Hop choices

Ok, with the possible up coming price increase I figured I'd ask you all what hops you would buy. Let's say you are limited (funds) to about 3 different hops to get you by the next 6-8 months (1lbs each) of brewing and you really havent decided what your brewing yet. What three hops would you choose and why (types of beers)?

That's a tough one. I'd have to say:

1. Either Cascade or Amarillo b/c I love them both. Good for APA's and American IPAs. Since I have homegrown Cascade hops, I'd go with the Amarillos.

2. Fuggles for my true English ales. (EKG would be my alternate if Fuggles were in short supply.)

3. Hallertau for my German, European lagers and ales.

I agree with Rhoobarb. Cover your styles. For me:

Cascade (pale ales)

Tettnang (pilsners, american wheats)

East Kent Goldings (bitters, stouts, porters)

You are a mind reader!!! I was planning so far (depending on feedback here) Cascades, Fuggles, and Hallertau. I do have an APA, Hefe, and Irish Ale planned. I am not a hop head so I dont forsee any IPAs in my plans.

Others?

cascade, fuggle and hallertau is what we just harvested

i wouldn't mind some e. kent goldings, tho...hmmm...i think next year!

I have to agree with the cascades- they are so versatile! I use them for bittering, dry hopping, flavor, finishing hops, etc. Then I'd choose a neutral bittering hops variety- maybe magnum or even northern brewer. Then, a British hops variety, or a fairly neutral Czech/German like Saaz/Hallertau.

I'm awfully fond of Willamette, too, but I don't use them very often.

Centennial, Chinook, Cascade, Amarillo and Saaz.

Can you tell most of my brews are IPAs and Witbiers? =)

(I'd add or substitute Warrior and Simcoe in there, but they're already getting hard to get)

-D

3 pounds of hops ? No way I could use that much.

that's why you freeze some of it. or give some to me

I have four pounds being delivered today:

Cascade (leaf)
Northern Brewer (leaf)
Tettnang (pellets)

And here’s the “what was I thinking” part:

Nugget (pellets)

I needed 4 Oz for a recipe and a pound was only $8.95 so…what the heck.

At a 13% Alpha, I’ll have to be careful with that one.

Columbus or Nuggett, Amarillo or Cascades, Fuggles or a Goldings. I've actually got all of these stockpiled.

Had an all-Nuggett IPA at the Fresh Hops fest last year, very fine.

DeathBrewer said:

that's why you freeze some of it. or give some to me

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I guess if I had to get 3 pounds, I would go to Austin Homebrew Supply and get their
1 pound ( Special Assorted Chez Hops Package - 4 hops different kinds of hops, yeah thats cheating but its a great deal at $16.99 ). Then I would get a pound each of Cascade and Liberty cause I know I like what those taste like and most of the beers I like to drink use one or the other.

I order my bulk "house hops" from Puterbaugh Farms (hopsdirect.com). Their prices are excellent. Last time around, I ordered a pound each of Cascade, NB and EKG. This time around, the selection was different (no EKG), so I got a pound of Galena for a good bittering hop (high AA means more bang fer your buck), a pound of Cascade for my more aggressive ales, and a pound of Willamette for a more subtle character. Puterbaugh notoriously sends you more than you order---like, 1.5 lbs or so. We'll see if they're as cavalier with their weighing practices now that the hop harvest looks poor, though. Anyway, I really recommend versatile varieties like Cascade and EKG, and a good bittering hop that you can use almost universally.

david_42 said:

...Had an all-Nuggett IPA at the Fresh Hops fest last year, very fine...

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I'll have to do a search for a recipe.

Good to know I'll be able to do something with the pouond I have on the way.

I just ordered a pound of Fuggle, EKG, Cascade, Centennial, and Halletaur

Should cover me for a while!

I'm going to agree with the consesus.

Cascade or Amarillo
Fuggles or EKG
Hallertau

That'll let you brew 90% of the styles out there. I might also be inclined to buy a fourth - something clean and relatively high AA% for bittering purposes, like a Magnum.

I also like cascade and noble hop (either fuggle or E. K. Golding) but would add challenger or chinook as a bittering hop, but I am an IPA hophead.

Another thought.......have you considered growing your own (hops I mean)? Hops grow like weeds if you are in a reasonably temperate latitude and have a little space.

Cascade
Haller
Saaz
Fuggle

These are the ones that I KNOW will be in the freezer everytime.

Cascade
EKG
Northern Brewer
Fuggles

You guys are cheating, I said you could only pick 3 types!

Columbus
East Kent Golding
Saaz

currently on my list are:

Magnum
Simcoe

Amarillo
EKG
Sterling
Halletauer

If I had to take only three:

Magnum (clean bittering)
Amarillo (Anything American)
Sterling (I really like this one)

I only choose these because I believe that german/european hops grown in the states don't have the same characteristics as the ones from Europe. I can get those from the LHBS as needed. Plus, I'm growing some of my own to offset things.

Kent Goldings (everything English)
Hallertauer (almost everything German and some American stuff)
Amarillo (almost all American styles)

Pay the increased price as needed to supplement and get high alpha for bittering as needed. This will last me 6 months easy.

Easy for me, just 2 types:

Target
EKG