Cleanest bittering hop

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Torchiest

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I'm planning on brewing some more beers that I want very little hop flavor in, just bitterness, and I was wondering what people's experiences were with different varieties. Which hops are the cleanest? Northern Brewer, Chinook, Cluster, etc?
 
I've only used Northern Brewer as a bittering hop once, and that was 3/4 ounce for my Fat Tire Clone. Definitely clean and without any other flavor other than the bittering.

The other "neutral" (at least to me) bittering hop I've used in the past is Perle. That was in an English Pale Ale, and the bittering is definitely clean tasting. It was also used in my Dead Guy clone.

I prefer columbus over chinook as bittering hops, but I think it's only because I perceive chinook as a bit harsh.
 
Yooper Chick said:
...I prefer columbus over chinook as bittering hops, but I think it's only because I perceive chinook as a bit harsh.

Took the words right out of my mouth. I love Columbus for bittering, and if you overdo it, its definately not a harsh as it would be with Chinook.
 
My vote goes for Yakima Magnum, then Nugget, then Colombus. I have a Simcoe IPA that was clean but seems to have lost a TON of bitterness as it aged. Chinook is harsh.
 
Yooper Chick said:
I've only used Northern Brewer as a bittering hop once, and that was 3/4 ounce for my Fat Tire Clone. Definitely clean and without any other flavor other than the bittering.

The other "neutral" (at least to me) bittering hop I've used in the past is Perle.

Interesting. I thought that those two specific hops (NB and Perle) were both considered in general to be harsh.

I've only used Perle a few times (my stout), and I don't use very much. But, that stout is pretty sweet, and it might hide the harshness. (?)

I REALLY like Northern Brewer, and don't perceive it as harsh, but I think Dude does and is not a fan. It that that was one of the comments he made about my IPA when he reviewed it.

-walker
 
I like Northern Brewer and especially Willamette for bittering. I don't feel they're out of the norm or impart any "specialty" flavors. The Will's are low-AA% so you'll need more of them to get your point across.

Clusters work really well with more complex malt profiles. If you try to do a base-grain only brew, the Clusters tend to make it taste a little like a freshly mown lawn. I brewed a six-malt amber with them though as the 60m hops, and with Will and Cascade as the late additions, it was flat-out awesome.
 
I also think Willamette results in one of the cleanest bittering profiles. I use it in my more mellow hopped beers. Magnum seems to be pretty clean as well.
 
Ooooo...I almost forgot about Magnum. First time I used it, I was suprised how clean it was. I was kinda of conservative and figured out quick that i definately didnt need to be.
 
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