Belma Hops

[CircaChris]

Hello. I know this thread is old already and that many of the responses to this thread are just to hate. Anyway, that being said...

I brewed a Julius NEIPA all grain clone with Warrior as the bittering hop, and a ton of Apollo / Citra as continuous boil additions, i.e. aroma and body hops. No hops at flame out just a ton at the 1 minute mark of the boil. (Check the picture, left)

Dry hopped my 6g carboy with 1.5oz Belma whole cone in a muslin bag, and Apollo and Citra loose. Then after close transferred and dry hopped with another 1.5oz Belma in a muslin bag in my ball lock keg under pressure (pressurized / sterilized keg with hops C02 bled, cold all the while).

End result: Accolades from friends and IPA lovers alike. Sampled side by side with Julius and reviewed to be equivocal if not preferred.

This being said I plan on omitting the Belma, double dry hopping only with Citra and repeating this all grain brew and asking the same tasters for results. I will however in the future do a SMASH with organic briess 2 row and Belma throughout and post the results. Right now loving dank IPA and loving Belma... please stop the hate.

It's not what you brew it's how you brew and the love given to the process.

 

[day_trippr]

Interesting posit, but having tried Belma once I can't imagine anyone coming up with a Julius reference.
I don't hate Belma but I never bought it again. Call it a "meh" response...

Cheers!

 

[CircaChris]

Actually I didn't buy Belma hops because they were cheap and an addition to my hop order I actively sought them out. First came across them in a LIC Beer Project beer Higher burnin' and man is this brew strawberry in your face... like I can't believe there aren't strawberries in here. A taste I had never had in a IPA yet alone a beer.

"A double dry-hopped IPA featuring Belma, El Dorado, and Mosaic hops." - Their notes on BA

In my instance as only dry hop and DDH additions to my IPA they did not throw strawberries at me but they added a depth of funk and a dimension of flavor otherwise missing.

This must have offset my smoother hop balance but not at all in a bad way. As stated in the last post gonna do this again without Belma and see if it's preferred.

 

[Upthewazzu]

I used Belma in a Wit-beer a while back and it turned out pretty good. It was quite citrusy, but I did not get any strawberry notes at all. I don't remember the recipe off the top of my head, but it had 4 ounces of Belma in it at various points, mostly late boil and dry hop.

 

[jimmyjusa]

I'm planning to do a split batch (10 gallons total) next using just belma hops as late additions. 1 batch will be with a kolsch yeast, the other I'm thinking I'll use Nottingham but i also have london esb yeast that may be interesting but less attenuated. I also have us-05 that i could use. My hop schedule right now is 1.5oz at 15 and 5 minutes and then 2 ounces at flameout for an ibu of 20. Since this is a softer hop i don't think this is too much, but I'm trying to get a fruity and less bitter beer. My other half says she doesn't like hoppy beers but I'm thinking/ hoping what she means is overly bitter beers.

 

[CircaChris]

Hello Jimmy,

Never used Belma in anything but an IPA. Belma is a very unusual hop and garners a fair bit on negative attention. That being said it is one that I love and use all the time. I have made a SMaSH with Belma which was great. It also seems that very little about Belma single hop beers can be found in home brewing forums. The hop can produce notes of strawberry but also grassy tones that are well hidden when used in combination with other hops. Using the small amounts that you plan to use all late boil is a good idea. May I suggest to use a bit less in the whirlpool but then also to dry hop in a muslin bag for two days. Remove the hops after two days and way before kegging or bottling. In my opinion less bitter phenols will be released when the hops are added to cold instead of hot water (mash). Also I will highly recommend using the freshest Belma hops you can find! Good luck with the Kolsch, would like to know how it turns out.

 

[jimmyjusa]

Hello Jimmy,

Never used Belma in anything but an IPA. Belma is a very unusual hop and garners a fair bit on negative attention. That being said it is one that I love and use all the time. I have made a SMaSH with Belma which was great. It also seems that very little about Belma single hop beers can be found in home brewing forums. The hop can produce notes of strawberry but also grassy tones that are well hidden when used in combination with other hops. Using the small amounts that you plan to use all late boil is a good idea. May I suggest to use a bit less in the whirlpool but then also to dry hop in a muslin bag for two days. Remove the hops after two days and way before kegging or bottling. In my opinion less bitter phenols will be released when the hops are added to cold instead of hot water (mash). Also I will highly recommend using the freshest Belma hops you can find! Good luck with the Kolsch, would like to know how it turns out.

