Aramis Hops

We're getting a lb of Aramis hops given to us through a distributor and looking around for info, there seems to be precious little.

This from Mitch Steele at Stone:

“The Aramis hop is a brand new hop variety from Cophoudal in Alsace, France. Its parentage includes the Strisselspalt hop, a German style hop from Alsace. Strisselspalt has a very unique aroma-herbal like a German noble hop, but with hints of lemon as well, but it also has a very low alpha acid content, which makes it tough for using in craft ales. Aramis was at 8% alpha acids, so a really nice level.”

They use it as a dry hop in their new Japanese Green Tea IPA. Other than that, little info from Google.

Does anyone here know more about this hop? What kind of recipes would it excel in? 8% AA could lend itself to a SMaSH, but is this the kind of hop that would turn out alright in this format? The most obvious seems a pils but we don't lager yet. Any info is appreciated!

All I've been able to find so far (also from Stone):

http://blog.stonebrew.com/?p=2493

I just ordered some from Farmhousebrewingsupply.com and I'm thinking of doing a SMaSH, or maybe a saison featuring just these hops - if it happens I will report back!

We ended up going the smash route and it worked really well - though we found the hop presence didn't hold up very well. Drink it fresh! You can read more here: http://ericswanderings.wordpress.com/2011/12/03/mousqueteer-smash-coffee-brown-home-brew/

Just got 4 ounces from farmhouse also. I plan to use it just for lagers. Thanks for the review though pretty spot on with everything else I had read about them.

Thanks for the link and the info! I'm currently Garding my Biére de Garde with all Aramis hops!

Early tastes and I'm getting the same lemon rind, earl grey, along with anise and some black pepper!

Cheers


LB

I did a Munich-Aramis SMASH, lagered so as to be like an Oktoberfest but with all the hops FWH so you could actually taste them and get some feel for the variety. It has a lovely herbal-floral aroma that you would never mistake for an American hop despite the aforementioned hint of lemon. I might even say lemongrass, actually - it's simultaneously ever so slightly lemony and not fruity at all, at least in what I pick up using it as a first wort hop; things may be different with late additions and dry hopping.

In the future I plan to experiment with Aramis as an aroma hop in Belgian styles (it has some of the same spice notes as Saaz) and will likely continue to use it as a dual-use hop in lagers.