which hops to buy?

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goose1873

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I like german beers and apa/ipas....I also like a light summer cream ale for the season. I have a pound of centennial and a pound of hallertau left in the freezer and am placing an order at hops direct...

I figured 3-4 lbs
I know I want cascade, and willamette

any other favorites? Amarillo?

Also, I want to brew a few more batches of the cream ale to keg for the summer. It calls for Willamette and Crystal. hops direct does not have crystal...whats a good sub or just any low aa hop will do...

thanks for any help :mug:
 
Crystal is good. I also LOVE Liberty in my cream ales and wheats. I plan on trying an APA with all Liberty some day, too. Amarillo and Simcoe are excellent choices for IPA's, as is Chinook for bittering. I'm a big fan of Tettnang for German beers, goes very well with the Hallertau. Cheers!
 
Amarillo !!! All the way, I bought 2 pounds of this on someone else's reccomendation and I will be buying more if I get close to running out. I love this hop in really hoppy ales, but it also works VERY well in a lightly hopped summer beer I find. It has a beautiful floral - almost sweet flavor - for me, and when used it small quanitities it is lovely.
 
Ok so I have centennial and hallertau.

Can Amarillo be used instead of cascade? I don't see the need for both. they are very similar and amarillo (referred to as a super-cascade) seems to be more versatile. So I am thinking Amarillo.

I was also thinking magnum for a bittering hop. It seems to be useful for all styles. Columbus seems like a good bittering hop as well, but is too pungent for some styles...

Is worrior similar to magnum?

Willamette for the cream ales and tetteneg to assist the hallertau in the german styles...

thanks for the help! and I apologize for the rambling...
 
good to know...can amarillo sub for cascades?

Well, yes. But it's not the best sub I can think of. I love amarillo hops, but they aren't really a sub for cascade in my opinion. I think of centennial as a "super cascade", while amarillo is definitely citrusy also but not really that similar to cascade in my opinion. I still think it's great in American IPAs and APAs, but not a true sub for cascade. Amarillo is "in your face grapefruit".
 
I will! I actually went with cascades (amarillo will be on next order...) Too many good recipes call for cascades and I have centennial which is pretty citrusy as well...
 
in IPAs I find Magnum are hard to resist

For sure - they pack a bang with the high AA% so they're very economical as a bittering hop to reached your desired IBUs. Plus they don't have a strong flavor profile so it's a nice palate for your flavor and aroma hops to work on.
 
I'd get three lb's. Amarillo, Cascades, and WIllamettes. If you enjoy a good IPA, those options will be great for you and they won't last as long as you think three lb's would. Always order more than you would think that you would need.

J
 
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