Recommendations for first Bulk Hop purchase?

[naga77777]

Hi All,

I'm interested in my first bulk (for me at least) hop pellet purchase.

As a fairly new extract brewer, I really don't know which hops to get. I would like to spend as little as possible, and order somewhere around 5lbs of pelletized hops at most.

I like the citrusy/fruity type hops moreso than the spicy ones (for flavor/aroma at least-- I don't guess bittering would make much difference).

I did, however make the NB Chinook IPA kit, and it used the Chinook for bittering, flavor, and aroma. I dont know if Chinook would even be classified as fruity/citrusy, but I was happy with the flavor.


I've seen hops for really good prices such as 5.99/lb for varieties I've never heard of.

Should I just get a pound or two with high AAU for bittering, a lb or two with mid AAU for flavoring, and a lb or two with low AAU for aroma?

Please help, and I promise I won't buy up the Simcoe/Amarillo Too darn expensive for me anyways..... Well, maybe just an ounce or two to try them. :fro:

 

[brycelarson]

There are a few issues to think about before purchasing large quantities of hops.

First, are you going to use them quickly enough that you aren't risking the quality of the hops? If you're going to need a year to use them - then for flavor and freshness you'll be much better off buying hops when you need them. If you can use them in a matter of months - then it's a great deal.

Second, are the recipes you're making all going to need the same hops? I tend to keep Willamette and Cascade in my freezer all the time - because I use them in a ton of recipes.

Third - Do you know which hops you really love? Based on your questions I think the answer is no. In that case It'll be better in the long run if you take a year of brewing, really explore hops then make the move to stock those that you find yourself using in a majority of your beers.

 

[divrguy]

Hi All,

I'm interested in my first bulk (for me at least) hop pellet purchase.

As a fairly new extract brewer, I really don't know which hops to get. I would like to spend as little as possible, and order somewhere around 5lbs of pelletized hops at most.

I like the citrusy/fruity type hops moreso than the spicy ones (for flavor/aroma at least-- I don't guess bittering would make much difference).

I did, however make the NB Chinook IPA kit, and it used the Chinook for bittering, flavor, and aroma. I dont know if Chinook would even be classified as fruity/citrusy, but I was happy with the flavor.

I've seen hops for really good prices such as 5.99/lb for varieties I've never heard of.

Should I just get a pound or two with high AAU for bittering, a lb or two with mid AAU for flavoring, and a lb or two with low AAU for aroma?

Please help, and I promise I won't buy up the Simcoe/Amarillo Too darn expensive for me anyways..... Well, maybe just an ounce or two to try them. :fro:

If you like pale ales or IPA's you really can't go wrong with a bulk buy of Cascade.it will keep your pipeline going if you have the ability to experiment with other small batches with small amounts of new hops as well.

 

[dietz31684]

I just made an all columbus IIPA and it came out great. I dry hopped with 2oz of columbus and 1oz of cascade and used all columbus during the boil.

If you can get some cascade in your pricepoint it will be great for late additions. You can also usually pick up nugget for a good price and I like them too.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I have been brewing just under 2 years and thus far have purchased hops for each recipie. If you find yourself tuning to the same hops (for instance for bittering) than by all means select a hops and buy large quantity., However, for me 5 pounds would be waaaaay too much. My LHBS sells pellet hops at $2.50/OZ or $15.00/LB. It will be worth the investment for me to buy a pound of hops once I have detertmined what I like. It will take me 9-12 months to run through a pound, since I'm not a hop head and I tend to use only 1-1.5OZ per 5 gallon batch. If you are using more per batch then your algebra may be different. I would probably advise not buying more than ypou can comfortably use in a year, as they will get old and the flavor chasracteristics will change.

 

[brycelarson]

I pulled the trigger for the first pound purchases when I did a 90 IPU IPA. I needed enough hops that it was cost neutral to buy a whole pound. I used Cascade - which end up in nearly every beer I make so it was a good move.

 

[dbrewski]

A bulk purchase should be of a hop you know you like and will use. So I agree with the poster that says spend a year trying different hops. Having said that, it is always good to have a few "types" of hops around. Depending on what types of beer you tend to brew...do you like big, hoppy American ales? British bitters? Belgian exotics? German wheat beers?

I tend to brew big hoppy american beers and german wheat beers. I keep some noble hops around for the german beers, but not much. For hoppy beers, I like Cascade, Amarillo, Citra, Simcoe, Willamette, Centennial and maybe Fuggles for the occasional British ale. I am interested in exploring some hops with a little more punch, like columbus, chinook, etc. but for right now I am neck deep in New Zealand hops (Galaxy, Nelson Sauvin, Motueka).

 

[sweetcell]

five pounds might be a bit much, but i could see you buying a pound of columbus/CTZ, since it's useful as both a high-alpha bittering hop and can be used as a late addition, and a pound of cascade since it's useful in so many american styles.

#1 piece of advice i have for you: before you buy anything in bulk, determine what kind of hops you'll use/like. best way of doing that is brewing for a while to determine what kind of beers you like to brew. DO NOT make the mistake of getting some random hops on sale and thinking "oh, they're cheap, i've never heard of them but i'll find some way of using them". buy what you know you'll use! trust me. i have most of a pound of styrian bobek sitting in my freezer because they were cheap when i ordered them... i would have been better off spending $2 more on a pound of something i'd actually use, or just getting a few oz of bobek to see what they tasted like first.

if you're going to get into bulk purchases of hops, you should look into getting a vacuum sealer like a Food-Saver. removing air and then freezing the hop sreally helps preserve them. you could try sucking the air our of a ziplock bag which is better than nothing but i find that air always leaks back in, eventually.

