admittedly, I’ve grown accustomed to particular single hop and combinations for APA/IPA…creature of habbit (I’m a regular C’s, amarillo, mandarina guy…love them just looking for something different).
I’m not at all as versed as I’d like to be in the many varieties available, and interested in some thoughts on favorite single and combinations.
So let me have it if you please- and feel free to add what you like about them.
SINGLE HOP ( I left out C hops as single hop beers since pretty much everybody has tried that)
1/ Azacca - Mango/peach, citrus. It’s kind of medium assertive so it works really well in APA and IPA but doesn’t beat you over the head. I like it in a single hop APA. Blends with any C hop really well.
2/ Galaxy - Pungent citrus and tropical fruit. Good in hoppy APA and IPA. Works solo, but blends with C hops well, as well as Simcoe and Nelson Sauvin IMO. More pungent than Azacca but a great hop.
3/ Equinox - Unique hop. Citrus/lime and fruity/tropical. Really intense, resiny in a good way. Works well solo, but I blended it separately with Columbus, Chinook and Simcoe. Liked all three.
BLENDS - I usually shoot to balance citrus, tropical/fruity, and pine/dank.
Galaxy/Simcoe - nice balance of citrus, fruit, pine
Lemon Drop/El Dorado - Use 2-2.5 Lemon Drop: 1 El Dorado. It’s the combo in Stone Delicious IPA.
Amarillo/Simcoe - been done a lot but it’s a great combo of citrus/orange and pungent pine.
Amarillo/Citra/Columbus - balance of citrus, tropical, and dank.
Citra/Centennial/Chinook - citrus, tropical, and pine.
Cascade/Centennial - old school, but good
Mandarina Bavaria/Crystal - American lagers, blonde ale. Nice.
Mt Hood with C hops - work well together. Mt Hood/Cascade and Mt Hood/Centennial are simple and good.
Mt Hood/Liberty - really nice together. Better than the sum of their parts.
Nelson/Galaxy - Pungent fruit/citrus bomb.
Ahtanum/Amarillo/Simcoe
Amarillo/Cascade/Centennial/Mt Hood
Tip of the iceberg. I left out Mosaic because I know you’re not a fan. I’ll edit more when I think of them.
I’m with Jon here. Azacca is very nice. Founders just released a single hopped Azacca beer if you want to taste it. Equinox is a cool hop. It’s not like anything else and can often change in flavor. I like to say its centennial-like but with a resinous kick. I also like galaxy and I love a galaxy/Citra combo. It’s probably my favorite two hop combo.
On the contrary… I have an Equinox/Citra APA on tap right now and am not a huge fan of the combo. It’s certainly drinkable, but I feel the flavors clash a bit. Everybody else who has had it loves it…go figure lol
I made an AIPA combining Citra and T’N’T hops and it came out fantastic. You can go to farmhouse brewing supply to see the description for T’N’T
I brew an amber with simcoe, summit, and saphir that is really good and I think the 3 Ss would work in an IPA.
good stuff-thanks! just ordered # each of equinox and azacca.
anyone tried jarrylo?
I have not, but just because the reviews I’ve read have been meh. FYI on the Equinox. It has a real high oil content, so it will over power just about any hop it’s with, so make sure favorable ratio.
I got some free Jarrylo in the hop giveaway for AHA renewal last year. I don’t like them at all, even a little. For starters, they’re mild and dull. Except for the weird ‘banana’ character that just comes across like an out of place phenol. I definitely won’t buy any.
Yeah, Equinox is a good one to single hop at first IMO.
Absolutely! It’s a type of hop that you can comfortably do a single hopped beer with. I brewed a killer APA with it in the summer for the ol family reunion.
I will single hop both so I get good feel for them, then look to blend. To guys going all late, hop stand, dry hop with both of these?
Yep. I hit my target IBU in boil @ 60 mins, then add what would’ve been the late boil hops in the stand @ 170-175F. 25-30 mins for APA, 40ish for AIPA. Dry hop as usual.
Cool. Been liking the hop stand. Just did all mandarina IPA ( magnum bitter), and had 8oz mandarina in this puppy.
Works nicely. And personally, I save these hops for late and dry. I normally bitter American ales with Warrior (or Magnum) or Columbus, depending on how smooth or assertive I want the bitterness. I just hate to waste good flavor/aroma hops @ 60.
Same…to pricey and you don’t get what you really want when you boil it all away.
I’m a big fan of fruit-forward hops. I’ve been leaning towards a lot of the newer varieties, especially the Aus/NZ ones - primarily because I don’t want my hoppy beers to taste like very other commercial beer out there. I also prefer hops that have one dominant flavor, so I can mix and match the specific flavors I want without getting too muddy. Here’s my current favorites list:
Citra - oldie but goodie, pretty much straight-up mango, massive oil content and can easily dominate everything else if you’re not careful
Meridian - totally underrated hop, lots of stone fruit (nectarine, apricot, sometimes bing cherry) with an undertone of citrus. It’s a flavor I don’t get in a lot of commercial beer, so I lean on it a lot at home.
Nelson Sauvin - I get a lot of white grapefruit out of it, with a bit of a vinous note that sets it apart from the C hops. It is reliably grapefruit-forward year after year, unlike something like Cascade that can be more floral some years
Motueka - lime zest and lemongrass. It’s a shame that it’s not more potent - it can easily get overpowered by oilier hops. But outside of IPA’s it’s a big go-to for me. Great in hoppy lagers as it is a Saaz derivative and gets some herbal/noble stuff going on as well. If you’re a fan of Mandarina, I’d put this one in a similar category.
Vic Secret - this is a new discovery for me, but I’m already going to it regularly. It has a distinct passionfruit character that really stands out. This one is super tropical, without a lot of other background notes to muddy it up.
Really great post.
Jon turned me on to Nelson with a saison recipe- really nice.
Vic secret- Victoria secret??’
Sound nice will add that one to try.
I’ve used Nelson and meridian together in a moderately hopped Pilsner before. Very pleasant.
I don’t brew very many duplicates when it comes to hopped beers. It’s fun seeing these hops being posted and remembering how you’ve used them. Meridian is a very solid hop, but it can get buried when mixed with higher oil content hops like Citra and Equinox.
I believe it is grown in Victoria (Australia). I think the name was originally going to be Victoria Secret as a play on words, but there’s probably some concern of trademark issues.