Discussion of New Hop Varieties

[ColumbusAmongus]

Whats up brewers. There are a ton of hop varieties piling up on the HBS shelves so I wanted to start a discussion about whats out there, what people like, what people don't like, what kind of combinations seem to work or don't work, and what kind of brews they fit really well in.

I am finding that some are hit or miss and some are definitely going into my rotation so it would be cool to see what people are coming up with!

My favorite one so far has been azacca. I converted this recipe (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=42841) to more of a session IPA and added azacca in the mix and swapped to us-05 yeast. I really liked how it turned out and a bonus is that others raved about it too. I boiled with a 50/50 mix of centennial and azacca (slow continuous additions from 60-0) and then dry hopped with only azacca. At the time of kegging, the flavor was really great but it was overall dull or muted. I spiked in a Chinook tea and the end result was really really tasty. I was a little disappointed to see that azacca probably can't stand on it's own but paired with some brighter hops it seems to do really well. It seems like azacca had really great aroma qualities as well so that was a big winner variety.

My least favorite so far has been Hull Melon. To a similar version of the recipe above, I used hull melon as the only dry hop and it ended up being very bland and indistinct. There was a nice clean neutral hop flavor but no signs of the description flavors of melon or strawberry. I dry hopped with 2 oz so if I were to ever use them again, I would double the amount at the least. I feel that of all the varieties I have tried, this one is bit of a sham.

 

[hanuswalrus]

I used Azacca in a hoppy saison and it ended up being the best saison I've ever brewed. I call it SaAzacca Saison (Saaz and Azacca hops). The Azacca was just bursting with aroma when I opened the bag. The hops were from BSG and came in a bag packaged with Nitrogen to retain freshness, and I think it did the job. I think quality of packaging (as well as quality of the hops themselves, of course) has a huge impact on how the hops come across in the beer.

I also tried Hull Melon and wasn't overly impressed. Very subtle. Same with Mandarina Bavaria.

El Dorado might have been my favorite hop over the past year. Must have been a good harvest last year for El Dorado. I just ordered a fresh 1/2 lb of Galaxy from Yakima Valley (2015 crop) and am really excited to see how that hop turned out this year. I'll try to remember to post back to this thread after I brew with them

 

[ColumbusAmongus]

Yeah? I haven't snagged El Dorado yet. Did you pair it up with anything?

 

[brick_haus]

I just bought a couple pounds of EXP7270 I'll chime in when I have an opinion. 16.8AA and supposedly "grapefruit" flavor. I'll probably dry hop first, then move them into the WP, boil etc.

 

[drainbamage]

Hull Melon (also seen listed as "Huell Melon") seems to be the new "it" hop at a lot of my local breweries. I'm not all that impressed by it either. I can get some of the melon and strawberry character, but they're pretty mild...not enough that I would consider brewing with it to get that character. (Interestingly, I made a DIPA a while back with heavy Amarillo, Citra, and Galaxy additions at flameout, and got some of those same notes, but much stronger.)

Also, at least one of those beers was a HM single-hop, and I remember the bittering being somewhat sharp and unpleasant.

 

[Oginme]

I like Huell Melon as an accent hop. It certainly does not work alone, but I get some very interesting effects having mixed it in several recipes with Mandarina Bavaria, Galaxy, Mosaic, Citra, and El Dorado. It really brings out an enhanced fruitiness -- not always melon; but it distinctly strengthens the tropical fruit of the hop it is used with.

I initially used Huell Melon in a SMaSH with MO and it was definitely melon with a finish of partially ripened strawberry (almost kiwi fruit like). Not strong enough to stand on its own.

 

[Brew_G]

Yeah? I haven't snagged El Dorado yet. Did you pair it up with anything?

I'm curious, too. El Dorado is on my list to pick up this fall, but I'm wavering a little bit and may go with something else.

 

[Oginme]

My take on El Dorado:

SMaSH with MO, mostly late hopped at a calculated 40 IBU, gave some passion fruit, tropical notes, not very strong bittering and ended with mild citrus and a slight sweet note.

