glacier hops, anyone use them?

Did some searching, and there aren't a lot of comments on the flavor or aroma of these hops, and the feedback that is there is quite conflicting. I've read peach, iced tea, floral and fuggle like. Im about to tap a cream ale with an ounce of glacier so i guess i will know soon enough, but I'm curious to what others have experienced with them. Thanks for any comments in advance.

I have used them as bittering hops in ales, like cream ales, reds, porters, etc. They have good clean bittering properties and didnt contribute much aroma or flavor since i boiled them for 60-90 mins. but they seemed like a good hop for that purpose, good mid range alpha acids for beers you dont need anything crazy in the way of hops, like simcoe or something.

I recently just used them in a jalapeno and honey ale-so wish me luck.I have no idea.They seemed appropriate. From descriptions only ive read mild but hoppy.

Recently used them for flavour/aroma (15-5-1) in a low gravity APA.

Kegged the batch, had a quick taste when it was carbed, buddy stole the keg to go camping. We both liked it. I have another 8 gallons to keg.

Veedo said:

Did some searching, and there aren't a lot of comments on the flavor or aroma of these hops, and the feedback that is there is quite conflicting. I've read peach, iced tea, floral and fuggle like. Im about to tap a cream ale with an ounce of glacier so i guess i will know soon enough, but I'm curious to what others have experienced with them. Thanks for any comments in advance.

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I've still been unable to find a real solid description for these hops. Like you said, the reports are conflicting. Some say peach/apricot/orange other the exact opposite with mint/earthy. I want to do an all glacier IPA (magnum bittering) this weekend but I don't want to end up with 10 gallons of something I wasnt expecting.

Any solid user reviews?

I used them for bittering and for aroma.
I really liked the raw Glacier hop pellets aroma.

Even with dry hopping the Glacier hops, the beer had a smaller aroma than I had hoped for.

But all in all the Glacier ale was still very nice.

I've used Glacier quite a bit. I think of the flavor and aroma as almost stereotypicaly hoppy. Very balanced fruit, floral and spice flavor, without a sharp peak at any one note (unlike, say, Cascade's sharp grapefruit aroma). It's my go-to hop for experimental malt bills.

Captain Damage said:

I've used Glacier quite a bit. I think of the flavor and aroma as almost stereotypicaly hoppy. Very balanced fruit, floral and spice flavor, without a sharp peak at any one note (unlike, say, Cascade's sharp grapefruit aroma). It's my go-to hop for experimental malt bills.

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Did you get any Peach flavor/aroma? Have you ever used them heavily, in huge amounts, at the end of the boil/dry hop?

Did you get any Peach flavor/aroma? Have you ever used them heavily, in huge amounts, at the end of the boil/dry hop?

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Specifically peach? No. Stone fruit in general? Sure. But there is also a little citrus, a little grape-slash-melon, etc. The term "generic" has negative connotations, so I'm hesitant to use it when describing something I like, but there is a generic, as in somewhat nondescript, quality to Glacier's flavors. When dry hopping with it I do notice the mint note of the spice character, but that's mostly because mint is unusual in beer. It's definitely not strong or minty tasting. It's really just a very balanced, hoppy flavor/aroma.

Have you ever used them heavily, in huge amounts, at the end of the boil/dry hop?

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I wouldn't say huge amounts, but I've used it in all stages of the boil and dry hopped a 3 gallon batch with 2 oz of Glacier. I've often used it in single-hopped beers at various stages.

Bringing this back to life...How do you think glacier's would work as the dry hop for an ordinary bitter??

Hopefully excellent . . . . because that is exactly what I am going to be doing this weekend

I am going to basically do "the innkeeper" recipe from N. Brewer and use Glacier hops. I think it will work very well as it does have an "english ale" flavor to it, IMO.

I have used it as a dry hop before in a Sam Adams Stock Ale clone I did and really liked the flavor/aroma. Perhaps my favorite underated hop to use.