Thanks for the input, maybe I'll just use an ounce at flameout. I don't really do any stand at flameout and just stir as it cools. I don't want to have it be too hoppy but i think this hop shouldn't be too overpowering based on the reports I've read. My other half is seemingly liking somewhat maltier beers as i have given her some irish red ales and i try to make beers she will drink too.

 

[jimmyjusa]

Hello Jimmy,

Never used Belma in anything but an IPA. Belma is a very unusual hop and garners a fair bit on negative attention. That being said it is one that I love and use all the time. I have made a SMaSH with Belma which was great. It also seems that very little about Belma single hop beers can be found in home brewing forums. The hop can produce notes of strawberry but also grassy tones that are well hidden when used in combination with other hops. Using the small amounts that you plan to use all late boil is a good idea. May I suggest to use a bit less in the whirlpool but then also to dry hop in a muslin bag for two days. Remove the hops after two days and way before kegging or bottling. In my opinion less bitter phenols will be released when the hops are added to cold instead of hot water (mash). Also I will highly recommend using the freshest Belma hops you can find! Good luck with the Kolsch, would like to know how it turns out.

Brewed on friday night, 9 gallon boil for 30 minutes. Used 5 oz total of whole leaf belma hops over the last 15 minutes, mostly at the 5 minute and flameout, small amount a few minutes after flameout. Split between two fermenter buckets and topped up to a little over 5 gallons each for an og 1.054. One bucket got Nottingham fermenting at room temp (ambient 68) and second bucket i ended up using cali common yeast because i have twice as many packets of that vs kolsch, going to use that yeast for an intentional kolsch. For the cali common yeast i have been trying to do a controlled temp by doing a water bath in my boil kettle and ice packs, it has been chugging along at 63* so far.

 

[CircaChris]

Brewed on friday night, 9 gallon boil for 30 minutes. Used 5 oz total of whole leaf belma hops over the last 15 minutes, mostly at the 5 minute and flameout, small amount a few minutes after flameout. Split between two fermenter buckets and topped up to a little over 5 gallons each for an og 1.054. One bucket got Nottingham fermenting at room temp (ambient 68) and second bucket i ended up using cali common yeast because i have twice as many packets of that vs kolsch, going to use that yeast for an intentional kolsch. For the cali common yeast i have been trying to do a controlled temp by doing a water bath in my boil kettle and ice packs, it has been chugging along at 63* so far.

Just curious since this thread ends here, how'd the beers turn out? I know it was a while ago.

 

[jimmyjusa]

Just curious since this thread ends here, how'd the beers turn out? I know it was a while ago.

Personally underwhelmed by the flavor as i couldn't taste any. It's the only whole leaf hop I've used so I'm not sure if that's a factor. I was talking to another homebrewer and he was saying this hop is pretty mild so you need to use more to get much out of it. So my thoughts on this hop are still to be determined.

 

[day_trippr]

Belma is grown by a single farm and doesn't show up in national hop statistics.
It's barely made an impact in the ~ 6 years since it was released - I don't think I've seen anything on HBT that was particularly complimentary - usually it's a "not a whole lot there" underwhelmed kind of review.

I suspect it's not long for this world...

Cheers!

 

[bleme]

A friend just gave me another pound of it because he didn't like anything he used it in. I've used it a lot and always been happy with it.

The last time was a Black NEIPA, with only whirlpool and dry hops that used a little Belma and a lot of other hops. You sure couldn't pick out the Belma, but the beer was great. A local pro brewer said he was blown away and for the rest of the day I kept getting people saying that Randy told them they HAD to try my beer.

Before that, Belma was the only hop in a 15 IBU wheat beer that was kegged with the juice from a whole flat of strawberries. You couldn't really taste the hops at all as the Belma was very complimentary. That beer was served at a beerfest and kicked in under 2 hours.

That same base recipe on a few pounds of blueberries is my wife's favorite beer. I need to make this again. I'm tired of those blueberries hogging my freezer space...

Another club member was on a Belma kick and brought several different beers to meetings. Honestly, I wasn't thrilled with any of them. I don't know if he got a bad batch or didn't store them properly but they all had a faint rotten fruit taste.