 

[zeg]

When you see $6/pound deals crop up for a type you're likely to use more than once, there's almost no reason not to grab it. If you use even a few ounces of it, it's cheaper than buying by the ounce. Worst case, you lose a couple bucks and toss some stale hops.

I bought a pound each of Willamette, Brewer's Gold, and Spalt Select earlier this year. It's worked out well for me. I don't do enough hoppy beers that I need to be too picky about my hops, the BG has served me well for generic bittering, and I have done a couple stouts and some English-style beers that the Willamette has done well in.

 

[naga77777]

A bulk purchase should be of a hop you know you like and will use. So I agree with the poster that says spend a year trying different hops. Having said that, it is always good to have a few "types" of hops around. Depending on what types of beer you tend to brew...do you like big, hoppy American ales? British bitters? Belgian exotics? German wheat beers?

I tend to brew big hoppy american beers and german wheat beers. I keep some noble hops around for the german beers, but not much. For hoppy beers, I like Cascade, Amarillo, Citra, Simcoe, Willamette, Centennial and maybe Fuggles for the occasional British ale. I am interested in exploring some hops with a little more punch, like columbus, chinook, etc. but for right now I am neck deep in New Zealand hops (Galaxy, Nelson Sauvin, Motueka).

I do like big hoppy American Ales. My favorite styles as of late are IPA, IIPA, Porter, and Stout. I know, they're on opposite ends of the spectrum

I figured if I use 3-4 oz of hops with every IPA I make, I could use a couple pound in a year no problem. I try to brew 5gal every couple weeks. (i recently let my pipeline run dry, but that's another issue )

I'm reading Cascade a lot in this thread, so maybe I'll look into them. I'm more looking to buy a "staple hop" if that makes any sense.

five pounds might be a bit much, but i could see you buying a pound of columbus/CTZ, since it's useful as both a high-alpha bittering hop and can be used as a late addition, and a pound of cascade since it's useful in so many american styles.

#1 piece of advice i have for you: before you buy anything in bulk, determine what kind of hops you'll use/like. best way of doing that is brewing for a while to determine what kind of beers you like to brew. DO NOT make the mistake of getting some random hops on sale and thinking "oh, they're cheap, i've never heard of them but i'll find some way of using them". buy what you know you'll use! trust me. i have most of a pound of styrian bobek sitting in my freezer because they were cheap when i ordered them... i would have been better off spending $2 more on a pound of something i'd actually use, or just getting a few oz of bobek to see what they tasted like first.

if you're going to get into bulk purchases of hops, you should look into getting a vacuum sealer like a Food-Saver. removing air and then freezing the hop sreally helps preserve them. you could try sucking the air our of a ziplock bag which is better than nothing but i find that air always leaks back in, eventually.

I thought about the foodsaver as well. I believe it'd be useful for hops, as well as justifying it to SWMBO by actually using it for food Was thinking it would behoove me to measure out 1oz increments of hops, and put them in foodsaver bags.

My biggest reasons for wanting to buy hops by the pound was the price, and wanting to make recipes other than extract kits. If i could measure out 16oz worth of 1oz foodsaver bags, it would be much cheaper than buying 1oz at a time. However, i would run into the freshness problem if it took me a while to use them. I wasn't too concerned with that.


I appreciate the recommendations. I'm seeing that 5lbs might be a bit much, so I'll tone it down for this first purchase.

I think the Columbus/ctz and Cascade recommendation is kinda what I was looking for. Something I could use for bittering/flavor/aroma (as the chinook was used in that NB kit I brewed) that I could just keep around.

 

[divrguy]

One thing to think about is a neutral hop for bittering if you just want something around. Magnum is great for that. It really won't add anything to your brew other than clean bittering so I always buy magnum by the pound.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Check out yakimavalleyhops.com. They have a killer deal right now for a lb of columbus and 1/5lb cascade combo. I pulled the trigger on that one plus a 1/2 lb of a bunch of different hops that I use frequently.

 

[OldWorld]

Fresher is better...It's better to buy a half a pound of fresher hops and use them to bulk up on hops and let them go stale.

Belgian Ales are the exception to the rule and can really develop some good flavor with aged hops.

 

[metanoia]

Check out yakimavalleyhops.com. They have a killer deal right now for a lb of columbus and 1/5lb cascade combo. I pulled the trigger on that one plus a 1/2 lb of a bunch of different hops that I use frequently.

Have you ordered there previous? Some of the pound prices are crazy cheap, but their pricing scale from 2oz to 8oz to 16oz doesn't always make sense. Weird.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I have only ordered there once before but with their service, prices, and fast shipping they are now my go-to hop supplier except for things they don't sell like Simcoe.

 

[evandena]

Hops are only harvested once a year, so as long as you store them right, they will last like you bought them new.
I'm not sure why people say buy them fresh, when there is only one harvest.

Store mine in jars purged with co2. Gordon Strong does this,and he'll use them for years.

Ritebrew.com has the cheapest hops I've found.

 

[iaefebs]

Hops are only harvested once a year, so as long as you store them right, they will last like you bought them new.
I'm not sure why people say buy them fresh, when there is only one harvest.

^^^^ This

 

[kingwood-kid]

If you don't know what you like, buy a bunch of different stuff that sounds good. Anything that doesn't end up tasting good can be used as a bittering hop. I just wouldn't order a pound each of nine diferent citrus hops if you weren't totally committed to brewing an endless series of West Coast DIPAs. I ordered 7 lbs of hops from Yakima Valley and still find myself digging through the hop fridge to see what else is out there at the LHBS everytime I go there.

 

[apshaffer]

Hops are only harvested once a year, so as long as you store them right, they will last like you bought them new.
I'm not sure why people say buy them fresh, when there is only one harvest.

That's worth saying again.

Yakima Valley Hops have the best prices I've found. I have ordered from them and have been very happy. Good shipping rates too.