 

[hifidelity]

My take on El Dorado:

SMaSH with MO, mostly late hopped at a calculated 40 IBU, gave some passion fruit, tropical notes, not very strong bittering and ended with mild citrus and a slight sweet note.

I've been on a MO SMaSH kick lately (I've brewed 4 of them) and this sounds like my next one. Thanks!

 

[northwestcoast]

I've been on a MO SMaSH kick lately (I've brewed 4 of them) and this sounds like my next one. Thanks!

Make sure you dry hop liberally!

I split a batch (grain bill was 70% MO and 30% Vienna) into two single-hop pales using El Dorado and Mosaic.

Equal additions at 30, 20, 10, and flameout, and a modest (0.75oz) dry-hop.

The Mosaic ale certainly was the favourite of the two, but I could pick out some subtle stone fruit notes from the El Dorado ale. ED also had a much smoother bitterness. I think if I had used 2oz+ in the dry-hop it would have been the winner!

As far as my favourite new hop, I'm pretty taken with Belma. It would need some substantial support in any hoppy American style, but I've used it in a couple saisons, and was very impressed. It played very well with the fruity esters of WY 3726 in my most recent one.

 

[hanuswalrus]

Yeah? I haven't snagged El Dorado yet. Did you pair it up with anything?

I did a hoppy amber with el dorado. Paired it with Centennial and Columbus. Bittered with Columbus, added equal parts El Dorado/Cent/Columbus at 10, 5 and 0. Dry hopped with just El Dorado. I really liked it as did the guys at my LHBS.

 

[m00ps]

I just bought a couple pounds of EXP7270 I'll chime in when I have an opinion. 16.8AA and supposedly "grapefruit" flavor. I'll probably dry hop first, then move them into the WP, boil etc.

ive gone through over a pound of them and they are definitely tropical but also some resiny notes too. Nose leans more towards tropical, taste bit more resinous

 

[m00ps]

Make sure you dry hop liberally!

I split a batch (grain bill was 70% MO and 30% Vienna) into two single-hop pales using El Dorado and Mosaic.

Equal additions at 30, 20, 10, and flameout, and a modest (0.75oz) dry-hop.

The Mosaic ale certainly was the favourite of the two, but I could pick out some subtle stone fruit notes from the El Dorado ale. ED also had a much smoother bitterness. I think if I had used 2oz+ in the dry-hop it would have been the winner!

As far as my favourite new hop, I'm pretty taken with Belma. It would need some substantial support in any hoppy American style, but I've used it in a couple saisons, and was very impressed. It played very well with the fruity esters of WY 3726 in my most recent one.

Ive been going nuts making IPAs with Belma and Huell Melon to make this berry fruit salad flavor combo. Its great. Problem is that neither of them is very assertive so you need a lot in a hopstand to get it to IPA levels. Been working with seeing that else pairs with it. The exp7270 mentioned above worked well, as did Citra. Thinking of tryin Nelson Sauvin next

 

[BrewerBrad82]

If anyone can get their hands on HBC-438, give it a shot. It is a neomexicanus cultivar that is exclusively available to homebrewers. I find it makes quite a nice single hop pale ale.

Medusa was also a good one, but its impossible to get anymore...

 

[m00ps]

also, I tried to start a thread like this before but it got buried:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=507500

 

[schokie]

My take on El Dorado:

SMaSH with MO, mostly late hopped at a calculated 40 IBU, gave some passion fruit, tropical notes, not very strong bittering and ended with mild citrus and a slight sweet note.

You have a recipe? That sounds delicious.

 

[Calder]

I may be boring, but I like:

Citra, Simcoe, Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Amarillo - American PA//IPA. All the standards work well. Got some Mosaic I'm waiting to use.

Nelson Sauvin is great in Belgians, with grape juice and in Berliners.

I have number lined up too try as flavor and aroma hops in IPAs to see how they work:
- Junga
- Calypso,
- Pacific Jade
- Pacifica
- Stella
- Topaz
- Admiral

Any words of caution for any of these. I have the hops ready to go.

