Your favorite hops...discuss!

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flyangler18

flyangler18

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I'm sure a thread like this has been started at one point in time, but I was having a discussion recently with a fellow HBer about their favorite hops. Granted, this is influenced by your own brewing preferences. I love English ales in particular, so my own favorite varieties are EKG, Fuggle, Williamette and Galena. For the occasional IPA, I have a fair bit of Centennial and Cascade on hand, and dry-hopping Simcoe and Amarillo is a combination you just can't beat!

Doing some quick mental inventory, I have in my stores right now:

1.5 lb Golding
8 oz Fuggle
1.5 lb Centennial
8 oz Cascade
1 lb Williamette
1 lb Challenger

What are your favs? What do you have on hand at all times?
 
The only thing I have on hand at all time is Cascades and Willamettes, but the last couple of beers I made with Liberty have turned out really well. I really like the taste and smell of that hop.
 
I'm a big fan of any citrusy, piney hop. Cascades, Amarillo, Chinook, etc... I really enjoy the flavors that they impart in beer.
 
I am a huge APA/American IPA fan. I have a few noble hops around, and some British style hops, but I have most of my freezer space dedicated to the c hops and my new love amarillo hops.

I make probably about 50-75% APAs and/or IPAs with a few American ambers thrown in for HWMO. I make about 3 German lagers per year, and about 5-6 British style beers. One or two cream ales per year. That's about the extent of my brewing repertoire.
 
In a recent inventory I found I have 9 pounds of leaf and pellet hops.

And I love each of my children equally and individually. But if forced to choose at gunpoint I would have to sacrific the foster hops to save the ones I nurtured from infancy.

Out of all of my hops I have disowned my transgendered Chinook. That one was just too confused and liberal for the safety of the population. Sure it wasn't his/her fault, yes it was genetic but a family is a family I just can;t tolerate a gender confused offspring trying to sex up all my precious little girls.

What was the question again?

Oh, No favorites. But I have yet to try them all.
 
Yooper, you seem to be in the dream brewing position. You are SWMBO. You can approve all brewing purchases and expansions. If most guys on here had that power, it seems their significant others would have to make do with shelters woven from sacks of grain, warmed only by a heat exchanger.
 
Centennials are a favorite of mine for American style brews.
Saaz and Styrian for Belgian styles.
My brew freezer is literally stuffed full of hops right now. I have to hold it all back with one hand while getting the door shut.

Sometimes it's good to have friends at a local hop distributor:rockin:
 
Williamette

Most of my beers are British Ales anyway but Williamette works in a pinch for a lot of styles.
 
East.

Kent.

Goldings.

:D

In order, after Goldings: Fuggles, Challenger, Target, Northdown. However, what I've actually got is a pound or so of Willamette pellets. Very, very versatile, but still not my favourite.

Can you tell I'm a little bit Anglo-centric?

Bob
 
I have yet to meet a hop I didn't like.

That said, I could brew a long, long time with just Willamette, Amarillo, and Pacific Gem.
 
Liberty rocks. I'm anticipating trying Mt Hood next time I do a Lager, what do you think of it compared to Liberty ?

I almost tried it last time, but it just didn't smell as good as the Liberty did.
 
Willamette is my current favorite all-purpose hop. I seem to like the spicy, earthy, noble-type hops more than "big C" type hops.

The best beer I've made yet used a combination of Sterling and Willamette. Yummy.
 
Willamette, Horizon, Amarillo, EKG, Northern Brewer and Cascades (Not in that order). But like others have said, I haven't met a hop I didn't like.

JJ
 
fuggle, EKG - english ales

saaz, tettnanger, hallertau - hefeweizens, german ales, lagers, light beers (cream ale)

northern brewer - steam beers, APAs

styrian golding - belgian ales and others

others - perle, mt. hood, spalt, german tradition
 
my all around favorite is chinook, but hallertua and its variants would be a close second.
 
centennial. I make a wheat with all centennial and dry hopped with centennial. I think it is the bomb!!
:mug:
 
ek gold, spalt, h. mittelfruh, challenger, northdown, northern brewer, fuggle, saaaaz, cascade
 
+1 on simcoe/amarillo...also northern brewer/cascade(ala Anchor Liberty), chinook/centennial, challenger/northdown, or any English hop/Northdown are other great 1-2 punches.
 
