Willamette on its own...

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jjones17

jjones17

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Howdy all! Just wondering what others experiences are using Willamette hops. I have been experimenting with this hop, and I am finding myself wanting more when I use it alone. Whenever I use it with other hops (Fuggles, cascade, amarillo) my results are outstanding... in fact, I almost feel Willamette enhances these hops. However, on its own it is really kind of wierd for me. Maybe I am not using it right? Thoughts?

I have mainly been making APA's with willamette in my experiementing/
 
When I first got into brewing, a buddy encouraged me to go and sniff all of the hops and just start off brewing with the hop that I like the smell of the most. This hop was Willamette... and I still brew with it pretty much every other brew. Then again, I tend to brew English styles more often than not, but that's neither here nor there.

I make a SMaSH with Maris Otter and Willamette regularly. Great flavor, great aroma... not the highest in Alpha Acids so it's not really an economical bittering hop, but Christ... it's so readily available I don't mind tossing a couple ounces in for bitter, if it just makes it easier to buy one pack of whole leaf.

In short... keep up the good work, and make a Willamette-only brew from time to time.
 
Not to hijack the thread, but I'm quite interested in how the discussion goes on this topic. I purchased a pound of Willamette from Hopsdirect back in December because I kept seeing them come up in what I could define as a reputable recipe from different online forums. Now since, I've heard that Willamette has the dubious nickname of being the "dirt" hop. What kind of flavors have you perceived from Willamette? In doing some research on the hop I think it was Vinnie Cilurzo, probably on a BN episode, that mentioned Willamette enhances Cascade, but do the Willamette flavor/aroma carry over?

Sorry to hijack, just thought it might fit the conversation.
 
I make a Willamette ESB which is pretty good.

My impressions of Willamette are herbal, minty, fruity and earthy. The mintyness is tongue tingling and is only there when beer is fresh and gets really smooth with aging.
 
Birchgrove77 said:
Not to hijack the thread, but I'm quite interested in how the discussion goes on this topic. I purchased a pound of Willamette from Hopsdirect back in December because I kept seeing them come up in what I could define as a reputable recipe from different online forums. Now since, I've heard that Willamette has the dubious nickname of being the "dirt" hop. What kind of flavors have you perceived from Willamette? In doing some research on the hop I think it was Vinnie Cilurzo, probably on a BN episode, that mentioned Willamette enhances Cascade, but do the Willamette flavor/aroma carry over?

Sorry to hijack, just thought it might fit the conversation.
Click to expand...

I certainly wouldn't call it "dirty," but I would call it "earthy." It's a lovely hop in low-alpha bitters, porters, and browns. I find it a wonder complement to toasty and roasty flavors, though as I said I like it in English-style bitters too. Remember, it's basically a seedless Fuggles.
 
i've got about 8 oz 2008 williamette hops that i'm storing in a box for another year or two before i begin attempting to brew a lambic. also have some hallertauer hops in a box as well.
 
used it in a porter that turned out well.

i used US golding for bittering, williamette for flavor/aroma.
 
I've Willamette in about a third of my brews, usually porters and browns, but also in stouts and even wheat beers. I find it straightforward enough to be pretty versatile, and when I used it solo in a recent wheat beer, it was great. Of course, I used it only for bittering in that case.
 
I actually love Willamette. I've got a pound and a half in the freezer and I use it buy itself most of the time. It goes in all my English style varieties; Nut Brown, Porter, Oatmeal Stout, Mild...

I will say that Willamette is unique. I get a lot of herbal and spicy type flavors early on that I don't care for at all. If you age the beer for a couple weeks the flavor seems to turn. It then becomes a earthy, woodsy and maybe a little spicy. So I guess I can see where people may say "dirt".

I've never tried Willamette to enhance cascades but I might have to give that a go.
 
Sounds like someone needs to do a SMaSH :D

I dig Willamette...it's a fuggle variety and decent as a replacement. A little less earthy and more floral than fuggle, I'd say, but a great hop.
 
There was some talk at the last OBC meeting of having Willamette as the beer-of-the-month. Any style, but only Willamette hops.
 