 

[northwestcoast]

Ive been going nuts making IPAs with Belma and Huell Melon to make this berry fruit salad flavor combo. Its great. Problem is that neither of them is very assertive so you need a lot in a hopstand to get it to IPA levels. Been working with seeing that else pairs with it. The exp7270 mentioned above worked well, as did Citra. Thinking of tryin Nelson Sauvin next

Sounds delicious!

Maybe try Galaxy? Its peachy/tropical profile might fit well in the fruit salad mix, and it's plenty assertive!

 

[Oginme]

You have a recipe? That sounds delicious.

100% Crisp Maris Otter

OG: 1.050
40 minute boil

El Dorado:

10 IBU at 30 minutes
10 IBU at 15 minutes
10 IBU at 5 minutes
10 IBU whirlpool/steep for 20 minutes

I dry hop directly into some of the bottles with 1 grams of El Dorado pellets as I am filling them. This is a bit more than 2 ounce/gal if scaled. About half of the bottles are dry hopped and the rest are without.

Since I don't usually like to have a whole case of SMaSH beer hanging around, I usually do up a 6 gallon batch of wort and split it into 5 1-gal batches to test 5 different hops at once. This gives me about 8 bottles out of each hop tested.

 

[rodwha]

I really like a single hop pale made with HBC 342.

I bought 3 ounces when it first came out and then read several threads stating it was terrible and was like Jolly Rancher watermelon. So it sat for some time before I made a test batch.

It's more of a unique melon-like flavor. I make a hop forward pale ale and call it good!

 

[passedpawn]

I bought 3# of Azacca on a whim. They are in my freezer. I'm probably going to do a single hop pale ale with them just to see what's what there.

 

[bobeer]

I just kegged an IPA made with Jarrylo and Azacca. I only used Jarrylo for bittering and man... it has a very strong clove/banana smell to it. I added 4 or 5 oz of Azacca in the whirlpool and the beer is sort of tasting like perfume. IDK which hop is responsible for that perfume taste but I really hope it mellows over the next few days. The clover/banana smell I know is from Jarrylo... Not sure if I'll use this one again.

 

[hanuswalrus]

I really like Azacca. Used it once in a saison and it was definitely noticeable over the saison yeast. Everyone that's tried it so far mostly gets a melon-y aroma from it.

I've tasted Jarrylo in a single hop IPA from a guy in my brew club. He probably makes the best IPAs of anyone in our club. It was OK. Unique, but not my favorite profile I guess. I got mostly pear from it. Don't really feel intrigues to use it in any of my brews.

 

[ColumbusAmongus]

I just did a rye IPA where I used Equinox in the dry hop and I really really like it. I used only chinook in the kettle from 60-15 min and then 2oz of Equinox over 7-10 days of dry hopping in the secondary. I am really surprised at how much flavor came out of only 2 oz of dry hopping with Equinox. I was expecting to add another 2oz of hop tea when I kegged but I tasted it and was pretty happy with where it was at only have 2oz.

Equinox seems really complex and I really really like it. I think that the prominent flavors are something along the lines of red pear and maybe even pineapple...that could be from mixing them with Chinook though. It is hard to sort out the citrus notes since Chinook was in there but there are a lot of complicated tropical fruity tones to it. I get the hint of lime but none of that green pepper business as sites list.

I think I need to pick up more of these guys...

 

[ColumbusAmongus]

If anyone can get their hands on HBC-438, give it a shot. It is a neomexicanus cultivar that is exclusively available to homebrewers. I find it makes quite a nice single hop pale ale.

Medusa was also a good one, but its impossible to get anymore...

I JUST saw these in the store but didn't snag any...how would you describe them?

 

[BrewerBrad82]

The HBC 438 strain is predominantly fruity with some tropical notes. Its also a little bit herbal, woody and spicy. I made a simple pale ale and used 2 ounces in the boil to target ~40 IBUs and dry hopped with one ounce. It is relatively high in alpha acids, so I added all the kettle hops in the last 30 mins of the boil.

 

[hanuswalrus]

There's a couple varieties I've never heard of that just popped up on Yakima Valley Hops in the Domestic Leaf section... J-Lime, Chelan, Otto Supreme.. All new to me at least. Interesting..

