Best hops for bulk purchase

[skyebrewing]

I am getting ready to do my first bulk hop purchase and am trying to decide which hops should I always have on hand. I like bold flavored beers and will be brewing a wide variety of styles from APA's to Stouts. If I was to purchase 4 or 5 different types of hops, what do you guys recommend? Thanks

 

[tagz]

I just made my first bulk order (after reading about the potential 2011 shortage). I generally brew APA/IPAs, Hefes, and Belgians. I grabbed 1 lb of Columbus, Centennial, and Styrian Golding. Total was around $40 after shipping. I'm psyched.

By the way, there's a bunch of old bulk order threads, if you want to survey what people have done in the past.

 

[skyebrewing]

I thought magnum, cascade, chinook, willamette. Maybe one more. I love hoppy beers but figured a neutral bitter like magnum with willamette could do good esb's.
Tried searching already, but most posts were where to buy bulk or how to store bulk with only a couple of hop variety posts. Maybe i just dont have the right keyword prowess..

 

[dmfa200]

Columbus, Simcoe, Centennial, Cascade, Fuggle, Willamette

 

[Whut]

Centennial, Cascade, and Northern for me.

 

[ILuvIPA]

Amarillo, Cascade, Centenial, Columbus, Fuggle, Simcoe, & Tetnang are my bulk stock this year. Others I will order small quantity as needed (Kent Golding, Saaz, . . .)

 

[pulptastic]

I bought columbus, centennial, citra, amarillo, nugget, and simcoe. Hopsdirect didn't have simcoe, so I paid a bit more for that one but I have a few recipes that call for a bunch of simcoe. Next year I will probably do without, since the hopsdirect varieties were half the price.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Magnum or Horizon, since you can use them in every single beer style that has 60-minute or longer bittering additions. The rest is up to personal preference. Personally, I would go with Simcoe, Cascade, EKG and Mittelfrueh.

 

[Danbreeze]

Magnum is a great hop for bulk purchase b/c it is very clean and can be used in almost any style. I use it for bittering my stouts/porters.

 

[Houblon]

If I was to purchase 4 or 5 different types of hops, what do you guys recommend? Thanks

Personal preference is all I can say.

My order was Amarillo,CzechSaaz,Cascade,Centennial,Chinook,Citra,Columbus,Magnum,Hersbruker,Strisselspalt,Styrian Golding,East Kent Golding and I still need to get a few lbs of Simcoe

Next is my bulk grain order, 4 sacks should last till summer as we're cutting down on brewing this yr.

 

[PurpleJeepXJ]

After reading your second post Skyewines, are you planning on buying 4-5 different types in 1lb each... totaling 4-5lbs? If you are only buying like 4oz each then the correct term is not 'Bulk' in my opinion. I would say buy the basic flavour and bittering hops that are cheap if you want to do 1lb bags otherwise I would only buy like 4-6oz of specialty hops as needed. It all depends on your taste and what you like to brew. Since it seems like you have a wide range that would be a bunch of hops to store if purchased by the lb.

 

[MikeRoBrew1]

How far out are you guys planning? I figure I brew every 1-2 weeks so that means I will need about 3lbs of hops (averaging 3-6oz of hops per brew that is 8-16 brews) to last maybe 3 months. I guess I will start there and increase as needed in the future.

Hope SWMBO is ready for top secret operation grain closet takeover (which accompanies mission bulk hops)

 

[skyebrewing]

Thanks for all the responses. I went with an lb of cascade, chinook, ctz, willamette and 1/2lb of citra, summit and nugget. Then turned around and found an lhbs 45 min away and bought 90lb of grain. Good i love this hobby

 

[weirdboy]

Here's what I did when I was in this situation:

Columbus, Centennial, Hallertau, Saaz, Willamette

This selection allows you to throw together recipes for most styles of beer without having to buy specialty stuff. Columbus & Centennial cover American styles...APA, Brown, IPA, etc. Hallertau and Saaz will get you German and Belgian styles, and Willamette works well for English styles.

 

[skyebrewing]

Kinda the same idea with willamette for me, but as belgiums are few and far between, ill order special ones as needed. Its still an experiment. Ill see how i use these and adjust next time. For now, im gonna go all hoppy and such with some apa's ipa's and reds..

