Best hops to stock up on in bulk?

[Surye]

I've found buying hops from HD, I would be paying half as much per oz as my LHBS, so I wanted some good versitle hops that I could have on hand as stock. I was thinking Centennial and Cascade, but maybe there's another kind or two I should look at? Also, whole leaf or pellets for this purpose? I'm still new to brewing, and plan on brewing many different styles, so I don't have any upcoming recipes necissarily (just a few ideas). I like hoppy beers, though I try to vary my brewing for experience. Maybe Admiral or Magnum for a good stock bittering hop?

 

[HenryHill]

I loaded up on clean bittering hops, and my favorite C's. for aroma and DH.

I got a few light things for aroma, just for the he!! of it, too.

 

[Freezeblade]

I do mostly english styles, so I load up on Fuggles and EKGs, they can do just about anything english. For Belgian styles I do about everything with saaz

 

[jsullivan02130]

I've found I vastly prefer pellets for two reasons: I get much better alpha-acid isomerization and thus better and more easily calculated bittering, and they take up much less room in my freezer.

 

[niquejim]

We need much more info to give a good answer

What style of beers do you like

An APA takes much different hops than an ESB or an Alt

 

[Surye]

We need much more info to give a good answer

What style of beers do you like

An APA takes much different hops than an ESB or an Alt

I like APA and IPAs, I would say I plan on playing with those recipes more then others.

 

[Bob]

That being the case, go with "C" hops - a high-alpha variety for bittering, and Cascades for flavor/aroma.

If you were looking to generalize more, I highly recommend Willamette. It's appropriate in American ales, being an American variety, but as a Fuggles derivative it's versatile enough to work quite well in English ales as well. It's a variety I always have in my freezer.

Cheers!

Bob

 

[niquejim]

That being the case, go with "C" hops - a high-alpha variety for bittering, and Cascades for flavor/aroma.

If you were looking to generalize more, I highly recommend Willamette. It's appropriate in American ales, being an American variety, but as a Fuggles derivative it's versatile enough to work quite well in English ales as well. It's a variety I always have in my freezer.

Cheers!

Bob

Well said

 

[Old John]

I like Perle and Northern Brewer for Bittering.
I like Willamette, Tettnang, & Hallertau, for Aroma & Flavor.
It's just what I like for the beers I brew.

 

[USM_Eagle]

That being the case, go with "C" hops - a high-alpha variety for bittering, and Cascades for flavor/aroma.

If you were looking to generalize more, I highly recommend Willamette. It's appropriate in American ales, being an American variety, but as a Fuggles derivative it's versatile enough to work quite well in English ales as well. It's a variety I always have in my freezer.

Cheers!

Bob

+1 to that I love Cascade and Willamette.
EKGs may not fit your style as well as those three but I seem to work them into a lot of recipes.