Single IPA hop you can't live without

[Cavpilot2000]

For NEIPA: Azacca (I once would have said Galaxy, but have come to prefer Azacca)

Other IPA: Columbus

 

[fourfarthing]

Centennial. Hands down great hop that you can use as the only hop in a great IPA

 

[wyowolf]

Since the only real IPA or PA I brew now is the Row 2 Hill 56 clone I will say Simcoe

 

[ajr628]

It's chinook for me. Works great for bitterness and imparts a great citrus flavor.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

I've only been brewing for 9months and I've spent most of that time experimenting with different hops. So far, the one that's really stood out for me is Eldorado, but not to the point where I can't live without it. I put it into a single hopped PA that was tasty, and it shined through the last NEIPA I did and, IMO, made it the best I've brewed.

My IPAs are still evolving, but I'm zeroing in on a process that yields the flavor/aroma/bitter profile I'm looking for. In the process, I've used all the usual suspects: Citra, Nelson Sauvin, Galaxy, Mosaic, Amarillo, Eldorado, CTZ, Azacca, etc.

I can't give you one I couldn't live without. I can tell you I don't want to be tied to just one.

 

[snowtiger1987]

Mosaic
Centennial

 

[GHBWNY]

Centennial

 

[stickyfinger]

Goldings.

We are talking about pale ales for India, right?

good god, magnum, and now goldings!

 

[stickyfinger]

If I had to pick just one, Columbus. It works great for bittering, flavor, and aroma. Perfect for a single hop IPA.

yeah, gotta like CTZ for sure

 

[stickyfinger]

For NEIPA: Azacca (I once would have said Galaxy, but have come to prefer Azacca)

Other IPA: Columbus

interesting. i just got a lb of it. maybe i'll try a single hop with it.

 

[stickyfinger]

I've only been brewing for 9months and I've spent most of that time experimenting with different hops. So far, the one that's really stood out for me is Eldorado, but not to the point where I can't live without it. I put it into a single hopped PA that was tasty, and it shined through the last NEIPA I did and, IMO, made it the best I've brewed.

My IPAs are still evolving, but I'm zeroing in on a process that yields the flavor/aroma/bitter profile I'm looking for. In the process, I've used all the usual suspects: Citra, Nelson Sauvin, Galaxy, Mosaic, Amarillo, Eldorado, CTZ, Azacca, etc.

I can't give you one I couldn't live without. I can tell you I don't want to be tied to just one.

how does the el dorado come across? fruity?

 

[stickyfinger]

It's chinook for me. Works great for bitterness and imparts a great citrus flavor.

every time i taste chinook in friends' ipas it comes across as kind of herbal to me mostly. it's pleasant and sharp, but doesn't seem mind blowing. i should do a chinook one to test it for myself though.

 

[stickyfinger]

lots of votes for centennial. i did a crazy beer where i tried doing like 3 oz/gal of centennial in the dry hop, and it was very weird. it had a kind of harsh, woody character. i know it was overdone. i should have backed off on the dry hops. should try a two hearted clone, as it was once one of my favorite beers, back before the ipa explosion!

 

[fourfarthing]

interesting. i just got a lb of it. maybe i'll try a single hop with it.

I love Azzaca with some wheat in the grain bill. The sweetness of the wheat plays really nice with that hop.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

good god, magnum, and now goldings!

There was a time when all IPAs were Goldings and friends. The heresy began in the 1870s when they started using Fuggles...

But seriously, how many Goldings IPAs have you actually had?

 

[SHAIV]

Simcoe is an interesting one. I used to love it so much. Now that we have all of these super strong hop varieties, Simcoe seems kind of mild to me. I used to get a lot more resinous and tangerine, and now I don't get as much of that. Maybe it depends on the crop you get.

Ive heard john kimmick say that hops can change from year to year but that the profile can come back in subsequent years. He often says something like “i love the summit crop this year”

I do love simcoe but i dont really know the flavors of all the new hops yet. I have some mosaic but havent used it yet. I think i just love all hops in general! So my answer all of them! Haha im a cheater like that

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Hops are an agricultural crop, and they do vary - particularly in places like the UK, where there's no irrigation and very variable summers. We had great weather early this year so the bines grew really well and there's a bumper harvest - but August was very cloudy and so you didn't get some of the citrus flavours developing, the Fuggles are really earthy this year.

Another factor with some of the new hops is that it takes a year or two for farmers to get to grips with them, I've seen a number of cases where hops during the "acreage-expansion" phase aren't as good as in trials or once they enter the mainstream, because eg farmers were harvesting them too soon.

 

[cubalz]

Cascade. It just goes so good with pale ales. I use that hop extensively.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

how does the el dorado come across? fruity?

Yep, I get a lot of juicy fruitiness from el dorado.

 

[benco]

I like centennial and citra. I once brewed a ipa with nothing but el dorado and it tasted just like wrigleys juicy fruit gum.

 

[filthyastronaut]

My favorite IPA hop has become Idaho 7, but I just bottled a pale ale with all Cascade and it blew me away with its character by itself at the rate of 4 oz. in 2.5 gallons. I think I'll keep using it as a single hop more and more.

 

[aprichman]

Mosaic is one of the few hops that can stand by itself.

 

[RonPopeil]

IPA or not is have to say Magnum. Nothing else provides such smooth bittering. With IPAd you're always changing your aroma hops so there's no sense in holding on to one. Controlling bitterness is much more important.

 

[Genuine]

I gotta say chinook. A smash of that is super dank and drinkable

 

[SHAIV]

I think chinook is one of my favorites too

 

[Queequeg]

Probably mosaic

 

[cgreene]

GALAXY!!!! Hands down favorite!

 

[stickyfinger]

GALAXY!!!! Hands down favorite!

i’ve never loved Galaxy, but I tried 1 oz/G dryhop in an IPA with other hopstand hops, and it was very nice. Maybe I’ll try a 100% Galaxy IPA.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]Maybe I’ll try a 100% Galaxy IPA.

I've had a single-hop Galaxy pale on tap for the last month and would recommend giving it a try. I'd rank it high up in the pantheon of citrusy hops that can totally stand on their own...

Cheers!

 

[TheAleRunner]

For me, it's Citra.

Mind you, I love Galaxy, Mosaic, Nelson Sauvin, Simcoe, etc. But I can't live without Citra.