I think it'd be good - but then I'm biased. I was actually thinking of doing an "American bitter" using all Glacier. Expect it to be brighter than EKG (what I normally use for an English bitter) and with no earthy character.

I actually made an all-glacier hopped pale a couple months ago, which was particularly exciting given that I live on the border of Glacier National Park. Hopbursted it significantly in the last 20 minutes. Unfortunately, I was a bit underwhelmed. It had some earthy elements, and some spiciness, but I was really expecting more of a citrus/typically hoppy kinda deal. They smell very much like cascade to me when in raw pellet form. Not so much in this particular beer. I brewed the pale ale over again, with almost exactly the same grain bill but went half-and-half the whole way with Glacier and Cascade mixed together and thought it was much better. I've often used Glacier as a substitute for Cascade in the 90-30 minute part of boils simply because I always seem to have a pound of it laying around. Good results there.
I hope somebody else will have a better experience with the all-glacier-hopped beer than I did...and tell me how to do it!

It's amazing how little info you can find on this variety. Hop union's aroma description is just : "balanced".

I've used Glacier, but only for bittering. Found it to be a very clean hop for that purpose.

Clean, not overwhelming, middling bitterness, middling earthyness, a hint of citrus and floral notes on the nose. Very very versitile, plays well with others, and cheap. Whats not to like? One of my very favorite go to hops. Its never the 'star' of the show like Citra or Amarillo, but it's really, really useful, and gives an all around great hop flavor and aroma to any beer. Blend it, and reap the excellent beer and savings!

Glacier is a Fuggle decedent.

It contains balanced and moderate humulene, myrcene, and caryophyllene oils.
Citrus and other fruit (peachy/pear) notes as well as an herby and woody aroma.

It's low alpha (5.5) means it's not ideal for bittering.

It's low alpha (5.5) means it's not ideal for bittering.

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Low alpha doesn't mean no alpha. You can bitter just fine with low alpha hops, it just takes a little more. I've bittered with Glacier many times, and the beers came out great. One of the great things about brewing on a small scale is that the cost difference between 1 ounce of Amarillo and 2 ounces Glacier is too small to have a significant financial impact. If you find a hop you like, try it in all positions in your beers. Learn it, love it!

omayhemo said:

not ideal for bittering.

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Not ideal doesn't mean no bittering.
...thus the qualification.

glacier works really well in combination with other hops. I use it ipa's for an earthy note.something like this.
Nugget 60
cascade 30
amarillo 20
glacier 10

earth and citrus yummm

I dry-hopped glacier in a Rye IPA and the aroma was completely lost by the time it was ready to drink. The aroma seems rather delicate so in my findings it didnt work in a stronger ale.

glacier would definitely be lost as a dry hop, it belongs in the kettle imho

Anyone try first wort hopping with Glacier?
I am thinking of adding 2 oz of Glacier to a 4 gallon batch during first wort. This will be a small vienna and rye grain bill for an APA. Glacier has a 5-6 AA range per John Palmer. I'm hoping the milder "hoppiness" will come through the 20-30 minute first wort brewing.

Anyone have any recent feedback with using glacier? Thinking of brewing a some blonde with a 60 minute and flameout addition to get a better feel for it.

I am drinking now an all glacier IPA, made out of curiosity of what it can do. 3 total ounces in a 4 gal batch, including .5 FWH. My assessment is it is very mellow, slight floral aroma, earthy pear-like flavor. Good for bittering as well. I can see how this hop might get over powered by a C hop though, or mosaic type. I'd make again, but maybe a lighter APA next summer. Cheers

interesting that you guys are getting the pear flavor. thanks for the feedback monk!

I brewed an all Glacier APA a few months back. The taste and aroma were just a big bomb of apricots and orange juice. It was a little muted at first but really shined with some time.

I get tons of orange from the aroma. I just did a single hop PA, will post the results in a few weeks.