HBC 342 hops

[RRR_BrewCo]

Have to revitalize this thread. I just had an ipa brewed at Mad Fox Brewery in Falls Church, Va. They used this hop exclusively and it was delicious. Grapefruit flavors but not too hash and not too much bite, quite smooth. And I'll be damned if there's not a watermelon smell to this beer! I was skeptical by the reports of watermelon, but it sure as hell was there! I'm looking forward to getting my hands on some to make up my own ipa

 

[IffyG]

i think its pretty much sold out everywhere. there is a place in Australia that will ship, but it is really expensive. there is a vendor site listed above that had it earlier in the season. i would look for it in the 2012 season though.

I just snagged some at Farmhouse Brewing. Ended up being 8 bucks for 4 ounces shipped to my door.

 

[RRR_BrewCo]

I just snagged some at Farmhouse Brewing. Ended up being 8 bucks for 4 ounces shipped to my door.

Very nice. Looks like I will be placing an order soon! The ipa I had was super light. On appearances it looked more like a kolsch. Not sure if I want to go that route or darken it up a bit

 

[DaDzBrewery]

Rebel Brewer has em on hand.. Just did an IPA with them yesterday. great aroma to them.. Can't wait to try it.. http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shoppingcart/products/HBC342-Experimental-%2d-1oz.-Pellets-Hops.html

 

[HopnessMontster]

Just got mines from Hop City in Atlanta. The description the beer gods there gave me was watermelon although that essence is hard to detect in the aroma. I'm going to use a 60 min half ounce and a 5 min half ounce in my upcoming, and most certainly epic, wheat beer. The additional ingredients are: 4 Lbs Bavarian Wheat DME, 2 Lbs Pilsen DME with steeping grains of 8 oz Soft Red Wheat/White Wheat malt, 4 oz honey malt, 8 oz carafoam, 4 oz victory and a Wyeast 1010 Amercian Wheat Ale. This will be my third brew.

 

[joeboy23]

Have to revitalize this thread. I just had an ipa brewed at Mad Fox Brewery in Falls Church, Va. They used this hop exclusively and it was delicious. Grapefruit flavors but not too hash and not too much bite, quite smooth. And I'll be damned if there's not a watermelon smell to this beer! I was skeptical by the reports of watermelon, but it sure as hell was there! I'm looking forward to getting my hands on some to make up my own ipa

ain't that some crap. they open a brewery after i move away. i grew up a few blocks from that place. how is it?

 

[Rocky71]

I'm finally brewing my HopNog kit with these hops. I'm going to add an ounce at 10 minutes before flame out and then dry hop the rest for two weeks and then age it in a 5 gallon whiskey barrel for a month or so. I'm keeping the whiskey barrel wet with some gin as the whiskey gin combo is a flavor I'm aiming for. I won't know for a long time how good it is.

 

[brewski09]

Maybe some extra juniper berries in the barrel with the gin? Sounds interesting. I would try it if I had some good gin.

 

[jebsterr]

Next year, look for a hop called MOSAIC. This is the commercial version of it, and it is being harvested now for next year production.

 

[scottland]

Mosaic is HBC 369. Completely different hop. HBC 342 doesn't have a name yet.

 

[Jazong]

Mosaic is a good name for that hop. I had Schlafly's all HBC 369 beer last week and it was like Citra, Columbus, and Sorachi Ace in that order. Tropical with a little bit of stank and lemongrass. I have 6 ounces o HBC 342 at home but no opportunity to use it yet.

 

[divrguy]

Ok,time to bring this thread back to life again. I just tasted the first taste of my SMASH with this hop. This is JUST a really early taste and it is still a little green! Been in the bottle conditioning for only one week. I can't taste any watermelon yet I also can't pin down what I CAN taste yet. It is definitely a clean taste and right now, I would say it is similar to a cleaner version of cascade with something dank in there. It's not real citrusy, not real fruity or not quite anything enough yet but it's surprisingly a refreshing hop but kind of all over the place right now. hard to describe. I can't wait to post it in another week or two and see how it matures. Stay tuned!

 

[domdom]

i just tried my single hop IPA of this after a week of bottling and it was pretty interesting. very melon-y, sort of like cantaloupe, not very citric at all. really reminds me a lot of green melon (musk melon?) candy/ice cream you can find at asian markets. clean and light tasting. not sure if it's a good single hop candidate overall, but does show a lot of promise in terms of what new experimental hops do with unique flavors. i can see it being really good in wheat beer with a little standard bittering hop at the beginning of the boil.

 

[divrguy]

Ok,time to bring this thread back to life again. I just tasted the first taste of my SMASH with this hop. This is JUST a really early taste and it is still a little green! Been in the bottle conditioning for only one week. I can't taste any watermelon yet I also can't pin down what I CAN taste yet. It is definitely a clean taste and right now, I would say it is similar to a cleaner version of cascade with something dank in there. It's not real citrusy, not real fruity or not quite anything enough yet but it's surprisingly a refreshing hop but kind of all over the place right now. hard to describe. I can't wait to post it in another week or two and see how it matures. Stay tuned!

i just tried my single hop IPA of this after a week of bottling and it was pretty interesting. very melon-y, sort of like cantaloupe, not very citric at all. really reminds me a lot of green melon (musk melon?) candy/ice cream you can find at asian markets. clean and light tasting. not sure if it's a good single hop candidate overall, but does show a lot of promise in terms of what new experimental hops do with unique flavors. i can see it being really good in wheat beer with a little standard bittering hop at the beginning of the boil.

