What hops you you use/keep on hand the most?

[Flushot22]

My "always on hand" list is
Citra
Cascade
Simcoe
Saaz or Hal.Mit.
Warrior or Magnum

After that, I generally order as needed for future recipes.

hbu?

 

[MaxStout]

Bittering: Magnum for neutral, Centennial for American styles

For flavor/aroma: I just buy what I need for a specific brew.

 

[shoengine]

Centennial and EKG. Everything else is specific to a brew or something I got for free.

 

[Broothru]

I've got more hops than I'll ever likely use, all safely tucked away in flushed and/or vacuum sealed foil containers in my freezer. But the varietals that are always fresh and on hand are Hallertau Mittelfruh and Citra. Other 'frequently used' are Magnum, Nugget, Cascade, Centennial, CTZ and Simcoe. The rest of the 50 or so "on hand" run the gamut from one-offs to reliably familiar to occasional. Also have a few hop oils, cryo, hop hash and hop shots. If I weren't such a sucker for 'shiny new objects", I'd be a millionaire with a lot more freezer space.

 

[mac_1103]

I've got more hops than I'll ever likely use, all safely tucked away in flushed and/or vacuum sealed foil containers in my freezer.

Same here. Hard to say what I use the most; depends on what I'm brewing. Probably Citra and Mosaic this year. More noble hops last year.

 

[Flushot22]

Same here. Hard to say what I use the most; depends on what I'm brewing. Probably Citra and Mosaic this year. More noble hops last year

Mosaic should probably be on my list too, but I don't always have it on hand because I use it too much. Which is probably why it should most definitely be on my list.

 

[worlddivides]

Centennial and Fuggle are ones I always have no matter what. Others I almost always have are: Citra, Mosaic, and EKG. I used to always have Hallertau Mittelfruh on hand, but I don't make sours anymore (with the exception of using Philly Sour) and haven't made an authentic German-style beer in years, so it's been downgraded to something I only get when I need it.

 

[micraftbeer]

Not exactly answering your question, but like others have said, my preference tends to shift over time.

I learned that buying hops by the pound is dumb for me. This year's favorite gets eclipsed by next year's favorite, and next thing you know I have over half a pound of something that's 3+ years old. The only thing I'll buy by the pound are hops that I use 6-8 oz of in an IPA.

So for me that works out to be Citra and Galaxy. Then I always have Hallertau Mittelfreuh and Magnum as my bittering standards.

 

[day_trippr]

Interesting. Have you been enjoying Galaxy lately?
I'd given up on it for 2022 and 2023 because of the dreaded "pencil shavings" character on top of the polyphenols, and haven't tried the 2024 crop yet...

Cheers!

 

[fluketamer]

hallertau and saaz for most of my lagers,

magnum and chinook for bittering my ales.

some perle and or tettnang for when i make kolschs

and citra and zamba for aroma/flavor.

i used to use a lot of mosaic but use less now

if i make a stout or porter its only once a year around the fall for the winter. then i will by ekg or something.

 

[Kickass]

Noble hops
Chinook or Columbus
Magnum or warrior
Mosaic

 

[worlddivides]

Interesting. Have you been enjoying Galaxy lately?
I'd given up on it for 2022 and 2023 because of the dreaded "pencil shavings" character on top of the polyphenols, and haven't tried the 2024 crop yet...

Cheers!

About two brews back I brewed a beer heavily dry hopped with Galaxy and although it tasted different from previous batches I'd brewed with Galaxy, I really enjoyed it. I will say, though, that Galaxy is one of the hops that has ranged from being one of my favorites to being just "okay," so it definitely at least feels like there's more variety from harvest to harvest in comparison to other hops. When I like it most, it has vibrant characteristics of passionfruit, guava, peach, and orange. When it's just "okay," I almost don't even taste the tropical character.

 

[Halfakneecap]

Ive still got hops from probably 5 years ago when i bought a kg of Chinook and Cascade. I vac sealed them in 100g lots and i think they're still fine to brew with. Drinking a 10 minute amber ale now with Chinook, loving it.

Also, i always have a high AA clean bittering hop like Green Bullet or Magnum

Then, i just buy 25g vac sealed bags of flavour hops for specific batches.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

East Kent Golding
Fuggles
Challenger
Saaz
Citra
Mosaic
Chinook

 

[micraftbeer]

Interesting. Have you been enjoying Galaxy lately?
I'd given up on it for 2022 and 2023 because of the dreaded "pencil shavings" character on top of the polyphenols, and haven't tried the 2024 crop yet...

Cheers!

