Most grapefruity hops?

Which do you think are the most grapefruity hops?

I've heard Simcoe, Summit, and Amarillo.

I'm getting ready to brew with a bunch of Amarillo, so we'll see how that goes, but I'm looking for as much grapefruitiness (is that a word?) as possible.

I think you are on the right track. I made an IPA with a few ounces of late addition Simcoe and it had lots of grapefruit notes.

You'll get alot of grapefruit character from Cascade hops.

I say Chinook.

I thought I read Cluster was real grapefruity, but I could be wrong.

The IPA I'm drinking now is like grapefruit juice- in a good way. (Well, not RIGHT now- it's 8 AM here, but I have it on tap now!) Definitely grapefruity from the late addition of amarillo hops. Cascades has a little of it, but I've never noticed the citrusy taste in chinook, cluster, or simcoe. To me, simcoe has more resiny, piney notes to it. I usually use simcoe and amarillo together in my DFH IPA clone.

While I haven't used them I have heard Riwaka hops (a NZ strain) have a huge grapefruit aroma:

http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/products/Riwaka-NZ-Pellets-1-oz-AromaFlavor-Hop-6-AA-0101945

I have found that amarillo has the most and simcoe gives me more of a pineapple taste.

IMO Centennial re: this year's Hopslam is a big grapefuit

beach said:

IMO Centennial re: this year's Hopslam is a big grapefruit

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+1 I dry hopped an IPA in the keg with Centennials. I left the hops in there the whole time. By the time I was to the bottom of the keg, it was grapefruit beer for sure.

I'm brewing with Amarillo right now, and my first impression (just judging by the aroma of the pellets) is that they're a bit grassy, but I do see where there is also some citrus in there.

Amarillo hands down, is the most citrusy/grapefruity hop I've ever used. I just bottled a 3 gal batch that had 3 ounces of amarillo in it and it tastes and smells like grapefruit juice was added to the recipe. Its AWESOME! if you can get a hold of some Yellowsnow IPA I think amarillo is the only hop in that, at least I know its the most heavily used one.

Good to hear. The beer I'm brewing right now is an all Amarillo IPA (5 oz. in 5 gallons) so I hope it ends up being a grapefruit bomb.

Amarillo, Cascade & Perle in combination will over-due grapefruit. My first batch of 3CPA was beyond the peel.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Columbus. Much more grapefruit aroma than Cascade and Amarillo.

I get the most grapefruit from Cascade, but I also get a lot from centennial. Amarillo seems to be more of a clementine orange aroma to me.

ODaniel said:

I thought I read Cluster was real grapefruity, but I could be wrong.

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You would be correct there. I made a very light lager with cluster and it had a very grapefruity character. Went down good, that batch went quick.

Chello said:

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Columbus. Much more grapefruit aroma than Cascade and Amarillo.

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I'm glad to hear this, I just made an all Columbus IPA.

I just brewed an IPA with Columbus, Simcoe and NZ Riwaka. I am expecting this to be very grapefruity, in a very good way. Riwaka is a very good hop to use for grapefruit aroma/flavor. I will let you guys now how it turns out in a few weeks.

Hey, the aforementioned Amarillo IPA ingredients were received in a box from Brewmasters Warehouse two days before it was brewed.

As for commercial beers, Surly Furious definitely has the most grapefruit of any I've had. Especially right from the bright tank, yum yum. I think the clone recipes I've seen for that have simcoe and amarillo together at 20, 15, 10, 5, 0, dry hop.

Biggest grapefruit I've had is the WPA in my dropdown.

It's funny how everyone taste something different in hops.
To me Amarillo is citrusy, but not grapefruit, more of an orange taste.

Centennial is the big grapefruit hop to me.

Simcoe and Amarillo is definitely not grapefruit tasting. It's more of a fruit punch taste (almost apple like) and delicious.

wildwest450 said:

It's funny how everyone taste something different in hops.
To me Amarillo is citrusy, but not grapefruit, more of an orange taste.

Centennial is the big grapefruit hop to me.

Simcoe and Amarillo is definitely not grapefruit tasting. It's more of a fruit punch taste (almost apple like) and delicious.

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I feel that the specialty grains added will change the percetion of taste as well. I've had a beer with all cent. that tasted just like my WPA.

cuinrearview said:

I feel that the specialty grains added will change the percetion of taste as well. I've had a beer with all cent. that tasted just like my WPA.

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While that's certainly true, I can give an IPA to 4 different friends and one will always say "it tastes like grapefruit" regardless of the hops, and the other 3 will have 3 different opinions.

Yeah, perception of taste is an individual thing, for sure.

I was thinking I'd just brew a Hopslam clone recipe next and call it good, but the more I think about it, the more I'm leaning toward re-brewing the recipe I just brewed this past weekend (an all-Amarillo IPA) with another variety of hops just to taste exactly what the difference is. Maybe several times. I can never have too much IPA.

My local beer shop is carrying a line of uber-expensive, but intriguing nonetheless micro IPAs that are brewed using specific individual hops to presumably give you the chance to find the hop flavor that suits you best. I'm still struggling to find what I like the most. I am really digging sweetwater ipa right now which has a distinct grapefruit flavor IMO. The key hop in that brew is Simcoe. I'm thinking of trying a simcoe/amarillo IPA.

To me, cascade seems to be a more perfumy hop, but am not sure of that yet.

Just tasted the hydrometer sample of my all-amarillo IPA yesterday, and I'm absolutely loving the amarillo hops. Exactly what I was aiming for.