Belma Hops

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I appear to have made the worst beer in the world using a mix of Willamette, Belma, and West Yorkshire Ale yeast from White Labs. Tastes like rotting strawberries dipped in mud. :confused: I think it's the combination, though, not the Belma itself.
 
I ended up getting five pounds of the stuff, did essentially a zombie dust knock off and added an ounce of galena at the end. Will dry hop with 3 oz of whole chinook hops today, but It smells amazing right now.
 
BTW this hop sounds perfect matched up to Mosaic- both very berry and fruity.

If anyone out there felt like they over ordered on Belma and would like to help a one gallon brewer out, I'd be willing to buy3-4 oz off someone plus shipping. A pound is just too much for a one gallon brewer.. Please PM me if you can help me out! Thanks
 
bellmtbbq said:
BTW this hop sounds perfect matched up to Mosaic- both very berry and fruity.

If anyone out there felt like they over ordered on Belma and would like to help a one gallon brewer out, I'd be willing to buy3-4 oz off someone plus shipping. A pound is just too much for a one gallon brewer.. Please PM me if you can help me out! Thanks

I bought 2 pounds and am not a huge fan. I'm on my phone and can't seem to pm, so if you want to shoot me a message. I have pellets and cones. I'll gladly just send you some.
 
I bought 2 pounds and am not a huge fan. I'm on my phone and can't seem to pm, so if you want to shoot me a message. I have pellets and cones. I'll gladly just send you some.

What didn't you like about it? Cheers
 
Got everything ready to brew a English Mild with belma tomorrow to see how it holds up as just a bittering hop. When I opened the bag I was pleasantly surprised at the smell of berry and the citrus/floral notes.

Anyways, here's what I'm brewing - will post again when it's done:

Belma Mild
11-A Mild



Size: 6.0*gal @ 68*°F
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 120.57*kcal per 12.0*fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.036 (1.030 - 1.038)
|====================#===========|
Terminal Gravity: 1.009 (1.008 - 1.013)
|===========#====================|
Color: 14.65 (12.0 - 25.0)
|===========#====================|
Alcohol: 3.57% (2.8% - 4.5%)
|===============#================|
Bitterness: 15.3 (10.0 - 25.0)
|=============#==================|

Ingredients:
7*lb (84.8%) Maris Otter - added during mash
.25*lb (3.0%) Pale Chocolate Malt - added during mash
.5*lb (6.1%) Crystal 40 - added during mash
.5*lb (6.1%) English Brown Malt - added during mash
.5*oz (100.0%) Belma (9.8%) - added during boil, boiled 60*m
 
What didn't you like about it? Cheers

I made 2 different beers with it. An all Belma APA and a Belma/Cascade APA. The all Belma APA was plain and boring, even with 5oz of Belma, all late boil or dry hopped. The Belma/Cascade was creamy... like if you'd put cascade pellets in a glass of milk.

Neither were bad, but I have about 20lbs of hops in the freezer that I like much more than this one. I'd use it for bittering, but I have 2lbs of Magnum that I'm partial to.

I'll keep the cones to and use them in an American strawberry wheat. I think that might be a good combo.

Overall I'm certainly not knocking a $5/lb hop, but it's not something I'd choose over Citra, Amarillo, Northern Brewer, Centennial, EKG, etc.
 
I made 2 different beers with it. An all Belma APA and a Belma/Cascade APA. The all Belma APA was plain and boring, even with 5oz of Belma, all late boil or dry hopped. The Belma/Cascade was creamy... like if you'd put cascade pellets in a glass of milk.

Neither were bad, but I have about 20lbs of hops in the freezer that I like much more than this one. I'd use it for bittering, but I have 2lbs of Magnum that I'm partial to.

I'll keep the cones to and use them in an American strawberry wheat. I think that might be a good combo.

Overall I'm certainly not knocking a $5/lb hop, but it's not something I'd choose over Citra, Amarillo, Northern Brewer, Centennial, EKG, etc.

If you like saisons and feel like giving Belma another shot, I've been quite happy with the combo. I think the flavors in Belma have more yeast interplay than many other varieties.
 