I go two ways: Amarillo for american beers, Goldings for the british ones.
 
BobNQ3X said:
East.

Kent.

Goldings.

:D

In order, after Goldings: Fuggles, Challenger, Target, Northdown. However, what I've actually got is a pound or so of Willamette pellets. Very, very versatile, but still not my favourite.

Can you tell I'm a little bit Anglo-centric?

Bob
Click to expand...

Sorry for the noob question, but are Goldings (as listed on Freshops) the same as East Kent Goldings?
 
canoworms.jpg


Hehehe...

To answer your ?, not exactly. Goldings, although they don't really mention this on their page, are probably specifically PNW-grown (WA or OR) US Goldings. They're the same cultivar as East Kent Goldings.... But the thing that makes East Kent Goldings what they are is that they're grown..... in East Kent. Similarly, New Zealand Goldings are the same cultivar of hop, but grown in NZ.

The three are probably passable subs for each other, and if you serve to someone who isn't a hardcore hophead, they might not even notice the difference.

IMO, one of the great things about most English flavor/aroma hops (Fuggles/EKGs/Goldings) is that the differences between them are minimal. SURE they have their unique traits between them... I'm not denying that... BUT if you have to substitute, they're a lot closer to each other than most American hops are. For example, what do you sub Simcoe with?? More Simcoe, that's what. It's a unique hop. Same for Summit - nothing else is as tangerine-y as Summit.
 
EKG is much smoother....it really compliments chocolate notes and doesn't have the same spiciness as its golding relatives grown elsewhere. fuggles is a bit spicier. that's what i get from them anyway.
 
flyangler18 said:
I'm sure a thread like this has been started at one point in time, but I was having a discussion recently with a fellow HBer about their favorite hops. Granted, this is influenced by your own brewing preferences. I love English ales in particular, so my own favorite varieties are EKG, Fuggle, Williamette and Galena. For the occasional IPA, I have a fair bit of Centennial and Cascade on hand, and dry-hopping Simcoe and Amarillo is a combination you just can't beat!

Doing some quick mental inventory, I have in my stores right now:

1.5 lb Golding
8 oz Fuggle
1.5 lb Centennial
8 oz Cascade
1 lb Williamette
1 lb Challenger

What are your favs? What do you have on hand at all times?
Click to expand...

you have 1234 posts. Just FYI
 
Chriso said:
canoworms.jpg


Hehehe...

To answer your ?, not exactly. Goldings, although they don't really mention this on their page, are probably specifically PNW-grown (WA or OR) US Goldings. They're the same cultivar as East Kent Goldings.... But the thing that makes East Kent Goldings what they are is that they're grown..... in East Kent. Similarly, New Zealand Goldings are the same cultivar of hop, but grown in NZ.

The three are probably passable subs for each other, and if you serve to someone who isn't a hardcore hophead, they might not even notice the difference.


IMO, one of the great things about most English flavor/aroma hops (Fuggles/EKGs/Goldings) is that the differences between them are minimal. SURE they have their unique traits between them... I'm not denying that... BUT if you have to substitute, they're a lot closer to each other than most American hops are. For example, what do you sub Simcoe with?? More Simcoe, that's what. It's a unique hop. Same for Summit - nothing else is as tangerine-y as Summit.
Click to expand...

I agree subbing Fuggle or Ek Gold is rather easy, willamette is very much Fuggle BUT I think Ek Gold are preferrable to any substituton...I've been using Glacier on my last 2 batches and they are pretty much as described: a cross between fuggle and ek gold; the best of both Worlds.

Domestic Hallertauer is another hop described as not a good sub for German Hallertauer even though it's the same hop just grown in America, but Mt Hood by all accounts is a good sub for H. Mittelfruh.
Go figure...I did an experiment once when I lived in Northern California where I took 3 rhizomes and planted them. One was Fuggle, one was Hallertauer, and the other was Cascade and the Cascade out grew the other 2 by 2-3 times.
 
EKG for all English styles
Hallertauer for wits..belgian and wheats
Cenntennial and Amarillo for APA and IPA.(Cascade backup)
new fav is Summit...

Willamette is a great all purpose hop that can work in an IPA, or an English bitter..

My Hop garden resembles my favorite hops..except Amarillo and Summit which will be next to impossible to get any time soon to grow..but man if I could get an Amarillo cutting I would be set!!!!

Jay
 

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