 

[izzie]

Brewed 10 gallons of sacred summit pale ale and augmented it with jarrylo. Came out more mango than the usual tangerine. good stuff.

 

[Pappers_]

I did an American-style IPA recently using three new German-developed-and-grown hops: Hallertau Blanc, Huell Melon, and Mandarina Baviaria. I also used Magnum for bittering. I liked the combination alot, lots of fruity, melon, citrus and tropical flavors with a nice, strong but not overpowering bitter backbone. Here's the hopping schedule (for a ten gallon batch):

2.00 oz Hallertau Blanc [7.30 %] - Mash 60.0 min Hop 5 3.9 IBUs
1.50 oz Magnum [12.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 6 26.5 IBUs
2.00 oz Magnum [12.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 7 19.5 IBUs
2.00 oz Hallertau Blanc [7.30 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 7.1 IBUs
2.00 oz Mandarina Bavaria [7.20 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 10 7.0 IBUs
2.00 oz Huell Melon [5.20 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 11 2.8 IBUs
2.00 oz Mandarina Bavaria [7.20 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 12 3.8 IBUs
4.00 oz Hallertau Blanc [7.30 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 14 0.0 IBUs
4.00 oz Huell Melon [5.20 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 15 0.0 IBUs
4.00 oz Mandarina Bavaria [7.20 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 16 0.0 IBUs

Here's the rest of the recipe and details:
American IPA
Name: At Least the Trains Run on Time
Type: All Grain Date: 8/29/2015
Batch Size (fermenter): 12.00 gal
Brewers: Jim, Hugh
Boil Time: 60 min
Equipment: Pot and Cooler ( 5 Gal/19 L) - All Grain

Ingredients

22 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 67.7 %
8 lbs Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 24.6 %
2 lbs Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 6.2 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4 1.5 %
2.00 oz Hallertau Blanc [7.30 %] - Mash 60.0 min Hop 5 3.9 IBUs
1.50 oz Magnum [12.00 %] - First Wort 60.0 min Hop 6 26.5 IBUs
2.00 oz Magnum [12.00 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 7 19.5 IBUs
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 8 -
2.00 oz Hallertau Blanc [7.30 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 7.1 IBUs
2.00 oz Mandarina Bavaria [7.20 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 10 7.0 IBUs
2.00 oz Huell Melon [5.20 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 11 2.8 IBUs
2.00 oz Mandarina Bavaria [7.20 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 12 3.8 IBUs
2.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 13 -
1.00 oz Hallertau Blanc [7.30 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 14 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Huell Melon [5.20 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 15 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Mandarina Bavaria [7.20 %] - Dry Hop 0.0 Days Hop 16 0.0 IBUs

Beer Profile

Measured Original Gravity: 1.067 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 7.5 %
Bitterness: 70.6 IBUs
Est Color: 8.4 SRM

Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge Total Grain Weight: 32 lbs 8.0 oz
Sparge Water: 7.79 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F Tun Temperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.20

Mash Steps
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 40.63 qt of water at 161.3 F 149.0 F 75 min

Sparge Step: Batch sparge with 3 steps (Drain mash tun, , 3.90gal, 3.90gal) of 168.0 F water
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).

Fermented at 65F.

 

[m00ps]

yeah huell melon and hallertau blanc are really interesting to use in IPAs. Issue is that huell melon isnt too assertive so you need to account for it. My favorite IPA ive made to date was with Huell Melon, Belma, Hallertau blanc, and Citra

 

[hawaiibrewer]

There's a couple varieties I've never heard of that just popped up on Yakima Valley Hops in the Domestic Leaf section... J-Lime, Chelan, Otto Supreme.. All new to me at least. Interesting..

I took a chance with the J-lime experimental hops from Yakima and just brewed a pale ale with them. I was worried when I opened the bag and didn't get any citrus aroma. 2oz at 30 min and dry hopped with them(2oz in 5 gal) and couldn't get any lime or citrus aroma or flavor. The remaining 6 oz I have will be used for bittering in my next brew as they fall short of the citrus notes I was looking for....