Willamette Hops , what to brew.

I've got a bunch of Willamette Hops left over from my Fat Tire clone brewing days and don't know what to do with them. Any ideas? I'll be honest, I'm pretty much an APA, IPA sort of guy with some European Vienna Lagers and Kolsch thrown into the mix. Maybe an ALT and a O'fest here and there.

Don't really want to toss them since I have almost a lb.

Willamette is my favorite hop and it is VERY versatile. I originally fell in love with it after using it in some english ales. My first english ale I brewed I found out I was not a fan of fuggles/EKG. Next time around I used ole Willy and it was amazing. I use it exclusively in most of my stouts now!

Recently I started experimenting with a cascade/willy combo in an American Pale Ale. My first sip was borderline life changing In that beer I did a 50/50 combo of the two for bittering, aroma and dry hopping. It turned out great!

Once the crap falls out of my current stout, I am going to dry hop it with an ounce of willamette!

Agreed. Any kind of APA or amber ale would be perfect. Williamette is definitely a favorite of mine for flavoring and aroma.

Doing a light english bitter with all Willamette. Like mentioned, good in lots of stuff

i always use 1/2 cascade 1/2 willamette for my apa's both on flavor and aroma (but still cascade for dry-hop). tasty combo. willamette is a decent sub for fuggle, so whatever you want, esp pale ales

I guess I'll have to try mixing it with some Cascades on my next APA. Thanks!

I have to agree with everything that has been said. Willamette to me though realllly shines in dark beers. With that in mind, the best IPA I've ever made had 2oz Willamette, 2oz Cascade, and 2oz Amarillo. Late additions of Willamette to IPAs have pretty much been a standard ever since!

Make a hopped up brown ale. Willamette would work fine in that.

Its funny when I here "don't care for Fuggles" but like Willamette
Willamette is AMERICAN grown Fuggles
"Willamette

Popular American development in 1976 of the English Fuggle. Named for the Willamette Valley, an important hop-growing area. It has a character similar to Fuggle, but is more fruity and has some floral notes. Used in British and American ales. A recent taste-test comparison between Ahtanum and Willamette has described some similarity between the varieties.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willamette_hops#Willamette

Henrythe9th said:

Its funny when I here "don't care for Fuggles" but like Willamette
Willamette is AMERICAN grown Fuggles
"Willamette

Popular American development in 1976 of the English Fuggle. Named for the Willamette Valley, an important hop-growing area. It has a character similar to Fuggle, but is more fruity and has some floral notes. Used in British and American ales. A recent taste-test comparison between Ahtanum and Willamette has described some similarity between the varieties.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willamette_hops#Willamette

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yep, i hear that too. i replace fuggle with willamette. it does have a slight citrus taste fuggle doesn't have, though. it fits in apa's when fuggle doesn't

Henrythe9th said:

Its funny when I here "don't care for Fuggles" but like Willamette. Willamette is AMERICAN grown Fuggles

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Well, sort of. Genetically, it's triploid, not diploid. It is not identical to Fuggles, and it does not behave the same. It has better vigor, somewhat superior disease resistance, and much better yields. Alpha and beta acids are higher in Willamette, cohumulone a bit higher. Most important to us, the flavor is similar, but not the same.

Try this site for reference: http://thehennings.com/beer/hops.html#21041

I think its settled then...an English IPA.

I did a brown ale with Willamette and EKG and it came out great

I've done 3 different brown ales all with wyeat american ale yeast, and all with willamette. The willamette goes really well in it. definitively my favorite hop.

jeburgdo said:

I have to agree with everything that has been said. Willamette to me though realllly shines in dark beers. With that in mind, the best IPA I've ever made had 2oz Willamette, 2oz Cascade, and 2oz Amarillo. Late additions of Willamette to IPAs have pretty much been a standard ever since!

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Jeburgdo, I would love to see a recipe, if you don't mind sharing.

wittmania said:

Jeburgdo, I would love to see a recipe, if you don't mind sharing.

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Not at all. This was the original recipe back in my extract days. I've done a couple variations on a theme (mainly trying to simplify the hop schedule and make a partial mash), but this was what got me hooked, and maybe it's just my memory, maybe luck (where can you find 7.2AA% Cascade??), but I think the one that turned out the best.

Ended up being ~4.5 gallons (3-3.5 gallon boil)
OG: 1.071
FG: 1.016
IBUs: somewhere in the 63-73 range

6.6lb light LME
1.65lb amber LME
1lb 40L crystal malt

1oz Amarillo 8.6AA- 60min
1oz Cascade 7.2AA- 60min
.5oz Amarillo 8.6AA- 30min
.5oz Cascade 7.2AA- 30min
.5oz Willamette 4.2AA- 30min
.5oz Amarillo 8.6AA- 15min
.5oz Cascade 7.2AA- 15min
.5oz Willamette 4.2AA- 15min
1oz Willamette 4.2AA- Aroma

US-05 dry yeast

Henrythe9th said:

Its funny when I here "don't care for Fuggles" but like Willamette
Willamette is AMERICAN grown Fuggles
"Willamette

Popular American development in 1976 of the English Fuggle. Named for the Willamette Valley, an important hop-growing area. It has a character similar to Fuggle, but is more fruity and has some floral notes. Used in British and American ales. A recent taste-test comparison between Ahtanum and Willamette has described some similarity between the varieties.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willamette_hops#Willamette

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Which is EXACTLY why I use it in english ales. It is very similar, but doesn't have the flavors the I hate in english hops. People who love fuggles describe willamette as a "Tame Fuggles" which is exactly what I was looking for.

Why is this such a touchy subject for you? Seems like a strange thing to trigger an aggressive post!

Henrythe9th said:

Its funny when I here "don't care for Fuggles" but like Willamette
Willamette is AMERICAN grown Fuggles
"Willamette

Popular American development in 1976 of the English Fuggle. Named for the Willamette Valley, an important hop-growing area. It has a character similar to Fuggle, but is more fruity and has some floral notes. Used in British and American ales. A recent taste-test comparison between Ahtanum and Willamette has described some similarity between the varieties.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willamette_hops#Willamette

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Yep, I'm one of those "fuggles haters" who like willamette. They may have similar parentage, but they don't taste alike. I like willamette, but fuggles taste like dirt to me.

I did a Bell's Amber clone a while back, and I really liked it. The combo of cascades and willamette (already mentioned) is a real winner! Here's the amber clone I did:

8 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 66.67 %
2 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 16.67 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 8.33 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 8.33 %
1.50 oz Williamette [4.80 %] (60 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 27.4 IBU
1.00 oz Williamette [4.80 %] (10 min) Hops 6.0 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.40 %] (5 min) Hops 1.9 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.40 %] (1 min) Hops 0.4 IBU
0.50 oz Williamette [4.80 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
1 Pkgs Safale US-05 (Fermentis #US-05) Yeast-Ale

You may enjoy IPA and APA. But, this is the only reason I have a crap load of Williamette in the freezer....

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/cream-three-crops-cream-ale-66503/

Yooper said:

I like willamette, but fuggles taste like dirt to me.

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I have never been able to describe why I dislike fuggles until reading this. Great description!

To me fuggles taste like irony mud...I detect a taste that I absolutely cannot describe, except it almost resembles tequilla.