Brewer's Gold Hops?

[orionol73]

I placed and order that got held up getting shipped out so a pound of Brewer's Gold hops were thrown in for free...as I research them I am beginning to figure out why!!

Best I can guess they might be good in an English Mild, Porter or maybe some sort of Belgian Dark Strong Ale. Does anyone have experience with a recipe using these? I am not picky about style other than I won't make a sour...do you have a recipe using Brewer's Gold?

 

[Northern_Brewer]

a pound of Brewer's Gold hops were thrown in for free...as I research them I am beginning to figure out why!!

I sense you're on a bit of a downer about this, whereas I'd be excited about getting such a historically important hop - it's an ancestor of virtuallly every modern bittering hop. It's now getting pretty rare (except in Germany), not because brewers don't like it but because farmers don't like to grow a variety that is so susceptible to disease. It has a lovely soft bitterness that can be used in almost any European style for bittering, particularly light lagers (which is why it's popular in Bavaria). But as a sister of Bullion and aunt of Bramling Cross it can also work as a flavour hop.

To be honest, you could throw it in almost any recipe that uses one of its offspring - Challenger, Northern Brewer, Northdown etc. But I'd start by getting to know it with a SMaSH like this one ("Even though I brewed only about a month ago, the beer is already drinkable and in my opinion absolutely fantastic....I’ll definitely consider rebrewing this beer, which is something I don’t normally do") and then probably a (generously) single-hopped best bitter and then a helles for the summer.

There is life beyond Citra....

 

[bierhaus15]

Crouch Vale brewers gold is a really nice pint, if you like bitter/golden ales. As a whirlpool hop, BG has a strong lemon-spice character that is pleasant enough by itself, but blends well with fruitier hops like Amarillo/Cascade. Besides lagers, it is also nice in non-phenolic wheat beers.

 

[orionol73]

I sense you're on a bit of a downer about thisQUOTE]

Certainly not bummed about this! Free hops are free hops and its good to try some new hop varieties. What discouraged me was the seeming lack of anyone using it and therefore little real world experiences to glean information from

I greatly appreciate your suggestions!

Not really sure why you imply my only using Citra for asking the braintrust here their thoughts on this particular breed I happened upon

 

[orionol73]

I sense you're on a bit of a downer about this, whereas I'd be excited about getting such a historically important hop - it's an ancestor of virtuallly every modern bittering hop. It's now getting pretty rare (except in Germany), not because brewers don't like it but because farmers don't like to grow a variety that is so susceptible to disease. It has a lovely soft bitterness that can be used in almost any European style for bittering, particularly light lagers (which is why it's popular in Bavaria). But as a sister of Bullion and aunt of Bramling Cross it can also work as a flavour hop.

To be honest, you could throw it in almost any recipe that uses one of its offspring - Challenger, Northern Brewer, Northdown etc. But I'd start by getting to know it with a SMaSH like this one ("Even though I brewed only about a month ago, the beer is already drinkable and in my opinion absolutely fantastic....I’ll definitely consider rebrewing this beer, which is something I don’t normally do") and then probably a (generously) single-hopped best bitter and then a helles for the summer.

There is life beyond Citra....

I just realized my previous attempt at a response failed.

I am not bummed about receiving free hops that I have never tried before at all! I was just surprised at the lack of people using it or info on using it.

Thanks for the suggestion with that recipe!

Why do you assume I only use Citra??

 

[nikvolkert]

I got a pound of it as a gift from winning a gold medal at a homebrew contest recently. I looked through my recipe books and it seems to be used in a lot of the belgian ales, as well as the petes wicked ale and bert grant clone recipes. It's nearly Identical to it's sister hop Bullion, so any recipe using that can be directly swapped in.