Bulk Hop Varieties

I'm planning on ordering 6 or 7 lbs of hops from hopsdirect in the next week or two, and I'm looking for advice on what varieties to order.

I'm pretty new to brewing, have a few batches under my belt, but still trying to keep things reasonably simple. I brew about 10 gallons split between 2 batches a month. I like english style ales, but I'm open to pretty much anything, so I'd like to get a decent variety of hops to work with.

I was thinking something like:

Amarillo
Chinook or Nugget
Hallertau
Magnum
Willamette
Northern Brewer

Figured that would give me a couple of different pairs of sort of aroma/bittering that would suit a couple different styles.

I'm pretty set on Amarillo, but the rest of them I'd change if there were other recommendations.

Thanks in advance!

It's a good mix of hops. Funny however is that Amarillo is the one I would skip and sub Centennial, Cascade or something else. Not a big fan of Amarillo although I still have 1/2lb in the freezer.

Huh, I thought it was one that a lot of people really liked? I guess I'm not really that set on it, it just seemed from reading other topics that a lot of people recommended it.

I would definately get some cascade. Maybe scratch the willamette...I bought a pound of each of those and the willamette hasn't been touched really and my cascade is nearly gone. I am a fan of amarillo, I'd get it. You're going to get a variety of opinions here becase some people prefer what they like.

That said, I think the rest are a pretty good choice.

Depends on what you like. If you like distinctively American hops flavors and brew lots of those styles, choose varieties like Amarillo, Cascades, etc. If you enjoy brewing lots of different styles, choose a less distinctive variety like Willamette. Willamette, being a Fuggles cultivar, is very useful in English style ales.

Since you said you like English styles, I'd opt for Target and Willamette - Target is an awesome bittering variety and Willamette is a good substitute for English varieties for flavor/aroma.

Cheers!

Bob

Since you like english styles shouldn't you have some fuggles/goldings in there?

TheMan: I'd agree on the williamette, but its $7 so might as well.

I got 4 lbs. Centennial, Columbus, Willamette, and Cascades. This has worked out really well for me. I can cover most of the bases here, but if I want to do a wheat or German style, I am SOL ..... but pretty much any American or English style is covered by these.

The willamette was there because I wanted fuggles. Then I was like, well, since they're both fuggles, I'll probably get US instead of UK, I'm sure I'd be happy with the results either way. Then I figured that since willamette is a fuggles cultivar, as Bob mentioned, that I could probably get away with that instead? Maybe I should just order some real fuggles instead?

*Centennial* ... enough said!

TheMan: I'd agree on the williamette, but its $7 so might as well.

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Lol, that's why I bought them...I was just disappointed.

Bob made some great points. It sounds like the willy is your forte. The Magnum, amarillo and hallertau are great picks for versatility, so I wouldn't change them. I myself keep Magnum on hand for bittering purposes. So the only ones I would change, IF you decided to change would be the NB and or the Chinook/Nugget choice.

mullet said:

I'm planning on ordering 6 or 7 lbs of hops from hopsdirect in the next week or two, and I'm looking for advice on what varieties to order.

I'm pretty new to brewing, have a few batches under my belt, but still trying to keep things reasonably simple. I brew about 10 gallons split between 2 batches a month. I like english style ales, but I'm open to pretty much anything, so I'd like to get a decent variety of hops to work with.

I was thinking something like:

Amarillo
Chinook or Nugget
Hallertau
Magnum
Willamette
Northern Brewer

Figured that would give me a couple of different pairs of sort of aroma/bittering that would suit a couple different styles.

I'm pretty set on Amarillo, but the rest of them I'd change if there were other recommendations.

Thanks in advance!

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My rule of thumb on bulk is to only buy as much as you've actually used in the shelf life of the product. If you buy 6-7lbs of hops without brewing a heck of a lot of beer first, you're probably going to end up throwing a lot of it out. You would be better served to find out what you WILL use first and then make purchases based on that. Maybe get some smaller quantities at freshops or somewhere like that first and then see what you'll end up needing (and liking) before buying in such bulk. You'll likely find you have 2 or 3 go-to hops and everything else will not be worth buying in bulk. For me, I absolutely blow through Saaz, Cascade, and Hallertau. I used to go through a lot of Northern Brewer and Amarillo but not so much anymore. There's no way I even get close to going through 1lb of other hops to justify a bulk purchase. I also know from experience that it's a bad idea to see if you like a hop at the time you buy a pound of it (Centennial, I'm looking at you).

I'm way out on the east coast of Canada, it's kind of a beer hell around here. Last brew day I paid pretty close to $40 for 5 oz of EKG at the LHBS. If I order a few ounces from somewhere online I'm guessing I'll probably pay enough in shipping that it's not worth it not to just go to the LHBS. So I figure if I end up paying a few dollars an oz, even if I end up tossing some of them, I'm probably still ahead in the end. I've got plenty of freezer/fridge space, and I'll pick up a vacuum sealer. Plus, I'm just starting to get into the hobby, and I'm in progress on building a Keezer, so once that's done I suspect I'll brew a little more often. I dunno, I'm not really worried about the quantity. I've got some buddies I can pawn some off on if they start to get old too.

mullet said:

I'm way out on the east coast of Canada, it's kind of a beer hell around here. Last brew day I paid pretty close to $40 for 5 oz of EKG at the LHBS. If I order a few ounces from somewhere online I'm guessing I'll probably pay enough in shipping that it's not worth it not to just go to the LHBS. So I figure if I end up paying a few dollars an oz, even if I end up tossing some of them, I'm probably still ahead in the end. I've got plenty of freezer/fridge space, and I'll pick up a vacuum sealer. Plus, I'm just starting to get into the hobby, and I'm in progress on building a Keezer, so once that's done I suspect I'll brew a little more often. I dunno, I'm not really worried about the quantity. I've got some buddies I can pawn some off on if they start to get old too.

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Similar to my situation. The homebrew store is too far away and too expensive to be worthwhile. I can buy single ounces for like $3-$4 per ounce or I can buy whole pounds from hopsdirect for about $1 per ounce. The break even point is around 3 oz, so it doesn't make sense for me to buy less than a pound at a time.

samc said:

It's a good mix of hops. Funny however is that Amarillo is the one I would skip and sub Centennial, Cascade or something else. Not a big fan of Amarillo although I still have 1/2lb in the freezer.

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feel free to send that 1/2lb over here