hops for a cherry blossom blonde?

[ebbelwoi]

I'm trying to come up with a cherry blossom-themed blonde ale: mostly pilsner malt, 5% ABV, 25 IBUs... something light and clean. The yeast is a generic saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The twist is that it has to have a cherry blossom theme, so hop selection is important. I could go either cherry (fruity) or blossom (floral) or both. It doesn't actually need to taste or smell like cherries or flowers. It just needs to give off a "OK, cherry blossom, I could see that" vibe.

Here's what I've got on hand:
Amarillo
EKG
Hallertauer MF
Hallertauer Tradition
Hersbrucker
Magnum
Mandarina Bavaria
Merkur
Mosaic
Motueka
Northern Brewer
Perle
Saaz
Strisselspalt
Tettnanger

and here's what's available to me:
Calypso
Cascade
Centennial
Chinook
Citra
Cluster
CTZ
Falconer's Flight
Fuggles
Nugget
Simcoe
Sorachi
Sterling
Willamette

I could either do boil additions for bittering, flavor and aroma, or go the FWH plus hopstand route.

Any suggestions?

 

[pondjt]

I suggest using the saaz at 60 minutes. That will provide some bitterness to balance the sweetness without being overwhelming or adding aroma to clash with the fruit.

That being said, I’m interested to see what other folks have to say.

 

[ebbelwoi]

I suggest using the saaz at 60 minutes. That will provide some bitterness to balance the sweetness without being overwhelming or adding aroma to clash with the fruit.

That being said, I’m interested to see what other folks have to say.

Thanks for the input, but there's no fruit in the beer.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I'd suggest Calypso + Strisselspalt with what you have.

Will people say, "wow, that's cherry blossom"? Probably not.

El Dorado or Idaho Gem would be better.
Also, WY5526 as the primary yeast.

 

[Horseflesh]

El Dorado was my first thought on reading the subject. Of what is listed, I’m not too sure.

 

[pondjt]

Thanks for the input, but there's no fruit in the beer.

Whoops. Totally misunderstood. Sorry about that.