New Hop Variety: Belma- Puterbaugh Farms

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theveganbrewer

theveganbrewer

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I came across a new hop variety from Puterbaugh Farms out of the Yakima valley. It's called Belma. Here is the description sheet.

BELMA™ -- Hop Leaf NEW 2012 CROP Alpha Acid 12.1%

Hops Direct, LLC and Puterbaugh Farms is excited to introduce a brand new and very unique hop of our very own. Over the past few years we have nurtured and developed a NEW hop variety "Belma™" exclusively grown here at Puterbaugh Farms.

Dual-Purpose variety.

Dr. Shellhammer from OSU tested Belma™ and created a Pale Ale Malt. He noted the following description: A very clean hop, with a very orange, slight grapefruit, tropical (but not mango/guava, more like pineapple), strawberry, and melon. As this is a very new variety, we welcome customer feedback and encourage you to write a review.

Please see our home page to read up on the history of Belma™ and how it made its way to Puterbaugh Farms!
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I picked up a pound cause it was only 5 bucks. I have read very little about the hop, other than one guy on a blog who said he had a Belma hop beer, and it tasted very good but smelled like durian fruit (smells so bad the fruit is illegal to carry on-board Indonesian airplanes). Sounds like a winner!

Has anyone tried this hop? What was your recipe, results?
 
I almost just bought a pound each of Belma and Citra, but I felt maybe they were too similar in character. Plus, the shipping price of $13 is a biatch. I wish they also had Simcoe and/or Amarillo in stock... especially if they were pelletized. I hate using and storing leaf hops.
 
Amarillo sold out in a day or two as did Centennial. On shipping, I think it was 9 bucks to ship 3 pounds to Oregon. To be able to score citra for 19 bucks a pound is a great deal though, add to that 5 bucks for Belma, and it was 46 bucks for 3 pounds of hops. Less than a buck a pound!
 
Yep I thought it wise to pick up this in combination with the Citra. I am going to try and use this in place of Citra and see what it is like. Sounds good and it might not be so offensive if there a different bittering hop combination. I am going to try a Marynka-Belma combo.
 
I just ordered a pound as well. You're right that at 5 bucks a pound, it's worth a shot. I'll probably try it in a pale ale as the only hop to get an idea of what it's like. I'm interested to hear from anyone who has used it as well. Orange, grapefruit, pineapple, strawberry and melon sounds like it can't be bad.
 
Picked up a lb with my citra order like everyone else. Description sounds great. I'll brew the single hop pale ale that I use to investigate new hops and report back, as should everyone else. Apparently a local nano, Two Beers, made an IPA with this but I missed it somehow?? Oh well, time to make my own. And yeah, $5? Awesome!
 
I went all out and bought 3 lbs of the stuff so I could share with my brewing buddies. My wife was pretty stoked about it since she is wanting an amber with orangey hop nose. I plan on using it in a white IPA as well.
 
I added a pound to my Citra and cascade order. After submitting I have remorse for not ordering 3 pounds. $5.25!!!
 
Okay. I gave in...

1 lb. of each Citra and Belma @ $33.47 final price.

I'll get my 1 oz. sized pellet packs of Apollo, Summit, Simcoe, Centennial, and Amarillo from Rebelbrewer.

There were 109 lbs. of Citra when I checked yesterday... only 5 lbs. left this morning!!
 
Yup, I gave in as well.

Citra and Belma. These along with my Amarillo and Bravo lbs are going to make for some hoppy brews this next year.

Citra leaf is sold out now...
 
I bought a couple pounds of Belma. I was just going to get one but I realized with shipping the second pound only added $6.25 to the order. It would have been wasteful to pass on the second pound. $23 for two pounds shipped fedex is ridiculously cheap, especially for a 12 AAU hop.

I don't make a lot of hoppy beers but it might get me more into making bigger aroma hops, especially with how cheap it is. I guess if I don't like the flavor or aroma it will just be my bittering hop on 90 minute boils so I can boil out all the flavor.
 
I also picked up a few lbs of these - looking forward to using them in some bitters and pale ales - and dry hopping. I haven't brewed with whole hops in a while but looked like a great deal for everyday session ales.
 
chemicalcraig said:
Picked up a lb with my citra order like everyone else. Description sounds great. I'll brew the single hop pale ale that I use to investigate new hops and report back, as should everyone else. Apparently a local nano, Two Beers, made an IPA with this but I missed it somehow?? Oh well, time to make my own. And yeah, $5? Awesome!
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what is your grain bill for single hop pale? i'm going to do quite a few of these this year for the first time and i was planning on following the lagunitas hop stoopid model of ~97% 2 row/3% victory
 
ddrrseio said:
what is your grain bill for single hop pale? i'm going to do quite a few of these this year for the first time and i was planning on following the lagunitas hop stoopid model of ~97% 2 row/3% victory
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I like to keep it relatively simple with:
93% Gambrinus ESB (or your favorite 2 row), 5% Crystal 40, and 2% carapils and ferment with a clean yeast that accentuates hops. Something like 1056, wlp001, or us05.

For the hops I usually do 60, 20, and 0 min additions. I try to aim for about 20 IBU for the 60 min, and 15-20 IBU for the 20 min. I may or may not dry hop with an ounce or two.
 
