Advice on Bulk Hops Purchase

[Surgicalbrews]

I am going to be buying some bulk hops soon and need some advice... I like to brew IPA, IIPA, English Brown Ale, Stout, Porters mostly. I want to have lots of IPA hops but also a variety of other things on hand so I can brew any of the above

I currently have:


Summit 12 oz
Willamette 6 oz
Columbus 6 oz
Crystal 6 oz
Newport 4 oz



These are hops I have to choose from:

Amarillo
Bravo
Calypso
Cascade
Centennial
Chinook
Citra
Citra
Cluster
Crystal
CTZ (Columbus, Tomahawk, Zeus)
Eldorado
Fuggle US
Galena
Golding
Hallertau
Horizon
Liberty
Magnum US
Meridian
Mosiac
Mt Hood
Nugget
Perle
Saaz US
Santiam
Sorachi Ace
Sterling
Styrian Golding Sov 2013
Summit
Tettnang
Ultra
Warrior
Willamette

Was going to get 1 pound of Amarillo, half of cascade, half of goldings and not sure what else. Looking to purchase around 3-4 total pounds.

 

[SavoryChef]

Not sure how much you brew, but 4# isn't a lot of hops for IPA's. I would get golding and saaz for brown ales, stouts etc... citra, columbus, cenntenial, cascade, chinook, and magnum to bitter for IPA & IIPA

 

[atom]

if hoppy beer's are your priority, i'd get a half lb each of:

centennial
citra
chinook
el dorado

you can still do stouts/porters/browns with lower aa hops like golding/cascade/willamette and usually 1-2 oz are sufficient for a 5 gallon batch.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Im just getting started and bought 1# each of cennteniel,cascade and citra.Making a Bells two hearted Ipa clone(all cennteniel) and the cascade seems to get used in lots of recipes.Today Im making Yoopers Dogfish head 60 min Ipa.Warrior,Amarillo,simcoe.If its as good as everyone says Ill be bulking up on those. Bought from Farmhouse

 

[The10mmKid]

Ditto's to the chef

Not sure how much you brew, but 4# isn't a lot of hops for IPA's. I would get golding and saaz for brown ales, stouts etc... citra, columbus, cenntenial, cascade, chinook, and magnum to bitter for IPA & IIPA

 

[Calder]

Not sure how much you brew, but 4# isn't a lot of hops for IPA's. I would get golding and saaz for brown ales, stouts etc... citra, columbus, cenntenial, cascade, chinook, and magnum to bitter for IPA & IIPA

Ditto's to the chef

Thirded!!!!! ........... Sorry, but the made up word seemed appropiate.

Figure out how much you brew. At half pound a batch, 4 lbs of US flavor hops will be gone really quick. You don't use 8 ozs in a batch!!!!! .... you will once you start buying in bulk, maybe more, even up to a pound occasionally. You will start getting most IBUs with late hops, a big hop steep, and using bigger dry hops. It is just one of the results of bulk buying!

And buy lots of both Citra hops in your list.

 

[kh54s10]

Some of my favorites: Centennial, Cascade and Willamette. I buy 4 oz packs from Farmhouse Brewing Supply. I have 24 different hops at the moment. I vacuum bag them and store them in the freezer. I almost always have something similar that I can substitute for any recipe.

Ipa's.... But a lot!!!

 

[johnmac22]

I am going to be buying some bulk hops soon and need some advice... I like to brew IPA, IIPA, English Brown Ale, Stout, Porters mostly. I want to have lots of IPA hops but also a variety of other things on hand so I can brew any of the above

I currently have:


Summit 12 oz
Willamette 6 oz
Columbus 6 oz
Crystal 6 oz
Newport 4 oz



These are hops I have to choose from:

Amarillo
Bravo
Calypso
Cascade
Centennial
Chinook
Citra
Citra
Cluster
Crystal
CTZ (Columbus, Tomahawk, Zeus)
Eldorado
Fuggle US
Galena
Golding
Hallertau
Horizon
Liberty
Magnum US
Meridian
Mosiac
Mt Hood
Nugget
Perle
Saaz US
Santiam
Sorachi Ace
Sterling
Styrian Golding Sov 2013
Summit
Tettnang
Ultra
Warrior
Willamette

Was going to get 1 pound of Amarillo, half of cascade, half of goldings and not sure what else. Looking to purchase around 3-4 total pounds.

