British bitters: Challenger v. Target for bittering; Sovereign?

[user 246304]

Things are completed and I'm compiling ingredients and final equipment (deciding between MW102 v. Hack Pocket Pro+, for one).

I know Challenger fairly well as I use it a lot in bitters for bittering. I've never used Target, so could use some organoleptic input from folks. My go to for dark, strong ales is Northdown, sometimes with and sometimes without other bittering hops.

I'm also intrigued by Sovereign, for late or dry contributions in pale, or dark beers as well. I don't know it at all but reading it a bit it fits my tendency to like stone-fruit qualities, in subtle contributions. I use First Gold here, but again, trying new stuff. I think I recall St. Peters uses Target, Styrian and Sovereign in something, though I could be wrong.

There's alot of 2016 available, but I don't know the storage index of these hops. Any thoughts, much appreciated.

 

[bierhaus15]

Challenger is my go-to bittering hop for bitters, but I also really enjoy it as a late hop for some of that spicy-marmalade character. Northdown is classic in dark beers.

I've not used much target, but I was not impressed with Sovereign. To my tastes, it has less stone-fruit than First Gold and more of that mild-flowery character I get with early season Goldings. It also comes across as slightly 'twiggy,' with stronger herbal notes than fruity. I bought a pound a while back and used it up as part of a blend with EKG and Styrian G.

 

[user 246304]

Awesome notes, very helpful, thanks bierhaus. First off is an RIS (I owe the friends who loaned me their equipment, all of whom love dark beers and aren't really hop guys; so this should warm them up to start...followed by some robust porters, and British stouts), then into my first love, bitters.

 

[thehaze]

I like EKG and Styrian Goldings in English styled beers and work very well. Smooth bittering and really pleasent to the tongue. I never tried Challenger before, but it is on my list for the upcoming bitter.

 

[ESBrewer]

I don't know if there would be a huge difference as a bittering hop as this is mostly for bittering (oils have plenty of time to evaporate) and the hop character seem to come more from late kettle/whirlpool and dry hopping if you are using such. For me target is working well in bittering, some people say that it may be a bit harsh. It tends to contain more (and variable amounts) alpha acids than Challenger so you need to take this into account. In next batch I'm going to use Target for both bittering and dry hopping and Challenger in the late copper much like Fuller's now does. I know that the hop aroma is going to be quite different in Target dry hopping compared to Challenger/Goldings dry hopping. It really depends what you like, there are many British bitters that rely on Challenger only, but nowadays there are many brews that use Target, especially in bittering but sometimes also as an aroma hop. In addition to the hops that have been mentioned here, you might be interested in Fuggle when brewing bitters.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I've never used Target, so could use some organoleptic input from folks. My go to for dark, strong ales is Northdown, sometimes with and sometimes without other bittering hops.

I must admit I'm not a big fan of Target, it was only really popular because of its wilt resistance but if you like a harsh bitterness to get through a lot of sweetness then I guess it works. Can't argue with Northdown, and I think I've mentioned that I've enjoyed a single-hop Flyer mild, still not got round to brewing one myself. Doubt you will be able to get Flyer over there though, it's rare here.

I'm also intrigued by Sovereign, for late or dry contributions in pale, or dark beers as well. I don't know it at all but reading it a bit it fits my tendency to like stone-fruit qualities, in subtle contributions. I use First Gold here, but again, trying new stuff.

Meh - I think it's safe to say that Sovereign hasn't really "cut through" to homebrewers or microbreweries, I don't think I've seen it as a single-hop beer. AIUI it's pitched as a modern equivalent of WGV, a slightly Goldingy Fuggle, but really it's pitched at the growers as a dwarf hop with decent disease resistance and yield, which should feed through to lower costs for the macro brewers.

You might keep an eye out for Endeavour, which is pitched as a slightly lighter citrus to Challenger.

There's alot of 2016 available, but I don't know the storage index of these hops.

Varies - I guess there may be something on the BHA website or Hopsteiner or somewhere. If you're looking for citrus then they're probably better bets than 2017 - although 2016 wasn't a great year in general, the Challenger I had was really mandarin-orangey, whereas the dulll August of 2017 killed myrcene levels and everything came out on the earthy side.

 

[user 246304]

Tremendous information, Northern, and thank you. This is really helpful though at this point I'm a bit bummed I bought a pound of Sovereign in a fit of "sounds good!" I'll have to learn this one through, it seems. I also would like to obtain more Northdown than I got (it's about twice the cost, from what I'm seeing, of others) because I really do like it, especially for the big darks, as I mentioned.

You and the others above have given some great suggestions. Thanks very much, all. Very excited to have a ton of materials arriving over the next several days. I'm not where I hope to be (creating a thread in a moment - an idea on an open primary, with pumping, Yorkshire Square - as I've been harping on), but I can start.