The best kind of hops?

Hey i am a new brewer and am looking for the best hops for a blonde ale. I am goin to be brewing one from the recipe this weekend but i think i might want to get into brewing blondes a little bit and am looking for the best hops to use. My recipe calls for citra, amarrillo, and ahtanum. The other half of the recipe is dme light and dme extra light with american carapils and american caramel/crystal 10L. Any suggestions? Also if anyone has any hop suggestions for when i start brewing lagers i am more than happy to hear them

 

look for BierMuncher's Centennial Blonde recipe in the recipe section here. Easy and tasty blonde ale using Centennial & Cascacade, I believe.

 

You should probably go to your LHBS and sample a few. You know just pop them in your mouth and see how they taste.

 

That's really the only way to do it. Just like you taste yours grains, you need to be tasting your hops in order to know their flavor profile.

 

Depending on how you use it, I would think Citra would be a bit overpowering for a blonde ale, especially if you intend to dry hop it; however, it is your call in that regard.

As for lagers, authentic European examples almost invariably use noble hops, with Saaz being associated with Pilsners particularly. As I understand it, the Munich beers generally would use Hallertau (esp. the Mittelfreuh variety) and Tettnang, as would Dortmunder; alts can use any of the four European noble hops, especially Tettnang. This doesn't mean you have to use them, but it would be appropriate if you were aiming to replicate a style precisely.

 

I like Czech saaz & German Haulertauer Mittelfruh in my hybrid lagers fermented with WL029 yeast. Very Euro/German sorta flavor.