Last beer I used it in looks like 2023 crop (I buy most of my hops from YVH). That IPA was a menagerie of different hops, 17 oz total with 2023 Galaxy being 1 oz at at 0 min, and 2 oz out of total 5 oz in dry hops.

That beer was fantastic as usual (literally my favorite beer). I didn't have any weird flavors.

 

[Miraculix]

My "always on hand" list is
Citra
Cascade
Simcoe
Saaz or Hal.Mit.
Warrior or Magnum

After that, I generally order as needed for future recipes.

hbu?

Exactly the same except no citra but Goldings.

Actually ... I should buy some citra.


Oh, and I usually have some Chinook flying around.

 

[Willy]

Well that's easy. For the most part I brew about 15 or less styles in a year. I have my "go to" styles and 75+% of the time I am making a 1) Czech pilsner 2) English Nut Brown, 3) Blonde ale or IPA 4) American Brown or a porter 5) Irish Red Ale 6) Stout - most common a dry Irish Stout.

So ... On hand. Always. I have Saaz, Fuggles and Kent Goldings. Centennial, Willamette and cascade. Galaxy and Glacier and Mosaic. Magnum and mittlefrau .

I always have those 11 hops on hand and add others in small amounts or in a small single hop/single malt batch to experiment to see how I like it.

 

[kevin58]

The answer to this question depends on what styles you make most. I make a lot of English porters, stouts, bitters and mild so I keep a lot of EKG and Fuggle with some US hops for bittering.

 

[AzOr]

East Kent Golding
Fuggles
Challenger
Saaz
Citra
Mosaic
Chinook

Perfect list. This would cover 95% of my beers.
The old guy in me would also add cascade.

 

[Broken Crow]

Fuggles and EKG's are the only ones I buy by the pound, but I do usually have others around, each in sealed ounce-size packs and chosen for whatever I was thinking about brewing next. My staple beers are English style mild, bitters and stout...everything else is a one-off or occasional brew. I should note that unlike many, I light a cigarette in my driveway and butt it out near the front door of my LHBS so I have the luxury of everything being available fresh and nearby. That will skew the responses you have on here as from what I can guess from reading is that most on here don't have that option.

 

[Agent]

My only must-have hop is Columbus.
After that, I'll sub out willy-nilly for whatever I got on sale. I'll keep general types like C-hops, something noble, English, and fruity.

 

[sibelman]

Cascade, Centennial, Mosaic.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Perfect list. This would cover 95% of my beers.
The old guy in me would also add cascade.

Agreed.

 

[AlexKay]

Magnum
Saaz
Sybilla
Lubelski
First Gold
Boadicea
Phoenix
Crystal
Northern Brewer (US, not GR)
Lotus
Strata
Nectaron
HBC 1019

I also have a freezer so full of hops it’s sometimes hard to get the lid to close.

 

[Flushot22]

The answer to this question depends on what styles you make most.

Exactly. I'm enjoying seeing what other brewers use and styles they use them for to motivate me to learn more about them and try them out myself.

 

[AlexKay]

Magnum
Saaz
Sybilla
Lubelski
First Gold
Boadicea
Phoenix
Crystal
Northern Brewer (US, not GR)
Lotus
Strata
Nectaron
HBC 1019

I also have a freezer so full of hops it’s sometimes hard to get the lid to close.

Magnum: bittering, for nearly everything
Saaz, Sybilla, Lubelski: I love high-farnesene hops, for any German or Czech or Polish style, and for most of the styles those immigrants came up with the the US
First Gold, Boadicea: spicy/earthy English hops, but also good in Belgians, and even American lagers. With First Gold’s marmalade notes, it actually plays really well in an APA as well.
Phoenix: just a wonderful dark-beer hop. Has chocolate notes. Isn’t the world a wonderful place?
Crystal, Northern Brewer: herbal and floral and pine, for American styles. Perfect together in steam beer.
Lotus, Strata, Nectaron, HBC 1019: favorite orange/catnip/apricot/overripe mango IPA hops, though Lotus brings so much orange it’s good in low doses in lots of things.

 

[Brewer dad]

Fuggle, ekg, saaz are my mains. Which reflects my habit of brewing lagers, saison, and English ales. Also some of the farmhouse ales I learned from Lars Garshol and Mika Laitinen use these hops. I’m a fan of versatility.

I am going to try some different noble hops to possibly add to the inventory for my pale lagers and saisons though this year, but I doubt I’ll stock them in huge quantity.

 

[Closet Fermenter]

Centennial and EKG. Everything else is specific to a brew or something I got for free.

