aren't really known for their flavor and aroma but IMO they would work very well in a Cal Common as a bittering hop. I might switch the additions with the NB or try using something like Willamette as the finisher to get a different beer than an Anchor knockoff.

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+1. This is my experience as well. I've brewed a 1st place CAP a few times now with polenta in the mash and cluster hops plus a little tettnang. I find them to be 'rough'. Maybe catty is a good description. I definitly do not consider them as one of the 'C's.

I brewed my wheat recipe with Cluster a while back and enjoyed it. A brew or two before that I brewed a Cream Ale kit that had them and definitely tasted the grapefruit influence and it was quite good as well.

Cluster is in no way my favorite hop, but it can make an intersting change to a familiar recipe.

Arise zombie thread, ARISE!

I used an ounce of cluster for flavor and aroma (.5 ounces at 20 and 2 mins) last week and I was super impressed with the scent of the raw hops in the package. Totally grapefruit scented when raw. I've used an ounce of them here and there and I don't get the citrus flavor aroma in the beer. I think they are my favorite smelling raw hops.

I just finished a bottle of an all-Cluster American Wheat that really impressed me with the fruity, spicy, and just slightly dank flavor of this which is now my favorite American C-hop. It is a versatile hop! I've yet to encounter the catty complaint I see all over the intertubes. I have encountered clean bittering, spice notes at low levels, with a fruitiness that rises to grapefruit depending on how much is used. It works very well with Nottingham yeast, and even did well giving a light bittering charge to a Hefeweizen earlier this year. I'm liking them best, perhaps, as a dry hop to capture that wonderfully-pleasant smell that they have in the bag.

My wife likes the smell so much she wants to use it to make herbal teas and potpourris and scented candles. (She doesn't drink beer, naturally!)

Would 1.5-2 ounces in a 5 gallon stout batch work, just as bittering at 60 minutes?

Check out www.hopville.com and plug in your recipe, and style of beer, and it should tell you if you're within range of the style.

There's a couple great beer brewing tools out there.