Just bottled an Imperial IPA made with Belma, Calypso, and Crystal hops. Nose is amazing; floral, berry, white grape, slight resin. I actually had it pouring on tap at a local brewery who asked me to bring it in & got feedback from a few people relating it to walking through northern grape fields in western New York from their childhood and stuff. Brewer said he could tell the strawberry character and attributed it to the Belma. Overall, I like the hop & for the price, it's well worth playing around with it.
 
I'm happy with it. I had family and friends raving over my IPA recipe. It was something I tossed together on a whim one morning, really simple and so good.

Nice balance, and great bittering from it. For the price, I'm happy with it, and will keep it around to use in stuff. Looking forward to making some lightly hopped blondes for the wussy drinkers that come to my house, and some intense saisons in the spring to sip on!
 
I am thinking about throwing some into my Pale Ale which for some reason only bittered. I don't know why but none of the flavor/aroma additions seem to have done anything but bitter. A little Belma/Cascade dry hop to test them out.
 
DrunkleJon said:
I am thinking about throwing some into my Pale Ale which for some reason only bittered. I don't know why but none of the flavor/aroma additions seem to have done anything but bitter. A little Belma/Cascade dry hop to test them out.

I like cascade/Belma combo - a few people have mentioned my APA tastes like a creamy Sierra Nevada
 
DrunkleJon said:
Well, that is definitely what I will do then. Now to rig up a in keg dry hopping bag.

I hit it with 4oz whole in the keg - they've been in there for a month and still no grassy flavors at all
 
I wouldn't say Belma has grassy off-flavors akin to dryhopping for too long or using old hops.

Rather, grass is just a trait of this hop. At its very basic, it offers grass, spice, pineapple, orange zest, and some get strawberry.
 
Bottled wheatwine hopped with belma, nelson, and brewer's gold today. Smelled like kool aid. Tastes pretty much exactly like I wanted flat. Fruity, strong, wheaty, and the wlp 530 shines through nicely. Looking forward to sending some out for the Belma swap and holding onto most of the rest of them for at least a year.
 
I wouldn't say Belma has grassy off-flavors akin to dryhopping for too long or using old hops.

Rather, grass is just a trait of this hop. At its very basic, it offers grass, spice, pineapple, orange zest, and some get strawberry.

I will echo this. The grassy note is something that actually melds well with other hops, but might not with some that tend to get grassy on their own.

The spice and pineapple with the ripe red berry note is something I get with Belma as well.
 
bobbrews said:
I wouldn't say Belma has grassy off-flavors akin to dryhopping for too long or using old hops.

Rather, grass is just a trait of this hop. At its very basic, it offers grass, spice, pineapple, orange zest, and some get strawberry.

I was mentioning this as a positive - I've had hops that I've left in the keg for 3 weeks and had lots of grassy off flavors and aromas
 
Ok with summer a couple months away, what about a Belma Hefeweizen? Off to my LHBS today to get supplies and what nots, thinking out with the stouts in with summer beers.
 
Gear101 said:
Ok with summer a couple months away, what about a Belma Hefeweizen? Off to my LHBS today to get supplies and what nots, thinking out with the stouts in with summer beers.

I think it would work well and in wit biers - especially the creaminess of the hop with oats in the bill
 
I think it would work well and in wit biers - especially the creaminess of the hop with oats in the bill

All I have to do is come up with a bill and hop offering now. Plus make the starter this morning. LOL
 
Ok with summer a couple months away, what about a Belma Hefeweizen? Off to my LHBS today to get supplies and what nots, thinking out with the stouts in with summer beers.
personally i like my hefs fresh, so i'm holding off on those for now. if i have time in my schedule i'll do a belgian blond or belgian pale - also nice summer sippers that don't mind a little aging.
 
Ok, so I just cracked my first carbonated Belma/2-row SMaSH IPA. Belma is quite underwhelming on it's own. I want to brew it again, but with Conan like I read on a blog (I believe it was linked somewhere in this thread). The aroma was solid, but not intense. Pineapple and strawberry mostly. It has a smooth bitterness due to all late hops. Flavor is where I think this hop really falls flat. Even with hop bursting and a 2 oz dry hop charge there wasn't much hop flavor to speak of. Definitely not going to use this on its own again. I can see it playing well with other fruity hops like Citra, Nelson, Motueka and Calypso. I can also see it marrying nicely as a balancing hop for your piney/floral type hops.
 
