Loral Hops (HBC 291)

[Haole]

Glad to find an old but running thread on Loral hops here. It’s been a fun one in some of my recent recipes and I’m presently waiting on a more unconventional batch of red ale to mature as a bit of a benchmark for my tastes. One thing I observed during brew day was the phenomenal strong noble hop and floral aromas. This was a simple red beer with single hops profile adding early, mid, and late. The wort tasted quite good so I omitted dry hopping.

On another very different batch I’ve used late Loral additions in a breakfast stout was pushed forward with Fuggles and an early Mt Hood addition. Surprisingly unique results, and my hophead friends pick up on the Loral where as I perceive it as a zestier noble/English hop combo. The Mt Hood is indiscernible, though perhaps it helped present the late Loral addition. I dunno.

Either way fun hops to try. I’ll keep a spot in the queue in trying some lighter beers as mentioned earlier in this thread to see what can be coaxed from the hops. I’m not detecting any lemon pepper in my stout, so perhaps that’ll show in the red ale. I’ll post an update since it seems like most folks are sticking with simple malts with this hop, though the noble genes screamed experiment with ale to me, and here we are. Cheers!

 

[jimmyjusa]

Glad to find an old but running thread on Loral hops here. It’s been a fun one in some of my recent recipes and I’m presently waiting on a more unconventional batch of red ale to mature as a bit of a benchmark for my tastes. One thing I observed during brew day was the phenomenal strong noble hop and floral aromas. This was a simple red beer with single hops profile adding early, mid, and late. The wort tasted quite good so I omitted dry hopping.

On another very different batch I’ve used late Loral additions in a breakfast stout was pushed forward with Fuggles and an early Mt Hood addition. Surprisingly unique results, and my hophead friends pick up on the Loral where as I perceive it as a zestier noble/English hop combo. The Mt Hood is indiscernible, though perhaps it helped present the late Loral addition. I dunno.

Either way fun hops to try. I’ll keep a spot in the queue in trying some lighter beers as mentioned earlier in this thread to see what can be coaxed from the hops. I’m not detecting any lemon pepper in my stout, so perhaps that’ll show in the red ale. I’ll post an update since it seems like most folks are sticking with simple malts with this hop, though the noble genes screamed experiment with ale to me, and here we are. Cheers!

Looking forward to that red ale update, the noble lineage makes me wonder about a heavily hopped pilsner, all whirlpool vs the dry hop method of the Italian pilsner.

 

[Chris-Naz]

Looking forward to that red ale update, the noble lineage makes me wonder about a heavily hopped pilsner, all whirlpool vs the dry hop method of the Italian pilsner.

I was wondering about this also. Any thoughts on noble hop combos with Loral? Does anyone think that Saaz and Loral would play nice?

 

[Haole]

Alright guys I pulled the first pint after work this evening. I’d say overall that Loral and my red grist were probably not a repeat here mainly owing to the apparent bittering. I get a nice lemony aroma that carries noble hop herb and spice though the taste lingers a bit too bitter such as grapefruit skin. It’s possible I’m a touch high on my IBUs and the ale is also very young, so we’ll see. If you like higher alpha acids I could see this complementing “C” type hops pretty well actually. Also, I still need to lay with dry hopping this cultivar since my hops additions were modest on this recipe. It’s definitely beer! Tho thus far not my favorite Homebrew. Cheers!

Edit to add that on further sips I’m really liking how the Loral plays with S-04 esters on the aroma. That’s a win on its own, I think that I just need to cold break very quickly with this hop (was a 12g batch, a bit much for my 50’ wort chiller to wrangle quickly). Note that I’m sensitive to bitter hops as well so your mileage may vary.

Edit again to say yeah, it really tastes like a bit of lemon zest made its way into the recipe. Plan for that and it’ll work very well as a complementary sensation. It’s a refreshing character and sure has my tongue fooled.

 

[kwilson16]

Hello,

I'm working on a recipe to combine Loral with a noble hop in a bohemian-style pilsner. Right now, my plan is to combine Loral with Mittelfruh because the flavor profiles appear to be closer than Saaz and Loral.

Would it be better to combine Loral with Czech Saaz? Thoughts? Thanks!


18 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)
1 lbs Weyermann Carahell (3.0 SRM)

0.75 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min
0.75 oz Loral [11.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min

0.75 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min
0.75 oz Loral [11.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min

0.75 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.00 %] - Boil 7.5 min
0.75 oz Loral [11.00 %] - Boil 7.5 min Hop


0.75 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [4.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min
0.75 oz Loral [11.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min

Bohemian Lager (Wyeast Labs #2124)

11 gallons into the fermenter
OG 1.046
IBUs 36.6
SRM 3.6

Hallertau Mittelfrüh
3.0-5.5%
Complex, but mild and approachable. A mixture of sweet, earthy,and herbal with vivid impressions of new-mown hay, sweet spices, and dried flowers.

Loral®
10.0-14.0%
Dark fruit, floral, lemon-citrus and pepper aroma.

Saaz
3.0-5.0%
Mild and pleasant, earthy and spicy.

 

[Chris-Naz]

Would it be better to combine Loral with Czech Saaz? Thoughts? Thanks!

Both combos were on my to do list.

 

[kwilson16]

I brewed the recipe as listed. It's in the fermenter now. I will post feedback when it's ready to drink.

 

[lumbergh]

Bump
What other beers has everyone done with Loral?
I got some from the AIH grab bag and was thinking about a Belgian blonde or pale.