Apparently I don't like the aroma of Willamette or Fuggle hops. In an English Bitter they smell like sweaty tennis shoes to me. It seems odd because the raw hops smell good in the bag. I've tried some from Yakima Valley Hops since they're very careful in handling them - they are vacuum sealed and in foil bags. But they still have the same smell. Reading the descriptions that I've found on-line, I can't tell if there are other hops suitable for a bitter that don't have the smell (there's nothing in the description about sweaty tennis shoes). Are there other hops that would be appropriate for an English Bitter that don't have this objectionable (to me) aroma?
Fuggle/Willamette Substitute
- Thread starter ncbrewer
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Kent Goldings, Challenger, Northern Brewer, Bramling Cross, WGV, and First Gold would all fit the bill and shouldn't be hard to find.
https://www.britishhops.org.uk/varieties/
https://www.britishhops.org.uk/varieties/
If it can be historical, then old European varieties work as well, like saaz for example.
Silver_Is_Money
Larry Sayre, Developer of 'Mash Made Easy'
Styrian Golding and Styrian Celeia are good substitutes for Fuggle. I prefer the former since Celeia is a bit more citrusy.
I love Styrian Celeia. It's what I was going to suggest, but S-I-M got there first.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I had about decided to just quit brewing bitters, but I'll try some of these.
thehaze
Well-Known Member
You can brew bitters with any kind of hops, if you use the right yeast, grain bill, etc.
Bramling Cross, EKG, First Gold, etc. are always a good choice, but you can always go for newer english varieties like Jester, Olicana, etc. American hops also work well, as well as AUS/NZ, but of course you should always adjust hopping rate, yeast, grain bill, ABV, etc.
Bramling Cross, EKG, First Gold, etc. are always a good choice, but you can always go for newer english varieties like Jester, Olicana, etc. American hops also work well, as well as AUS/NZ, but of course you should always adjust hopping rate, yeast, grain bill, ABV, etc.
Northern_Brewer
British - apparently some US company stole my name
I'mm guessing what you're tasting is the earthiness of Fuggles - I'm not a big fan either. Fortunately, there's two main families of British hops, and most bitter these days tends to use members of the other big family, the Golding family. If you want to keep it simple, I'd start with straight Goldings. My personal favourite is 60:40 Goldings:Bramling Cross, First Gold is another solid choice. If you don't like Fuggle then I'd stay away from WGV which despite the name is more Fuggle flavour than Goldings. The likes of Jester make nice beer, but maybe wouldn't be first choice if you're going for a classical bitter.
And just on a pedantic note - you're unlikely to see "Kent Goldings" for sale - but you will see East Kent Goldings, which are from a specific area in Kent, the name is pretty much unique among hops in being subject to legal protection. Only half of British Goldings come from Kent though, they're a bit cheaper from Herefordshire.
Likewise with "Styrian" Goldings - which aren't Goldings at all. The Styrian name is now deprecated, the original variety (a daughter of Fuggles) is now known as Savinjski Goldings, Styrian Goldings were typically sold as a blend that was mostly Celeia, a daughter of Savinjski.
Historically British brewers used a fair bit of Saaz and Savinjski as late/dry hops, but Fuggles or Goldings were always at the core.
Cluster might be worth a try. Also Bramling Cross, EKG, or Saaz.
Historically, breweries in England often used American hops. They used them more for bittering though because they didn't like their flavor or aroma. Before Fuggle came along the standard English hop was Golding. They did hold Saaz in high regard however and you will find them also in old recipe archives.
Northern_Brewer
British - apparently some US company stole my name
Well - they used a lot (up to 30-40% in some breweries) of US hops at the peak of hop demand in the late 19th century, but it rapidly fell off as overall hop demand plummeted thanks to the combined effects of introducing pasteurisation and the reduction in gravities in WWI. So by the 1920s UK hop production was roughly in balance with demand from breweries - and as you mention, British brewers never liked the taste of US hops (until the 1990s anyway), they only wanted them for bittering.
The timing is important, as cask bitter in the modern sense didn't really become a thing until the mid 20th century, so while US hops were used for bittering other styles, you shouldn't go away thinking that US hops are traditional in bitter.
The timing is important, as cask bitter in the modern sense didn't really become a thing until the mid 20th century, so while US hops were used for bittering other styles, you shouldn't go away thinking that US hops are traditional in bitter.