 

[MikeRoBrew1]

OK I'm working on my order and I would like some critique! I'm a newer brewer (9mo, 25 batches, includes 10AG batches). I am still experimenting with different styles and recipes but lately I am mostly making Irish Reds, Browns, IPAs and porters/stouts. I don't really do much German anything except an Oktoberfest and I dont do much Belgian except for Wit/Hefe. I am looking for 3 months supply as I am new to semi-bulk-buying.

I was thinking of buying 1lb each of: Magnum (bittering), Cascade, Chinook, Fuggle. Seems pretty bare-bones to me. Opinions please? Too plain? Need more variety? I can always pick up an ounce here or there if needed at the LHBS.

 

[robtotten]

I thought magnum, cascade, chinook, willamette. Maybe one more. I love hoppy beers but figured a neutral bitter like magnum with willamette could do good esb's.
Tried searching already, but most posts were where to buy bulk or how to store bulk with only a couple of hop variety posts. Maybe i just dont have the right keyword prowess..

I thought magnum, cascade, chinook, willamette. Maybe one more. I love hoppy beers but figured a neutral bitter like magnum with willamette could do good esb's.
Tried searching already, but most posts were where to buy bulk or how to store bulk with only a couple of hop variety posts. Maybe i just dont have the right keyword prowess..

Unless you like Chinook as a late addition, I'd replace it with something else. Magnum, Cascade and Willamette are a great starting 3. Simcoe and Amarillo are great in APAs / American IPAs, as is Centennial. If you'll be doing a lot of English brews, pick up some Fuggles or Goldings. If you're not doing a lot, Willamette will usually work ok.

 

[tagz]

Just got my hop order from direct hops. All three packages (Columbus, Centennial, Styrian) were 2 ounces over.

 

[MikeRoBrew1]

Hoping for advice on my selections two posts above? waiting to order...

 

[BoundForBeer]

Just got my hop order from direct hops. All three packages (Columbus, Centennial, Styrian) were 2 ounces over.

They are known for their heavy pounds... and who am I to complain?

 

[electric_beer]

OK I'm working on my order and I would like some critique! I'm a newer brewer (9mo, 25 batches, includes 10AG batches). I am still experimenting with different styles and recipes but lately I am mostly making Irish Reds, Browns, IPAs and porters/stouts. I don't really do much German anything except an Oktoberfest and I dont do much Belgian except for Wit/Hefe. I am looking for 3 months supply as I am new to semi-bulk-buying.

I was thinking of buying 1lb each of: Magnum (bittering), Cascade, Chinook, Fuggle. Seems pretty bare-bones to me. Opinions please? Too plain? Need more variety? I can always pick up an ounce here or there if needed at the LHBS.

That looks pretty good to me! I love Fuggles in my browns and just about anything "English." Maybe consider a lb of Saaz which would work well for your Wit/Hefes as well as your once in a blue moon Oktoberfest.

 

[tch1980]

i just ordered 1lb. each tettnager, hallertauer, cascade, centennial, magnum, saaz, and williamette. this should last a while and cover many styles.

 

[MikeRoBrew1]

Electric beer - Two thumbs up and thanks for your post. I am adding Saaz to the list and am feeling great about this well-rounded (for me) selection!

Hmmm now I am wondering if I should hold out for when they start offering Rhizomes too. I was gonna get from Midwest but none of the Rhi's they offer are that similar to the kind I am looking to brew with??

 

[MikeRoBrew1]

Man I put off placing my order and hopsdirect appears to be sold out of a lot of popular varieties. Bummer!

I was able to locate substitute varieties at hopsdirect, but instead I decided to order at wholesalehops.com and their prices were competitive with hopsdirect (cascade: hopsdirect 9.99, wholesalehops 10.60).

WholesaleHops.com Items
1 chinook pellet hops lbs 2010 @ $12.75 = $12.75
1 cascade pellet hops lbs 2010 @ $10.60 = $10.60
1 Fuggle pellet hop lbs 2010 @ $14.00 = $14.00
1 Magnum pellets lbs @ $12.50 = $12.50
1 czech saaz pellets lbs @ $14.00 = $14.00

Sub-Total: $63.85

Shipping: $13.00 (Flat rate)

What do you think? OK deal but they might not be super heavy bags like HopsDirect sends. Awwwwww Oh well. Snooze and lose. This should last me six months or so and then we will reorder for next fall I guess.