Wish they were selling them in 1 or 4 oz. packages, sounds awesome but 1 lb for a one gallon brewer is insane.
 
Btw when buying whole hops do they usually add a good amount more like they do with the pellets?
 
bellmtbbq said:
C'mon! I'd be literally brewing five times a year if I did 5 gallon batches. :D Plus it lets me experiment a lot. This hop sounds excellent and right up my alley but no way till they release 1 or 4 oz packs.
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since $5 is almost certainly a promo price, you can expect to pay more for a 4oz package from a LHBS. if you don't like it and were ordering something else from them, you're out almost nothing.
 
Horrible name for a hop IMO. Went to order a pound but with $10.75 S&H for the one pound I passed it up. Interested to see what everyone thinks of it.
 
ddrrseio said:
since $5 is almost certainly a promo price, you can expect to pay more for a 4oz package from a LHBS. if you don't like it and were ordering something else from them, you're out almost nothing.
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What the guy after you said, the shipping makes it mediocre priced.
 
So I just got my order and it smells really good. Strong tangerine smell with a hint of tropical citrus. Definitely a hop I am excited about using. As for the shipping, I felt that paying 17 bucks for 6 lbs to be no big deal when compared to the per oz cost I am used to paying. If you were just buying one pound then it would be cost prohibitive but not when stocking up for the year.
 
How much do your LHBS charge an ounce for hops? Cheapest I can get stuff is 1.50 and ounce, or 24 bucks a pound. I know another store that charges 2 bucks and some varieties are 2.50. Anyway.

kaconga, did you get a shipment notice, or did they just show up? when did you order?
 
Hops are 2.25 per oz at my local shop with my club membership discount.

I ordered on friday night late and they did not send me a shipment notice. I logged on last night at hopsdirect.com and they had a tracking number there. I live just 4 hours from the farm so I am sure that is why they came so fast. The order wasn't shown as fulfilled until Monday. Overall I am really impressed.
 
Sounds like it might be good in a Belgian style ipa. Something like Strubbes IPA, not sure what hops strubbes uses but this might make the citrus flavor pop a bit more without making it too bitter like citra would in that beer
 
pm5k00 said:
Horrible name for a hop IMO.
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I know, right? Sounds like that dumpy girl from high school with lots of acne. Belma... What were they thinking. They should have given it a cool name. Like Zephyr. Or Withershins. Yeah, Withershins hops - just the thing for your next atypical IPA.
 
IIRC it was a mashing up of some words in a song. Still a strange name but I guess no worse than simcoe or fuggles.
 
Pretty crazy apparently they found it growing near a shed on the farm. Hopefully they will be available in pellets I would love to try them.
 
d_striker said:
In my experience, it's pretty close to a lb.
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Yeah, I think the days of getting overstuffed bags of hops from hopsdirect is long gone. I've been buying from them for a few years now and have never gotten more than 1/4 to 1/2 an ounce over.
 
shoreman said:
Btw when buying whole hops do they usually add a good amount more like they do with the pellets?
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I just portioned a "pound" of cascade leaf that was 18.8 oz and a "pound" of belma that was 18.4 oz. I would say its well over a lb when you consider what 2 oz of leaf hops looks like. When I got done with the belma my hands smelled like I had been juicing oranges. I will brew up a beer with it on Saturday.
 
kaconga said:
I just portioned a "pound" of cascade leaf that was 18.8 oz and a "pound" of belma that was 18.4 oz. I would say its well over a lb when you consider what 2 oz of leaf hops looks like. When I got done with the belma my hands smelled like I had been juicing oranges. I will brew up a beer with it on Saturday.
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That's interesting and great news, though contrary to my experiences with them. How accurate is your scale and what portions did you measure?
 
The reviews sound promising! Might be the new Citra.

Anyone here who doesn't finish their pound or doesn't like it that much, I'm totally willing (and would appreciate) to pay for an ounce or two + the shipping. Stoked to try this variety
 
bellmtbbq said:
The reviews sound promising! Might be the new Citra.

Anyone here who doesn't finish their pound or doesn't like it that much, I'm totally willing (and would appreciate) to pay for an ounce or two + the shipping. Stoked to try this variety
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I'll send you a few oz. Where are you from? Maybe you could send me a bottle of a good local brew?
 
chemicalcraig said:
That's interesting and great news, though contrary to my experiences with them. How accurate is your scale and what portions did you measure?
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1 oz portions and my scale seems fairly spot on. It measures in .05 increments. I will pick up a liter of water and see if its accurate with that.
 
Going to make a dry IIPA with Belma & Citra as late additions and in the dryhop... Apollo for bittering and as a middle charge. I need another late hop to round things out. Any suggestions? I want to combat some of that dominant tropicalness. Centennial, Southern Cross, Nugget?? Something else?
 
bobbrews said:
Going to make a dry IIPA with Belma & Citra as late additions and in the dryhop... Apollo for bittering and as a middle charge. I need another late hop to round things out. Any suggestions? I want to combat some of that dominant tropicalness. Centennial, Southern Cross, Nugget?? Something else?
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Southern Cross is amazing
 

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