Clean Bittering Hops - Which to use?

[shagington]

I recently brewed a Dark IPA / Cascadian Dark Ale using Columbus, Cascade and Citra Hops. I used Columbus in my bittering, flavoring and aroma additions, blending in Cascade and Citra in the flavor, aroma and dry hop additions. When I pulled a sample off before dry hopping I noticed that the bitterness was very assertive and "dank", one of th qualities of Columbus. I had used the same hop schedule for my Pale Ale and Amber Ale and both had the same assertive "dankness". Just the other day I listened to the BN podcast with Sierra Nevada and found that in their more hop oriented brews they add an addition of Magnum for a cleaner bitterness, which helps put focus on the flavor and aroma more than the bitterness. I want to use a clean bittering hop for my next re-brew, but I'm overwhelmed at the choices out there. I've noticed Lagunitas uses Horizon for bittering, Stone using Magnum, Perle or Warrior, Dogfish using Warrior and Sierra using Magnum. Now, someone also suggested Glacier for the bittering addition. I just wanted to get some opinions and see if anyone has used these hops for this purpose. Thanks!

 

[rcrabb22]

I like Magnum or Galena for bittering.

 

[david_42]

Magnum, Glacier and Galena are my top choices for clean. I do use Columbus a lot though, makes a nice earthy background for English beers.

 

[yogester]

Warrior is my fav for super clean, linear bitterness.

 

[MW66]

I like Chinook for bittering.

 

[eanmcnulty]

+1 Chinook is good for bitterness. They also have a good flavor.

 

[markg388]

Magnum all the way. Take it from a German-style brewer, who's idea of hopping a beer is "which hops will let the malt shine most", that Magnum is some nice, clean bitterness. I find Chinook to be raspy and harsh, I mean if you're doing dark hoppy American ales that might be what you want... but Magnum is still the king of staying out of the way.

With that said, Warrior is an American hop (I think?) I've never used before, and if it's derived from other American C-hops it may fit the bill for a Cascadian Dark Ale better than Magnum, which is either a German hop or derived from German hops. Good luck in your search!

 

[lumpher]

+ another 1 for chinook

 

[northernlad]

Warrior

 

[azscoob]

I often use magnum for bittering, also chinook depending on the style I am brewing. if its american I go chinook, most others I use magnum.

 

[dirty_martini]

My personal favs are warrior and magnum. Horizons are also great when you can find them. Lately since I have a huge stock of them, I've been using summits for buttering with very good results.

 

[MattHollingsworth]

I bought a bunch of Nelson Sauvin and love them. They're great for aroma, but be wary, they take over in a blend as they have a powerful flavor. I've been using them for bittering too, with nice results. I think they go great in American style beers. Not *too* clean, but very nice.

 

[bullinachinashop]

+100000 on the Warrior. Super clean. I use it in all my American IPA's. I even used it as the backbone in my AB clone.

Bull

 

[shagington]

Thanks for the help everyone! I'm going to try a couple of split batches and bitter with the different aforementioned hops.

That Glacier hop has me interested. I looked into it and a couple hop distributor sites say that it has citrus and candy-like Styrian Goldings notes. Could be interesting in an American Tripel or Belgian IPA.

 

[0110x011]

Does anyone have experience using Millennium as a bittering hop? I have friends that swear up and down by them.

 

[zuesy]

Does anyone have experience using Millennium as a bittering hop? I have friends that swear up and down by them.

I use Millennium a lot in the IPA I make for the SWMBO. I really like them; good clean flavor, nice subtle bitterness. They're great.

 

[Sithdad]

I have been using Sterling with very nice results. I've used it to bitter my Saison & MH #9 clone. Both taste really good with the malt and late hop additions shining through.

 

[Domes]

Galena is a great clean bittering hop.

 

[pm5k00]

Does anyone have experience using Millennium as a bittering hop? I have friends that swear up and down by them.

I haven't tried millennium yet, but they are supossed to be very similar to nugget, which I use all the time, and are a nice clean bittering hop, also I like them for flavor and aroma.

 

[TheBrewinator]

Id say 90% of my beers are bittered with magnum or warrior. If its a low IBU beer, I bitter with willamette and have had great success with that as well.

 

[MikeinCT]

In my amber ale I have been using Centennial for bittering and cascade for flavor and aroma. This has worked out well. But I am going to try Magnum. There seems to be rave reviews on this forum. Your right that there is a huge selection. I stay away from European hops mainly because of the expense.

 

[zardozap]

For my last IPA, I used Centennial, but with my next rebrew of it, I plan to switch to Warrior, mainly because it will help put the focus on the insane amount of Citra, Mosaic and Cascade I'm adding for flavor and aroma, and dry hopping.

 

[thaymond]

+1 for Warrior and Magnum.

 

[razyrsharpe]

i am using Warrior for the first time today. i have used Magnum and liked it. a local brewery, Conquest Brewing out of Columbia, SC uses Magnum in many of their brews. they love it's bittering quality, according to one of the employees.

 

[thaymond]

I'll use Warrior or Magnum if I want to focus on the flavor and aroma of certain hops. I'm a fan of the dank and sharp bitters of CTZ and Chinook. When I want to scale down the sharper bitterness, I'll FWH with the above. It tones down the danky bitterness of CTZ or Chinook, but still provides some bite. I think a lot boils down to personal preference.

 

[kpr121]

For me, Magnum when I want clean bitterness. CTZ or chinook in IPAs

 

[JKaranka]

Go for the one that is cheap, clean and gives you most alpha per buck. Any like Magnum, Nugget, Warrior, etc., will do. In my case I use mainly Challenger because it's a lot cheaper here and it also has a good aroma when used late.