 

[CircaChris]

So The verdict on Belma is still not out.... More dislike that acceptance. Although there is a whole lotta love it also seems. Maybe freshness and storage may be the problem. I like it, and find it compliments other hops fantstically (e.g. Warrior, Apollo, Citra) but also found it actually did wonders by itself. I get the fruit combo brews being liked because it is subtle and unperceived and can attain a low bitterness and berry taste when added late boil or as a dry hop. Guess it depends on the beverage brewed as a whole and on the imbibers palate. Thanks for the reply jimmyjusa on how the brew turned out.

 

[jimmyjusa]

I don't think there is anything negative with it that I've found personally, but it seems to be a good blending or layering option with other hops. I am using whole leaf and i don't know if that makes much difference since they are my only hop that is whole leaf vs pellets.

 

[Stand]

I just got an inexplicable pound of Belma from hopsdirect when I ordered a bunch of other stuff, and I have no idea how to use them. Seems like people having good luck are blending them in IPAs/Pales or using them in wits or saisons?

I would be down with any of those. Anybody dial in a good recipe they can share?

 

[pvpeacock]

I received a lb. of Belma hops unexpectedly with my hop order and decided to make a simple, single hop IPA with it. I am not impressed. It is underwhelming and provides very little flavor. The only flavor I get is "earthy" not fruity or berry-like. I will try using it as a bittering hop and with other hops, but not alone.

 

[eulipion2]

I received a lb. of Belma hops unexpectedly with my hop order and decided to make a simple, single hop IPA with it. I am not impressed. It is underwhelming and provides very little flavor. The only flavor I get is "earthy" not fruity or berry-like. I will try using it as a bittering hop and with other hops, but not alone.

The berry and melon can be subtle. I usually use Belma for bittering, in combination with other things, or in small beers. I did a very nice session saison with Belma and Styrian Goldings a few years ago that I keep coming back to.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Just tried the hydro samples of some Belma pales I made as part of some yeast trials with 100% Otter at 1.050 OG. Since the yeast were the focus I just grabbed the oldest hops in the freezer that weren't going to overwhelm the yeast, which turned out to be 2016 Belma from BrewUK. They smelt OK to this long Covid sufferer but after I'd used almost all of them my beautiful assistant had a sniff and suggested she was getting a whiff of Roquefort from them. Too late - I guess it becomes a test of that Janish stuff about the cheesy-smelling short-chain acids being important for forming esters. I had 25 IBU of bittering and then 100g Belma smeared over 10-min/flameout/whirlpool/dry-hop in 18 litres, so 5.5g/l total (=3.7 oz in 5 US gallons).

And I quite like the result. If you're looking for something like Citra then you're going to be disappointed, but if you think more in terms of say some of the Styrians then it works quite well. I could definitely get melon from them - and I really don't smell much these days - and MBA got melon plus some peach and with one bucket in particular she got pineapple - which is what Janish suggests you will get from cheesy hops, I guess there may be a yeast-dependent aspect to that.

We'll see how it develops, it's still a bit green but at this point it's looking really promising as an easy-drinking session pale. Not the sexiest hop, none of the drama of Nectaron or Sabro and I probably won't be racing to buy it again, but it works as something a little bit different in session beers to be drunk by the gallon.

 

[pvpeacock]

Update: Back in October I made an IPA with Belma hops. I was not impressed. The hops tasted earthy to me and not in a pleasant way. However, as the keg aged/lagered in my keezer over the next few months (primarily because I had a better keg on tap at the same time) it got better and better. The earthy flavor disappeared and a subtle berry/melon flavor appeared. It was actually good. While I doubt I will ever buy Belma hops again, I recently used them in a Kolsch and am letting this batch lager for a few months before tasting in the hope that I will get the best flavors from the Belma hops.

 

[mashpaddled]

I bought some of the original Belma release in 2011 I think? It's a very mellow hop with nice strawberry and melon notes. It shows up in saisons where it compliments yeast flavors but doesn't overwhelm or compete. Lighter blonde styles leaning towards fruity hops would work. It will play nicely with older fruity varieties like the Styrian goldings variants. I'm not sure who is after that kind of beer these days.

It's going to get lost among any of the usual IPA type hops even in the older C hop style. To get clear hop flavor you have to be heavy handed.

It works well as a bittering hop where you want a smoother bitterness so basically anything but west coast IPA or certain lager styles. Very smooth bittering.