Ok, so I just cracked my first carbonated Belma/2-row SMaSH IPA. Belma is quite underwhelming on it's own. I want to brew it again, but with Conan like I read on a blog (I believe it was linked somewhere in this thread). The aroma was solid, but not intense. Pineapple and strawberry mostly. It has a smooth bitterness due to all late hops. Flavor is where I think this hop really falls flat. Even with hop bursting and a 2 oz dry hop charge there wasn't much hop flavor to speak of. Definitely not going to use this on its own again. I can see it playing well with other fruity hops like Citra, Nelson, Motueka and Calypso. I can also see it marrying nicely as a balancing hop for your piney/floral type hops.

I think from the people weighing in, this is pretty much the consensus. It needs a partner.

I absolutely love it with Galaxy and Cascade tossed in there. Love the berry and pineapple notes I get with the passionfruit and light citrus notes from the other hops.. I could bathe in this beer and still drink it!!
 
I made 7 gallons. I first wort hopped, bitter'ed and flavored all with BELMA. After reading this thread, I decided to split off one gallon as a straight Belma SMaSH, one gallon dry hooped with Centennial, and 5 gallons dry hopped with Belma, Casade, and Citra. I kegged the 5 gallons (and I will bottle the 2 one gallon batches). I 5 gallon batch is very good. Lots of citrus and fruit flavors. I can necessarily pick out water melon or pineapple, but perhaps they are the fruit flavor. My neighbor likes the brew, and claims he tastes mainly the citra.
 
Well as an update on my experience. My stupid Pale Ale which for some odd reason only bittered and had no aroma or flavor hops left. I put 2 oz Belma in for a dry hop and 4 days later.... nothing. I am very underwhelmed. Will play around more with Belma/random hop remenants next.
 
eastoak said:
belma, zythos and caliente were all very much underwhelming hops for me.

I have some coming in the mail.. How bad are the Caliente hops? I was hoping for a nice aroma hop
 
I have some coming in the mail.. How bad are the Caliente hops? I was hoping for a nice aroma hop

the pound of caliente i got had ZERO aroma or flavor and i've seen other reviewers who have said the same thing. my first thought after opening the bag was that it needed some heat and water to bring out the aroma, so i made a hop tea...tasted and smelled like some kind of soup. not a good soup. it does have a clean bittering but i could not coax any pleasant taste or aroma out of the hops.
 
eastoak said:
the pound of caliente i got had ZERO aroma or flavor and i've seen other reviewers who have said the same thing. my first thought after opening the bag was that it needed some heat and water to bring out the aroma, so i made a hop tea...tasted and smelled like some kind of soup. not a good soup. it does have a clean bittering but i could not coax any pleasant taste or aroma out of the hops.

That's a real shame. With aroma hops I prefer to buy them in leaf form but they didn't carry any. I am hoping for a delicate peach/cherry aroma... We will see when I open them tonight... I'm going to do an experimental IPA with Golden Promise and TF Amber malt... Belma, Caliente, and Mosaic hops... Three new varieties.
 
That's a real shame. With aroma hops I prefer to buy them in leaf form but they didn't carry any. I am hoping for a delicate peach/cherry aroma... We will see when I open them tonight... I'm going to do an experimental IPA with Golden Promise and TF Amber malt... Belma, Caliente, and Mosaic hops... Three new varieties.


I bet ya the Mosaic just man handles them all and takes the front seat.
 
I bet ya the Mosaic just man handles them all and takes the front seat.

Probably ahaha. It's worth a shot


I'm thinking this schedule. I'd like that nice apricoty flavor you get from Fawcett Amber... especially with these fruity hops.

7 LBs Golden Promise, Scottland
12 oz Thomas Fawcett Amber Malt, England

0.2 oz Summit @ 60
1.0 oz Belma @ 10
0.5 oz Caliente @ 10
1.0 oz Mosaic @ 5
1.0 oz Caliente @ 0

WLP002

1.073 OG, 1.017 FG, 73 IBUs, 11 SRM, 7.4% ABV.

It's an English style IPA. All the dry/pale/extreme bitterness people, I thought I'd try something else

I'm debating not even dry hopping it since I brew my IPAs for others and pretty sure they don't give two hoots about the aroma.
 