Willamette works nice with cascades, I do equal amounts in an American Wheat but I love Willamette on its own. Works nice in anything from dry stout and British bitters to American Ambers and Browns.

I too have almost two pounds in the freezer. Thinking about an English IPA soon...
 
OP here, it is interesting to hear everyones opinions and experiences using this hop on its own and blended with other hops.

Even though I did not really like it on its own in the beer that I made, I want to try it again in an english bitter and see how it goes. I will still use it for blending though... heck I have 2 pounds of the stuff!
 
I've used willamette in my oatmeal stout and it turned out fine, can't really say much besides that as I only used them for bittering.. I am going to be brewing a IIPA soon w/ 12-14oz of hops, 3oz of which will be willamette. I've heard it compliments cascades and maybe centennial quite well, so I'm going with it.
 
I just tried my Willamette / fuggles IPA which I made with 2 row, munich, and Crystal 40L & 80L. Its F-AAAAnstastic! Again, the willamette seems to really round out the flavors of other hops.
 
I just got a pound each of Cascade and Willamette in the mail today from hopsdirect.

I plan on using these for some APA's and IPA's, but first I'm going to make my RIS that calls for Fuggle, but I'm replacing it with willamette. Can't wait to try it.

And all the talk here of it enhancing or complimenting cascade is making me want to brew RIGHT NOW!!!
 
DeathBrewer said:
Sounds like someone needs to do a SMaSH :D

I dig Willamette...it's a fuggle variety and decent as a replacement. A little less earthy and more floral than fuggle, I'd say, but a great hop.
Click to expand...

A SMaSH sounds like the way to go, but I think I'll probably make 6 gallons of a low gravity session beer using Marris Otter - Willamette and split the yeast with an English variety and Belgian variety. Lots of wonderful suggestions, sounds like 2010 is the year of Willamette.
 
+1 on loving willamette. I do a lot of beers with it, and have enjoyed using it as a flavor/aroma hop and using sterling as my bittering addition. I did an IPA once that was continuously hopped with willamette and sterling (equal proportions, about a lb. of hops total per 5gal) and it was one of my favorite beers of all time.
 
Birchgrove77 said:
Lots of wonderful suggestions, sounds like 2010 is the year of Willamette.
Click to expand...


Hehe, yeah, I'm batting around a few ideas of what to do with my lb of Willamette. So far I've come up with:
-WillyMO SMaSH done up like an English bitter
-Willamette/Cascades pale ale
-WillyWheat of some sort
 
I did a Will/pale SMaSH and it was fantastic. 1.047 and about 20 IBUs. Nothing really stood out about it, but it was very balanced and "earthy". A bit of a floral aroma too.

I made a 10g batch of Blonde Ale too...pretty much my SMaSH with a pound of 10L. Bottled 5g and kegged the other 5g with 1oz of Will's. It was incredible! The dry hopping really brought out the floral aromas and made it crisper overall.

Try it, you'll like it! :mug:

8# pale
1# crystal 10L
.5 oz 60m
.5 oz 30m
.5 oz 10m
.5 oz 0m
 
I've got most of a pound left in the freezer, i use them a lot in browns (which we make a lot of around here), for aroma in a quad, and recently decided to use some as bittering in a stout. I think it's a great hop, and was planning on a Munich or MO smash coming up soon.. may have to try Bjorn's recipe above though. I've also been thinking of doing an all Willamette IPA... not a high alpha of course, but for $7 a lb from hopsdirect, it would be easy to toss a pound or pound and a half in a brew.
 
jjones17 said:
I may have to try that! I think the main issue with my Solo Williamette beers is not enough body.
Click to expand...

I mashed at 154 and it finished at about 1.010. Used Notty yeast and cold fermentation...it had pretty good body to it.


BA, I think an English IPA would be incredible with Will's! post up a recipe if it turns out. :mug:
 
I do my hazelnut milk stout with 2oz Willamette. I started using it when I couldn't find Northern Brewer on a trip to the LBHS.

It also pairs well with Perle in a Hefe.
 
