good hop to pair with sterling

[erockrph]

@Philbrew

@erockrph

I haven’t used it yet, but a Motueka/Sterling combo is next on my list for hoppy brews. Both of them are Saaz derivatives, and both get fruity at higher late hopping rates. Sterling gets some lemonade character, and Motueka is lime zest and lemongrass. Even though they’re both noble-type hops, they both get fruity when you use big late additions.

What would be a big late addition?  I brew 6 gal. batches, mostly 1.040 to 1.060 lagers.  I’m still in the extract and steeped grain mode doing 20-30 minute 4 gal. boils.  Yesterday I brewed two batches.  One with 1.5 oz. of Chinook at boil start (30 min.).  The other with 1 oz. CTZ at start and 1 oz. of Sterling at 20 minutes.  Both got 1 oz. of Sterling at flame out.  Will the end beer of those get fruity?

Probably not to a significant extent at that hopping rate. The times I’ve gotten a lot of fruit from Sterling, I’ve used about an ounce per gallon, with at least half being either a whirlpool or dry hop addition.

[Philbrew]

Thanks Eric.  I didn’t want a fruity Pils.  :-[

[erockrph]

@Philbrew

Thanks Eric.  I didn’t want a fruity Pils.  :-[

I use an ounce at flameout in my Märzen recipe (3 gallon batch) and I don’t get any fruit, just herbal/spicy noble hop character. It’s not until you start treating it like an APA/IPA hop (whirlpool, dry hops, etc.) that you start to get much citrus out of it. And even then, the noble hop character is still the predominant flavor.

[morticaixavier]

I like Liberty with Sterling if you are going for a more noblesque thing.

[Joel5000]

@goschman

Alright well I think it is between Crystal and something that I use regularly like Cascade, Palisade, Amarillo, or Centennial.

Use the Crystal.  Crystal is damn near becoming my favorite hop.  IPA? Throw some Crystal in.  Apa? Throw some Crystal in.  Pilsner?  Throw some Crystal in. 
I’m even using it in my next California Common; 50/50 with Northern Brewer.  It goes with everything.  Kinda boring on its own, though.

[goschman (Iliff Ave)]

@Joel5000

@goschman

Alright well I think it is between Crystal and something that I use regularly like Cascade, Palisade, Amarillo, or Centennial.

Use the Crystal.  Crystal is damn near becoming my favorite hop.  IPA? Throw some Crystal in.  Apa? Throw some Crystal in.  Pilsner?  Throw some Crystal in. 
I’m even using it in my next California Common; 50/50 with Northern Brewer.  It goes with everything.  Kinda boring on its own, though.

I put this beer on the back burner and decided to go with sterling and crystal in a light lager.