ok, so you’ve got your piney, catty and citrus craziness going on. What are some of your favorite unexpected hop aromas/flavors?
I’ll kick off with 3 for me:
Simcoe - always get sandalwood in the aroma from these
Citra - mangoes, lychee and pineapple - oh my
Cluster - blackberry - just wish they tasted better!
OK, I’ll bite…There’s that PNW hop flavor and aroma I just can’t put my finger on from various breweries but they are quite similar to Red Tail Ale, I Love it but, just can’t seem to recreate it. I’m guessing Willamette and something else…any ideas? maybe domestic Tettnang?
Columbus - damp basement combined with powerful pine/citrus
Citra - Passionfruit
but I wouldn’t say favorite - I’m not a fan of that hop.
Great responses but, It’s almost got a rubbery type aroma to it…I mean in a good way. I’m thinking it’s got to be domestic Tettnang…it’s sooo different from the German varietal. Now it’s bugging me ???
Nice description!
I was going to say ‘earthy’ but yours is much more desciptive.
Last columbus I used was BIG grapefruit.
Nelson sauvin - chardonnay grapes/wine. Don’t think it’s a favorite, but definately odd.
wild hops found along the creek - not dissimilar to licking the floor of a tire shop, finished with biting in to a tarnished penny. again, not sure about that one being a favorite.
Anything pine is good to me. Simcoe, columbus, ahtanum. Like taking a bite out of a pinecone, except not really…
Maybe one of the “C” hops…Cascade, Centennial, Cluster…
Red Tail Ale uses cascade & cluster.
http://www.mendobrew.com/brews/red_tail.html
Sorachi Ace
Provide a nice lemon citrus flavor. They go great in Saisons. Anyone else do anything with these?
Should I ask why you know what the floor of a tire shop tastes like?
Shoot… I like most if not all of them, but favs are the Cs, amarillo, simcoe, nugget, nobles. I’ve been expirimenting with some of the NZ varietes lately. NZ cascade was pleasant. I like the Pacific Gem, got some great blackberry flavor coming out of that. But the LHBS doesn’t carry alot of the NZ stuff so its been a little difficult to find them. And the sorachi ace was really good, however I don’t recommend using it with a hefe yeast, it clashed a bit the with banana… A pale or american wheat with sorachi and amarillo will be excellent!
are you saying that you’ve never let curiosity get the better of you?
I’m mesmerized and can’t stay away from the moving text thingy…woo hoo…new toy!
On topic…I think EKG and Cascades make a kick ass dry hop combo!
Drew, do you brew a lot of single hop brews or are you mostly referring to holding a handful of hops and inhaling?
Strisselspalt with a touch of Saaz, mmm nice 
Never liked that hop from the first batch, still have close to 1/2lb 
Tried blends of every type and still always taste & smell lemon pledge
I’ve heard a number of complaints about Sorachi Ace. You can always use them up as bittering hops, so it doesn’t leave any aroma or flavor.
I don’t get “grapes” from Nelson Sauvin so much as jolly rancher candy. I like that hop a lot, and wish I had easier access to it - it blends great with Simcoe and Summit, IMO, and I would love to try a sauvin, summit, simcoe, citra IPA sometime.
I’d try that just for the alliteration.
centennial- fruity pebbles or fruity kids breakfast cereal(vinny cilurzo first mentioned this and i cant get past it)
hallertauer- i get sort of a buttery mint flavor
sorachi ace- i dont get lemon but i get a unique melon-y flavor