Ditto, except the reverse. I have to keep my Irish Dry Stout on hand, so I have to have the EKG. My secondary beer is a Centennial Blonde Ale. As you say, everything else is specific to another brew.

 

[wepeeler]

Citra
Tettnang
Mittelfruh

 

[day_trippr]

4 of every 6 brews I've done in the last few years have been hazies so my hop inventory is fairly juice-heavy these days.

Azacca
Brewer's Gold
Cascade
Chinook
Citra
Cluster
CTZ
EKG
El Dorado
Fuggle
Galena
Hallertauer Mittelfrueh
Idaho 7
Magnum
Mosaic
Nugget
Simcoe
Strata

Also have a pound each of Rakau and Wakatu I need to try out soon!

Cheers!

 

[Tony B]

I’ve been brewing about a year now, so it’s cool to see what more experienced brewers are keeping on hand as I am trying to figure that out for myself.

 

[Shenanigans]

I buy bulk 1KG packs of Centennial, Citra and Mosaic as they are the ones I use most.
This is closely followed by Columbus, Simcoe, Goldings and Fuggles.
I have about 30 other varities in 100 to 250 gram packs to be flexible and be able to brew some clone recipies.
This would include Cascade, Chinook, Amarillo, Nelson and the continental nobel hops.
Depending on which ones are getting old I plan in a few recipies each year to use them up.
I normally also brew a yearly highly hopped American Barley wine to use up any older or leftover hops.
Depending on the alpha acid strength of what I use, this is usally about 400g of hops with 200 IBUs (calculated) and an OG of 1.100.
Tastes horrible for about 2 months but then usually mellows out and takes quite good from there on in.

 

[An Ankoù]

Fuggles
EKGs
Challenger
Aramis
Nectaron
Mosaic

And as gotos for bittering:
Magnum
Pacific Jade and/or Green Bullet

I tend to keep Centennial in, too. I like Centennial and don't use it enough.

 

[crazyjake19]

Czech Saaz is easily #1
Hallertau Mittelfruh for my hefweizen and German lagers
Amarillo for my amber ale
Mosaic for NEIPAs

I also have a bag of German Northern Brewer hops in the freezer that I've been working on since 2020 (it was 5lb for $9), so that might as well be #5.

 

[An Ankoù]

Czech Saaz is easily #1
Hallertau Mittelfruh for my hefweizen and German lagers
Amarillo for my amber ale
Mosaic for NEIPAs

I also have a bag of German Northern Brewer hops in the freezer that I've been working on since 2020 (it was 5lb for $9), so that might as well be #5.

Nice one.
Spent the weekend either racking or bottling the last of the ales and hybrids with Novalager yeast (first time I've used it). As soon as the winterfest is over it'll be time to get the lagers on, especially as the temperature in the brewery has fallen to 13C. So I'll be looking for those noble hops myself pretty soon. I like mosaic, too, in a good crisp lager, but it doesn't taste very German or Czech, I have to say.

 

[Shenanigans]

I like mosaic, too, in a good crisp lager, but it doesn't taste very German or Czech, I have to say.

I don't taste it but apparently that's what Guinness use for their Hop House 13 lager

 

[An Ankoù]

I don't taste it but apparently that's what Guinness use for their Hop House 13 lager

That's interesting. Can't find that one in France, but I had one in the UK, many years ago, and it's left no lasting memories.

 

[AlexKay]

Apparently my answer to “which hops do I keep on hand?” is “too ****ing many.”

I just went through my hop freezer, threw out old hops, and organized the rest alphabetically into mesh storage bags. Separate bags for open and still-sealed hops. Some letters (C, H, and S) required their own bags, while others (K-M) shared.

I also made an Excel inventory.

In total, I have 30 pounds of hops.

I suppose this is a bit of a humblebrag, but also a “sheesh, what have I done?” post.

“Brew your own beer,” they said. “Think of all the money you’ll save.”

 

[An Ankoù]

I know exactly what you're saying. If I see a hop I haven't tried, I get a packet. If there's weight capacity on an order I'm placing, I'll top up my hop inventory. It's an illness!! Got to get a grip.

 

[mac_1103]

I just went through my hop freezer, threw out old hops, and organized the rest alphabetically into mesh storage bags. Separate bags for open and still-sealed hops. Some letters (C, H, and S) required their own bags, while others (K-M) shared.

I also made an Excel inventory.

In total, I have 30 pounds of hops.

I suppose this is a bit of a humblebrag, but also a “sheesh, what have I done?” post.

Alternative definition of hop creep.