Hops - what's the best way to be able to identify them?

[cinderbike]

Much like with wine tasting, I've noticed a lot of people can identify a hop variety through smell and taste. Other than spending a ton of money on hops and sniffing them all day, does anyone have some suggestions?

 

[lumpher]

nothing but experience. you can recognize and characterize flavors - earthy, citrusy, grapefruity, spicy - but that only gives you an idea of what kind of hops can be used and be close. exact hops is almost always a guessing game

 

[RCCOLA]

Much like with wine tasting, I've noticed a lot of people can identify a hop variety through smell and taste. Other than spending a ton of money on hops and sniffing them all day, does anyone have some suggestions?

A pretty good way is to try commercial beers that feature certain hops. Check the brewer's website and the hops are usually listed.

Ex: If you've drank Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, then you have a pretty good idea what cascades taste/smell like.

Stone Ruination= centennial

Oscar Blues Gubna= onion..er..I mean Summit.

Avery's The Majaharja= Simcoe
ad infinitum...

 

[SumnerH]

nothing but experience. you can recognize and characterize flavors - earthy, citrusy, grapefruity, spicy - but that only gives you an idea of what kind of hops can be used and be close. exact hops is almost always a guessing game

You can get pretty good at picking out flavor/aroma hops, though, especially with the more distinctive types and especially in beers that only have 2-3 types as finishers. Identifying bittering hops is a lot trickier, and in a muddier hoppy beer like Hop 15 it's very tough.

3 things:
1. Pick up commercial beers that have one or two distinctive hops that you know of (Sierra Nevada Pale Ale - Cascade; Gumbalhead - Amarillo; Shipyard IPA - Fuggles; Weyerbacher double Simcoe - Simcoe; Brooklyn Sorachi Ace - Sorachi Ace; Anchor Steam - Northern Brewer; Bell's Two-Hearted Ale - Centennial; Pilsner Urquell -- Saaz; etc). Pay attention to how they differ.
2. In any beer you try, try to taste the hops, then look at the label and visit the brewer's web site to see what hops are listed.
3. Brew a few SMASH or other single-hop beers of your own and pay attention to the differences.

It seems tough now, but it's not all that hard to pick highlights with some experience. 18 months ago I would've thought it was impossible. Now I'll regularly say at a tasting that, say, this beer has Amarillo and Simcoe or that one has Centennial; that's almost always right, though there was often some Magnum or Columbus or something else in there as a bittering hop.

 

[joetothemo]

Citra: Widmer Drifter and SN Torpedo

 

[dwarven_stout]

Citra: Widmer Drifter

No. Drifter is Nelson Sauvin and Summit.

 

[PolishStout]

I would think there's a website somewhere breaking down the different varieties of hops and their flavor profiles.

let me do some quick searching and see what I can find

edit: BOOM! tough actin Tinactin!

note: that is not an ad for Tinactin, that is a link to a list of hop varieties and their flavors

 

[joetothemo]

No. Drifter is Nelson Sauvin and Summit.

You're right! Sorry. No idea why I typed "Drifter" when I was thinking "Sunburn"

 

[terrapinj]

Citra: Widmer Drifter and SN Torpedo

torpedo also uses magnum and crystal