First Gold Hops Pairing?

[TheOriginalDBS]

Hi All,

I like to plan ahead. I'd like to brew a spring English-esque pale ale targeting an apricot, orange marmalade and floral.

After reading forums, etc., I settled on First Gold as the main hop in my pale ale. The descriptors generally suggest "it's like EKG, but a bit more American in the sense of some orange and apricot poking through." Granted, I've also seen outliers with notes like "minty." It's an English hop, so some earthiness is to be expected.

I've also got two ounces of EXP 6297 "StoneFruit" hops in the freezer that I'll chuck in there.

Any other hops to pair with First Gold in small quantities to get me that apricot flavor, specifically? Some hops that come to mind are Palisade, Amarillo and Azacca. I also did a Biere De Garde with Triskel recently and the orange marmalade/floral flavor/aroma of that hop has me enchanted. Triskel is a daughter of an English Yeoman male, so I might stick with that as a supporter of the First Gold to stay "within style" (but frankly, I don't care that much about style guidelines).

Oh yeah and Conan yeast fermented at 68*F.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

No idea pairing, sorry, DBS, but following this thread avidly. I love First Gold and am keenly interested in your comments, and what may come.

 

[TheOriginalDBS]

No worries!

I'm curious, though. Are the descriptors for First Gold accurate? Does it deliver on the orange marmalade/apricot?

 

[Gadjobrinus]

DBS, I'm coming back to brewing after a long time away, so this is on memory only, mind you, but yeah, that's one reason I was crazy for the hop, particularly in my richer bitters. Paired beautifully with that feel and flavor in a bitter or pale.

In fact, you've inspired me to do a single hop brew! Got one drawn up for a Styrian, and a FG would be fun to try.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Hi All,

I like to plan ahead. I'd like to brew a spring English-esque pale ale targeting an apricot, orange marmalade and floral.

After reading forums, etc., I settled on First Gold as the main hop in my pale ale. The descriptors generally suggest "it's like EKG, but a bit more American in the sense of some orange and apricot poking through." Granted, I've also seen outliers with notes like "minty." It's an English hop, so some earthiness is to be expected.

I've also got two ounces of EXP 6297 "StoneFruit" hops in the freezer that I'll chuck in there.

Any other hops to pair with First Gold in small quantities to get me that apricot flavor, specifically? Some hops that come to mind are Palisade, Amarillo and Azacca.

I wouldn't get too carried away with the "American-ness" of First Gold - it's very firmly a British hop with a bit of marmalade character, it's not an orange version of Cascade. It's a bit like when people claim that Bramling Cross is somehow "American" in its intensity - it's not, it does its thing in its own way, but the British terroir shapes it in a particular direction. If you want marmalade then the best option is Challenger green hops, but I guess that's not an option...

I'd slightly disagree with your premise - if this is a British beer, then yeast and fermentation schedule are at least as important as hops in creating your aromatics. Not knowing EXP 6297, I'd be wary of using them in this particular beer - throwing US hops into an English beer can come out like an electric guitar jamming with a string quartet - not only does it completely clash but it drowns out the bit where the interesting complexity is going on. That's not to say it can't work, but it wouldn't be my first choice.

The obvious "harmony" with an apricot accent would be the Ernest hop if you can find it, it's relatively new on the market but there should be more available this year - Google the backstory, it's cute. Otherwise I'd go for one of the NZ hops, something like Rakau.

But it's not all about the hops....