Tasted it again this weekend. It is definitely changing but still a little tough to figure out. I get some sort of slightly sweet candy flavor. Very slight citrusy and a melon that's not easy to figure out.

I am not sure i would use this again unless I find a good combo hop to help bring out its strong points if they settle in..

 

[domdom]

tasted like one of these. if you have an asian market nearby, here's what to look for. going to let it condition another week to see if it develops a different taste, but from what i had, this is pretty spot on.

 

[divrguy]

tasted like one of these. if you have an asian market nearby, here's what to look for. going to let it condition another week to see if it develops a different taste, but from what i had, this is pretty spot on.

That's probably right where that melon taste is. The sweet candy part is there too and I'm noticing that's its a little more drinkable. I only have a few left since I did a small test batch so I may let its sit for a month to see what happens. Very odd hop to say the least

 

[IffyG]

Tasted it again this weekend. It is definitely changing but still a little tough to figure out. I get some sort of slightly sweet candy flavor. Very slight citrusy and a melon that's not easy to figure out.

I brewed up a single hop pale ale with HBC342 and it seems to change every time I pull a pint from my keg. I get melon in the aroma, but don't pick any up in the flavor. I might try and track down some of those melona thing and see if that helps me pick up the flavors.

 

[divrguy]

I brewed up a single hop pale ale with HBC342 and it seems to change every time I pull a pint from my keg. I get melon in the aroma, but don't pick any up in the flavor. I might try and track down some of those melona thing and see if that helps me pick up the flavors.

I agree... It's the oddest hop ever. It's like a new brew each time.

 

[IffyG]

Well my all HBC342 beer has finally stopped its metamorphosis and has settled into something decidedly bland. The dry hopping aroma dropped off much faster with this hop than it does with Simcoe or Cascade. Aroma is otherwise non descript. I don't pick up any more melon or citrus flavor/aroma at this point.

As a big fan of fruity hop notes, I don't think I'll be rushing back to use this one. I was really hoping for the watermelon notes to come through and this hop has let me down.

 

[divrguy]

Well my all HBC342 beer has finally stopped its metamorphosis and has settled into something decidedly bland. The dry hopping aroma dropped off much faster with this hop than it does with Simcoe or Cascade. Aroma is otherwise non descript. I don't pick up any more melon or citrus flavor/aroma at this point.

As a big fan of fruity hop notes, I don't think I'll be rushing back to use this one. I was really hoping for the watermelon notes to come through and this hop has let me down.

I have to agree. I have I think 2 more left and I'm not rushing to even drink them. This hop is just boring. Nothing I can see it will add to anything

 

[TriggerFingers]

I bought a few ounces from morebeer a while back and have yet to use them. I think these might be "Belma." Check HopsDirect and look at the "Belma" hop description which is new variety for 2012. That being said, some hops just don't make great aroma hops (a lesson learned when I used 3 oz of palisade to dry hop an IPA last year--it tasted funny and smelled like green hay. However, when I used Palisade to bitter a porter the results were amazing. Use these HBC's as bittering additions and choose something else for aroma in an IPA.

 

[divrguy]

I bought a few ounces from morebeer a while back and have yet to use them. I think these might be "Belma." Check HopsDirect and look at the "Belma" hop description which is new variety for 2012. That being said, some hops just don't make great aroma hops (a lesson learned when I used 3 oz of palisade to dry hop an IPA last year--it tasted funny and smelled like green hay. However, when I used Palisade to bitter a porter the results were amazing. Use these HBC's as bittering additions and choose something else for aroma in an IPA.

Yup, I agree. I'm going to use the rest bittering and see how it is.

 

[Ply318ci]

I made a black IIPA with these and Apollo as flavor and aroma (from 20 min to flame out every 5 min) and magnum as bittering at 60 min and i get a strong melon flavor. It is actually to strong for me. I am going to give it time to age out a little. It is a 10% ABV beer so I will probably treat it like a weird barley wine and just let it age. Who knows.

 

[rodwha]

I have 3 oz of this sitting in my freezer. I intended on making an IPA (single hop) with it. I'm a little hesitant now.

The consensus here is not to use it for an aromatic addition?

 

[IffyG]

The consensus here is not to use it for an aromatic addition?

I wouldn't use it as the only aroma hop, that's for sure.

 

[rodwha]

Those of you that have used this hop:
What would you use it with? How would you set up your hopping schedule?
I'm kind of a hop hoarder. I have a small collection of various hops in 1 and 2 oz bags.
Amarillo, Bravo, Cascade, Centennial, Cluster, Columbus, Liberty, Mt Hood, Perle, Simcoe, and Willamette, as well as the SBC 342. Next month I'll be ordering a few others not listed.

 

[DisturbdChemist]

I'm brewing with it this weekend. I'm using it as a bittering, aroma, and dry hop with other hops thrown in the mix. It wont be a star of the show but interested on how it will turn out.

 

[rodwha]

Mind sharing what you've got going on? And then posting back with your findings?

 

[rodwha]

Many of the flavors used to describe it have put me off. I want to give it a fair try, but it seems the best thing to do with it is use it for bittering.

 

[Dogphish]

So, is "El Dorado" the name that was chosen for HBC 342 ?

I think that the bartender told me this while i was at the Ballast Point brewery drinking a cask of El Dorado dry hopped Sculpin.