I know these have been discussed in past but it’s been awhile and not much at all. I just picked a pound up from the Hops Shack. The owner told described the flavor as “candy.” The profile I read says watermelon candy. For those of you who have tried these, is thus accurate? What would you pair them with. Here’s a list of what j got on hand…
The C hops, Simcoe, Amarillo, mosaic, Nelson, citra, galaxy, and meridian
Why not do a smash with it to see what it tastes like yourself? After all, who can judge what you like better than you;)
Jeff
I’ve used it and got stonefruit, pear and watermelon - so it’s definitely a fruity hop. I liked it but I don’t want a fruit bomb beer (so no Calypso/Mosaic/Citra/El Dorado blend IPAs in my future !). So here’s what I like to do with fruity/sweet hops - blend no more than one at a time with the usual Amarillo/Centennial/Simcoe/Columbus type blend. You’ll get a nice hint of fruitiness, but it won’t beat you over the head.
I would but I don’t have time. I’m on a pretty strict brewing schedule through May. Got wedding beers to be brewed and Fourth of July beers to be brewed too during that time. I would like to consider using these in the Fourth if July IPA.
I made a single hop el Dorado fresh hop a couple years back, it was a good beer but the hop really seems like a supporting hop and not a primary.
couldn’t have said it better myself!
fmader, I’m trying to find places to use el Dorado to get rid of the # I bought last year. Its not something I care for - it really does taste and smell like watermelon jolly ranchers. my local has a hop contract for El Dorado so they use them a lot, unfortunately, and just made a single hop IIPA with them - yech! but different strokes for different folks - maybe that’s your bag.
I get something like watermelon/honeydew meets SweeTarts/Pez. It’s real monotone, and honestly didn’t do a heck of a lot for me. You could do something like an American Wheat or Watermelon Wheat. Or maybe in real low levels as an accent note in an IPA.
One thing, make sure whatever you use this in ferments out bone dry and ease up on the crystal malt. The hop already leaves a bit of a sweet, candy-like impression on its own. I don’t think you’d want to accentuate that.
+1 to limiting crystal as well. I remember the first time I used Mosaic, I felt it came out too sweet. The second time around I backed off a bit on the crystal and it was much better. Blending the sweeter hops with traditional AIPA hops, mashing lower, and holding crystal to ~ 5% is what I do now.
Last weekend I tried an all El Dorado beer from a great brewery…if anyone could do it right, they could. All I can say is that I won’t be using El Dorado anytime soon. Had a weirdly fruity character I just didn’t care for.
I love watermelon jolly ranchers but I don’t think I want watermelon jolly rancher beer. I could be wrong but I don’t think I am.
I missed a chance at the local beer shop to taste a cask IPA dry hopped with El Dorado last week. Guess maybe I dodged a bullet there.
Well then… I’m a lot less excited about these now haha
Owell, I need a change in your everyday IPA flavor… Maybe this is the ticket
I’ll take them! 
We got sent a pound to play with when they were new a couple seasons ago. Made a single-hop pale ale that went over very well. I agree with the growing consensus here - very fruity, but stone fruits more than tropical character. Maybe a little bit of strawberry, according to my notes, and some resiny “hoppy” undertones.
We (being Ska) have a beer out now that’s all El Dorado and Galaxy, and it’s selling gangbusters.
Which ska beer is that? Would like to try a commercial example with el dorado, hopefully I can get it in kc. I made a blonde with it a few weeks ago. Definitely interesting flavor a lot of honeydew Melon, but its still a little green.
Sounds like it might be good blended with some other choice hops. I like stone fruit as long as it’s balanced properly. The watermelon jolly rancher effect might be a concern, however if it’s blended with other complenentary flavors it might be work well. Dunno… :-\
An old new belgium seasonal featured El Dorado hops. I remember really liking Red Hoptober and it appears to have been dry hopped with El Dorado and Centennial. As bluesman said, I think it could be great if you use it in combination with the right hops.
I used it in an IPA with Centennial, Amarillo, and Columbus. I think it’s the way to go with a fruity hop like that. I got stone fruit and melon, but not the Jolly Rancher thing I’m hearing. But the Columbus (being so pungent) could’ve disguised some of that, so I may have picked up on that had I used the El Dorado alone or with another fruity hop. Not looking for Jolly Rancher beer. ???
I remember really liking Red Hoptober… Didn’t realize it was hopped with El Dorado
It’s been released before as Insubstantial IPA, which didn’t sell very well due to the name. The current release is a one-off for the Durango Film Festival called Hello Dave. It isn’t being distributed out of town, but the response has been so good that it’s going to be a year-round beer once the new canning line is in.