HBC 342 Experimental Hops

Last week I saw that Farmhouse Brewing supply had some experimental hops for sale -- HBC 342. The wheels in my head started churning, so I bought 12oz.

They arrived yesterday, so I drew up a quick pale ale recipe that I'll be brewing here soon:

9lbs 2-row
1lb Munich
12oz C40
.6oz HBC 342 @ 60
1oz HBC 342 @ 10
1.5oz HBC 342 @ 0
1oz HBC 342 Dry Hopped.
WLP007

Has anyone got their hands on this hop yet, and if so what do you think? Here is the HopUnion info on it: http://farmhousebrewingsupply.com/downloads/experimental hops 2011.pdf

Aroma is stated as: mild, pleasant, citrusy and watermelon. Maybe like a higher alpha Ahtanum? Co-humulone is pretty high, so it'll won't replace my bittering hops, but I'm curious what the aroma is like.

I gave these hops a rub last night, and they definitely remind me of a higher-alpa ahtanum. They're floral and citrusy, but the aromas are softer than say a cascade. These should be pretty good, I'm excited to give them a roll.

Let us know how it turns out! I wanna pick up 4 oz of these and make a nice hoppy session beer with wheat sometime soon.

I ordered some too don't know when I will get to use them though. I could not pass up the opportunity to use an "experimental" hop.

Any word on how these are tasting? I'm intrigued by its "watermelon" descriptor--much as I like watermelon, that could easily get out of hand and end up tasting like beer punch.

This beer is actually next on my list to brew. Exactly the recipe in the first post, only US05 rather than WLP007. I'll be brewing it the weekend after next, most likely.

I brewed a beer with them. The beer also had falconers flight and a bit of centennial but I used like 4 ounces of the HBC. I get more of a floral thing from them. However sometimes I get a jolly rancher kind of aftertaste so maybe that is the "watermelon" not sure. Anyhow I don't think its nearly as fruity as any of the new zealand hops so I wouldn't worry about making beer punch.

Ya, from doing a rub test, I can tell you that beer-punch won't be a concern. They really remind me of ahtanum, at least from rubbing them. We'll see what they taste like in a beer.

I've got 4 oz in the freezer that I'm planning to make a simple blonde with. I've been searching and searching to find someone who's actually finished a batch with some tasting notes.

I'm sitting in a pub drinking a beer with the primary hops being 342... not sure I'm into it. Definitely a softer aroma, silky on the back tounge. The watermelon isn't coming through, but there is definitely some "fruity-ness" coming down... a lot. Mild spice too. Not too earthy, more floral aromatic.

Yeah aroma is pretty mild. I dry hopped with like 3 ounces of them and didn't get quite the aroma punch I was expecting.

Drinking an IPA from Fat Heads with HBC as only hop on a light grain bill. Lots of grapefruit here. While it was cold it was more floral with a definite spice note. Now that it's warmed, I'm getting more of the fruitiness and an increased sweetness, which I like. Take all the above with a grain of salt--I'm still a noob brewer and my palate isn't all that developed.

Just ordered some of these and I think that I will probably use them alone in a smaller batch to see how they taste. I only ordered 3 oz. which was not the smartest thing I suppose

Ok. Tonight I brewed the recipe I posted at the top. Only changes were US05 as the yeast, and I will be increasing the dry hop to 2oz.

It's definitely a mild hop. It smells 'hoppy', all the other characteristics are secondary. It's slightly citrusy, slightly floral, and I suppose I can see where the watermelon comes from, but it's not strong, I'm really digging here. Very mild hop

Yeah I did not care for the ale I made with them. Didn't hate it, just wasn't getting the hop wallop I was expecting using 4 ounces of them combines with some other hops. But everyone that tried it really liked it. If I use them again will definitely blend them with some other hops. They might be nice in a soft blonde or something though.

Brewing an APA with them today.

10 lbs 2-row
1 lb carapils
.5 oz @ 35 min
1 oz @ 10 min
.5 oz @ 5 min
1 oz @ flameout
2 oz dry hop for 7 days

We'll see. Might be a good hop to mix with citra in my citra wheat pale ale. I need something to add to that to mix it up

Nice, Let's hear how it turns out. I dry hopped mine today. It'll get Kegged it 5-6 days

Well, I'm not wild about this batch. Here's all the details:

http://bertusbrewery.blogspot.com/2012/05/experimental-hop-pale-ale.html