Australian Enigma hops - anyone used them?

Has anyone out there used Australian Enigma hops? And if so, what were your impressions and how/when did you utilize them in your brew process. I’m possibly interested in giving them a try but feel a bit tentative given that they’re listed as having around 14-18% AA content - I’d love to sample their flavor/aroma but am not a huge fan of huge bitterness so might think about dry hop and/or steeping post boil after the wort cools some to limit AA extraction. Mainly want to know here what others have noted in terms of their flavor and aroma - the descriptors I’ve found emphasize pinot gris wine, raspberry, and currant.

they’re stated to be aroma/flavor hops so you would want to use them late in the boil. My exp with aus/NZ hops are they are excellent. you really can’t go wrong with them. Go for it!

Sorry, Enigma is a mystery to me.
:stuck_out_tongue:

It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery…

Yes, I’m definitely pondering them.  :smiley:

No shortage of jokesters here on the forum (I include myself in this lot), but maybe not someone who’s familiar with Enigma hops, all joking aside.

All the writeups claim “red berry/red fruit” as a descriptor, but all I got was citrus and pine when I’ve used them. They remind me a bit of Simcoe. They were good, but nothing out of the ordinary to me.

Thanks erochrph - this is very helpful. Sounds like they may not be quite what I was hoping for. The descriptors I came across of currant/raspberry/pinot gris sounded tasty but I’m for sure not a fan of piney in my beers.

keep in mind everyone tastes differently. So just because he gets pine doesn’t mean you will. I’m thinking back to summit hops. I always got onion/beef broth. seems everyone else got tangerine. The flavor is also going to depend on when you add them. I would guess the pine came from boiling longer but you never know. If I were you, I would still try them. why pass up an opportunity to try a new hop based off someone else’s feedback?

EHall -  very true! Sensitivities differ when it comes to taste/smell. A friend bought a bunch and reserved some for me so I do want to try them out. My plan is to add them late steep to get aroma/flavor without extracting much bitterness and this may reduce the chances of piney character if in fact boiling was a factor there. Hey, if I absolutely can’t stand the resulting beer my son will benefit - he’s a fan of piney. Most likely though I’ll get something I can enjoy.

Has anyone else out there used Enigma hops or had a beer made with them?

Although that’s probably not a good example of tasting differently, it’s an example of variability between growers/vintages/batches. Summit are notorious for going oniony if they’re not picked at just the right time, you just got a bad batch.

well there must have been several bad batches cause I used them more than once to see if that was the issue. I also know I tried them in other breweries beers and I tasted it there too. that would have been over the period of about 2yrs. after that I just stay away from beers that I know has them in it.

Same here. I’ve had ones from commercial breweries where I got a lot of tangerine, but there was always this savory onion ring/Asiago note somewhere in there. Even if this is a harvest or terroir thing, I’m not willing to risk a batch of beer on them again.

Again, I appreciate the input from folks. I already have the Enigma hops that a friend purchased for me. Given what folks are saying here one thought I have is to wait until he brews with the ones he got and taste his beer then judge for myself whether to move forward with using them. In general I hate the thought of brewing a beer I’m not going to really enjoy, given the time that goes into brewing a beer and getting it to the keg, plus then I’ve tied up a keg. I’d rather just have the sunk cost of hops I’m not going to use, which is not really a big investment, than use them just because I’ve got them. I feel no obligation to utilize something just because it’s laying around. We’ll see…

I had a smash beer made with them from a brewery. I think raspberry and a sharp cattiness were the most predominant flavors.

Thanks for the info. Raspberry sounds tasty, cattiness definitely not so much! I’m feeling hesitant about using them. Will let my friend with the Enigma hops lead the way on this and judge from his beer. Hoping he’ll do them as a single hop so we can get a clear impression of them for ourselves, but the feedback here is putting me off the idea of using them myself.