+1 to the dry hop, even if it's just a little like a half ounce of each hop.

also, i'd propose going half-and-half mosaic/caliente for 5 and 0 minutes. you really want some mosaic at flameout.
 
I got a lb of Belma, as so many others did, due to the cheap price. I will say that when they first came in, I did get a really oniony, earthy smell that some are reporting, and I don't think it is just from whatever they used to flush the bag with. I did not really get any of the melon or berry aromas that others have reported.

Brewed on 12/4/12

I based this one off of EdWort's fine Haus Pale ale recipe

Partial Mash
Mashed 1.5 lb munich and 0.5 lb Crystal 60 at 152 for 60 minutes.
Drained, sparged with 1 gal. of 170 deg. water for 15 minutes.
Drained again.

Topped off to 3.75 gals for the boil.

1 oz 2012 Cascade (7.4%) - 60 min.
0.5 oz Belma (11.3%) - 30 min.
0.5 oz Cascade - 30 min.
0.25 oz Belma - 15 min.
0.25 oz Cascade - 15 min.
0.25 oz Belma - 5 min.
0.25 oz Belma - 5 min.

Added 6 lbs Briess Golden Light DME at flameout.

Topped fermenter off with water to 5.5 gal.

OG - 1.060
FG - 1.018

Fermented for 3 weeks at 63ish with 1 packet of S-05

Transferred to corny onto 1 oz. Cascade and 1 oz. Belma dryhop

Was out of town for a while after transferring, but after about 2 weeks in the fridge, the result was DELICIOUS.

I was concerned about the oniony/funky aroma from the hops in the package, but pick up none of that in the finished beer. Mostly citrus with some subtle fruit in the nose, as well as some spiciness (not phenolic, but more like a rye spiciness and earthy aroma). Flavor is more of the same. Big, bright citrus from the cascade, and while I don't get the strawberry that some get, I definitely get some subtle underlying melon/berry fruit, more in the aftertaste than anywhere else, but mostly I think the Belma adds a very nice, again almost rye-like spiciness and earthy flavor that goes extremely well with Cascade.

And, as you can see from pics 1 and 3, another thing I think the Belma adds is HUGE head retention, moreso than I have gotten in any other beer I have brewed. 2-3 inches of huge, creamy, craggy foam, that hangs around until pretty much the last sip. Its almost meringue like in its consistency. This carries over into a definite creamy mouthfeel to the beer as well. I can see where some have gotten a "dreamsicle"ish report on their beers.

Overall, I think this resulted in one of my best beers to date, and I have gotten some of the most positive feedback on it as well to date. Have had several people say it reminded them almost of Stone Pale Ale. The hops have begun to fade somewhat, starting with the nose, and its now beginning to lose a little of spice and citrus on the tongue as well, but still very delicious, and won't be around much longer. I will definitely be brewing this again. Overall, I have been happy with the Belma, especially at the pricepoint. I haven't used it exclusively in anything yet, and don't know that I will due to reports from others and my experience thus far, but I think it makes an excellent support hop. I also have a Janet's Brown almost ready for dry-hopping, and I subbed Chinook and Belma for the Northern Brewer, so I will report back on that one once tapped as well.

photo_1.jpg


photo.jpg


photo_3.jpg
 
I saw a thread recently about hopsdirect's new belma hops. For five bucks a lb I couldn't resist and jumped on the bandwagon. Anybody drinking on a batch brewed with these yet? I won't be brewing for another week or two and was wondering what to expect.
I have 5 gallons of Belma Pale in the secondary now.
Kegging it in a few days.
Tasted the sample and it was amazing. Drank the whole sample. Almost took another sample. Almost kegged it right then. Decided to give in and wait a couple days for it to finish clearing up.
Just used 2-row and .25 lbs of melanoiden and .25 lbs of Victory.
Would have used some carapils instead but ran out.
I'm already a fan and haven't tasted the carb'd version yet.
 
Back
Top