Anyone ever do any side by side with Glacier? I've heard these hops are similar, and I use Glacier alot. I just don't know Willy very well, but I have a half pound in my freezer yet to use.
Glacier tastes to me alot like some of the descriptors above. I think it is delicious, and usually I use it by itself in an oatmeal brown recipe. I think it pairs wonderfully with the flavor of Crisp Brown malt.
 
Going to be brewing a SMaSH today using Williamette.

William's Golden Promise

10 lbs Golden Promise

Mash at 149 F for 60 minutes

2 oz Williamette (4.4%) FWH

1.5 oz Williamette @ 10 minutes

2.5 oz Williamette @ 0 mins

US S-05 yeat. Dry.
 
I make a cascade/williamette combo pale ale that is pretty tasty @ 55IBUS. It had 5 oz of williamette and 3 oz of Cascade in it. Plus I like it in American Wheats. Use the Willamette for bittering and cascade for flavor and aroma- to about 20 ibus or so. I also use it in browns and stouts.
 
Here's my Cascade/Willamette RIS I'm about to bottle.

-----------------

12 lbs Pale LME
1 lb. Crystal 40L
1/2 lb. Chocolate Malt
1/2 lb. Black Patent
1/2 lb. Roasted

Hops

1 oz. Cascade hops (60 min boil)

1 oz. Cascade (30 min boil)

1 oz. Cascade (15 min)
1 tsp Irish Moss (15 Min Boil)

1 oz. Willamette hops (5 min late boil)

1 oz. Willamette hops (end of boil)

White Labs WLP005

-----------------

Next I'm going to make a Cascade Pale Ale, and then make the exact beer subbing with the Willamette hops.
Do a side by Side taste test...
 
It's funny that you should mention using Williamette in combination with other hops.

I recently did an experiment using 4 different hops in 4 different one gallon batches. The grain bill was the same in all four beers and the amount of the hops was adjusted to reach a similar IBU level in each. The idea was to see for myself if there is any real difference in flavor with a single :60 min bittering addition and, if so, which flavors do I prefer.

After fermentation, I tasted each sample and did notice "subtle" differences. Some hops had more "flavor" than others. I found that Williamette, as a bittering hop, is pretty neutral. The interesting thing is that when I tried blending some of the finished beers, I found that the Willamette blended very well with two other hops from the test.

My favorite combination was Williamette and Simcoe. I think I'm going to formulate an American pale ale with these two hops and see how it turns out.
 
Well, I have pretty much decided that Willamette is an excellent blending hop. After trying it in several different ways I think this is probably my favorite hop to complement most of the floral/citrusy hops. In fact, I will probably add this to most of my hoppy beers to cut down on using too much of my favorite showstoppers too fast (Amarillo, fuggles, Centennial). :mug:
 
chucke said:
I'm drinking an ESB that's 100% Willamette.
It's spectacular... if I do say so myself.
Click to expand...

I just brewed an all willamette IPA from a parti-gyle. Made 1 gallon, got 8 bottles worth. Sample was beyond amazing.
 
Brewed an all willemette blonde a bit back. Was awesome. When you're looking for a nice light ale that isn't overtly-"American" hop wise (spice/ citrus), then willemette fits nicely.
 
kornbread said:
It's funny that you should mention using Williamette in combination with other hops.

I recently did an experiment using 4 different hops in 4 different one gallon batches. The grain bill was the same in all four beers and the amount of the hops was adjusted to reach a similar IBU level in each. The idea was to see for myself if there is any real difference in flavor with a single :60 min bittering addition and, if so, which flavors do I prefer.

After fermentation, I tasted each sample and did notice "subtle" differences. Some hops had more "flavor" than others. I found that Williamette, as a bittering hop, is pretty neutral. The interesting thing is that when I tried blending some of the finished beers, I found that the Willamette blended very well with two other hops from the test.

My favorite combination was Williamette and Simcoe. I think I'm going to formulate an American pale ale with these two hops and see how it turns out.
Click to expand...

Could you comment a little more on the other three beers/hops from this experiment, and how you perceived the bitterness/flavor from those? I've always wondered about the importance of the 60 minute addition strain.
 

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