I ordered a few pounds of hops already this year and got the following:

1lb Magnum (1lb will last forever)
1lb Mosaic
1lb Amarillo
1lb Cascade
1lb Simcoe
1lb Nelson Sauvin
2lbs Citra

I also got various hops that I havent tried in smaller 2oz bags. I brew almost entirely IPAs or pale ales. I cant really speak to stouts or brown ales as I've only done one.

EDIT: I highly suggest Simcoe and Nelson Sauvin...not only are they both great hops...but they pair extremely well together...cheers!

 

[DocScott]

I think others have given great advice. Go with something like magnum or my favorite, warrior for high aa bittering then get lots of "c" hops for the ipa/iipa. Smaller amounts of the noble hops for your stouts, porters etc.

In addition, I highly recommend a vacuum sealer for anyone who purchases hops in bulk. I have a mason jar adapter and keep all of my hops in jars in the freezer. Easy to use as much as you want, reseal, and keep fresh for next time. Well worth the cost if the sealer- and you'll use it for other things: like food.

 

[philw86]

It depends on what sort of IPA you want to make. If you want anything in the ballpark of Heady/Pliny you'll need more than a lb per 5 gal batch...my biggest is 24oz with most in whirlpool and 8oz worth of dryhopping.

I usually only do something like that once or twice a year, but still...

Hopsdirect for the freshest (that also sell out quick) and Nikobrew are two vendors I've had good luck with. Or whatevers on sale.

 

[ktblunden]

I always make sure I have plenty of the following:
Amarillo
Citra
Simcoe
Warrior
Centennial
EKG

I buy those in full pounds.

I buy the following in 4oz increments:
Cascade
Perle
Fuggles
CTZ
Saaz

Other varieties I tend to buy by the ounce for specific recipes. The ones I listed above ensure I have plenty of options for IPAs, English styles, and some other continental styles.

 

[FuriousE]

In addition, I highly recommend a vacuum sealer for anyone who purchases hops in bulk. I have a mason jar adapter and keep all of my hops in jars in the freezer. Easy to use as much as you want, reseal, and keep fresh for next time. Well worth the cost if the sealer- and you'll use it for other things: like food.

Second the vacuum sealer. I seal mine in bags instead of mason jars. I buy a pound at a time. I leave the hops in the original packaging in the freezer until I need some. Then I open the bag, take what I need, and put the rest in a vacuum bag. Back into the freezer until next time. I cut the bag open, take what I need, and reseal. Works our very well.

We use ours extensively for food, as well. We buy lots of bulk meat and seal and freeze that. It lasts forever that way.

 

[m00ps]

One that I particularly like that no ones mentioned is meridian. Its not a alpha acid bomb, but it has a sugary lemon flavor thats amazing when paired with other typical American IPA hops

 

[Surgicalbrews]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to do 1# amarillo, citra, cascade, .5 Goldings and magnum. Also I do seal them in mason jars and vac seal them on the cheap with a Zip lock brand pump device that cost under 5$, works great!

 

[ktblunden]

Second the vacuum sealer. I seal mine in bags instead of mason jars. I buy a pound at a time. I leave the hops in the original packaging in the freezer until I need some. Then I open the bag, take what I need, and put the rest in a vacuum bag. Back into the freezer until next time. I cut the bag open, take what I need, and reseal. Works our very well.

We use ours extensively for food, as well. We buy lots of bulk meat and seal and freeze that. It lasts forever that way.

I get tons of use out of our Foodsaver. I buy a lot of bulk meat at Costco.

 

[Surgicalbrews]

Thanks for all the help guys. So I had a bunch of Summit and I brewed an all summit IPA that is fermenting away right now, but now that I have all these new hops, I am think maybe I should dry hop with the new inventory. I have Amarillo, Citra, Centennial, Cascade, Simcoe, Columbus, and Willamette to work with.

Torn about continuing with single hop profile, but also thinking about the great citrus and pine I could get out of adding maybe some Amarillo and simcoe.

current recipe is:
2-row 12#
Vienna 1#
C-60 0.5

OG 1.68

Summit: 0.5@60, 1@15, 1@5, and 1@flameout for an estimated IBU-75

any suggestions?

 

[FuriousE]

I just brewed up an APA using Amarillo and Simcoe. Very similar (but smaller) to your IPA recipe. I don't know how it is yet, its still fermenting.

I guess it depends on what your goal is. If you're looking to assess the Summit, dry hop with summit. Otherwise, I would add the Amarillo and Simcoe. Alternatively, split the batch and dry hop with both!!