Woodfordes Werry Beer - what hops?

[JimmyP]

Hello all.

I'm making my third ever brew either today or tomorrow and was hoping for some good suggestions on what hops to use and in what amounts and at what stages.

I will be using the Woodfordes Werry Beer kit

I have the following:

Citra Pellets 100g
Cascade Pellets 100g
Centennial Pellets 100g
WGV Pellets 113g

I know it's all personal preference but I was just hoping for some ideas, I don't want too much bitterness but I want a nice aroma. I want the beer to be quite sessionable too.

Thanks in advance,
Jimmy P

 

[pacman]

Jimmy, is this Woodforde's Wherry Ale from UK?

This is a pre hopped kit, and very nice too. The fermentables consist of two tins of hopped extract. No dextrose, sugars, etc. Just add water, then yeast, and away you go. One of the very best kits, IMO, and I am finishing a bottle right now.

I have done this kit 4 or 5 times, and have been pondering whether or not to add hops. If I do decide to go that way, it will be either Fuggles or East Kent Goldings, or perhaps a combination of both, simply to remain to style.

 

[JimmyP]

Yes it's from the UK.
I was thinking of adding just a little extra dextrose to the kit so that I hit just above 5% rather than 4.5%.

How hoppy is the kit to begin with, does it have much aroma as that's what I want to achieve a nice hoppy aroma.

Cheers.

 

[JimmyP]

Oh and I don't have Fuggles or East Kent Goldings right now, I have a Fuggles hop plant but it has no fruit yet

 

[JimmyP]

I think maybe I'll use the kit and add an extra 200g of dextrose and do quite a big dry hop of Centennial/Citra.

 

[pacman]

Hop aroma is there, but not pronounced, so you could try dry hopping. What is the WGM that you have? Is it a Williamette clone? Williamette is, I'm pretty sure, a derivative of Fuggles.

 

[JimmyP]

Whitebread Golding Variety (WGV)

Pedigree: Selected as a seedling in 1911 from a little-known variety called Bate's Brewers, it was eventually named after the brewery that owned the farm. The original variety was selected in 1880 by John Bates of Brenchley from a hop garden in the Sevenoaks Weald district.(see 'English Hops' by George Clinch (1919) page 17)
General Trade Perception: Produces a sweet, fruity flavour with a mild, clean bitterness. A more robust flavour than Kent Goldings. A good general purpose aroma variety.
Possible Substitutions: Kent Golding, Progress.
Beer Styles: Traditional ales.
Maturity: Mid-season
Yield: 1,350 - 1,450 kg./ha or 1,190 - 1,278 lb./ac.
Growth Habit: Moderate.
Disease Reaction: Tolerant to progressive Verticillium wilt and to hop mosaic virus. Susceptible to downy and powdery mildew.
Pickability: Fair.
Lupulin:
Cone Structure: Medium sized, loose.
Aroma: Distinctive and fruity

I actually have a plant of this too which I planted a couple of days ago.

 

[JimmyP]

Well I decided to go ahead and make the kit just now, ended up adding 350g dextrose and didn't boil any hops.
I'll just be doing a heavy dry hop I reckon.