Were you to make a single hop IPA which hop would you gravitate to and why?
For most of my hoppy beers (40 IBU+) I generally use a few types, but when I’ve made a single hop IPA I’ve gone with Centennial as I love that taste, but also because it’s cheaper among the various hops that are higher AA.
I also really love Amarillo and Simcoe, as well as HBC 342 which I use as the sole hop in a hoppy pale. I love Cascade too, but it just doesn’t have enough AAs for a single hop IPA.
Citra, Azacca, and Equinox make nice single hopped beers.
Equinox is a new great hop I have been digging lately too.
Yeah, and (sorry Frank !) I think Mosaic makes a great single hop IPA. Actually I make ‘single late hop’ beers occasionally but I bitter most of my beers with Magnum, Warrior, or Columbus. Just hate to waste a good late hop to bitter. Though I need to revise my thinking on lagers and bitter at least partially with the nobles.
Centennial is my all-time, undisputed, single-hop favorite.
Still a GREAT hop, period !
I usually use Warrior (1/2 oz) for bittering, though single hop is typically just that, but I discount the bittering hop as I’m not sure I’d be able to tell what it was I used. But then I’ve also not tested this either…
Mosaic is a hop I’ve been meaning to use in a single hop beer. I don’t recall the IPA by that name but I loved it!
+11
Lol it’s all good. I had a Southern Tier mosaic smash last week and checked it in on Untappd. I gave it 2.25 stars. My description was, “I hate Mosaic hops!” Southern Tier replied, “Sorry to here that. To each their own.”
Like I love simcoe where some think it tastes like cat pee. Most love mosaic. I think mosaic tastes like a bail of straw with onions jammed in it and stored in a musty basement lol.
Sorry, I’m grumpy because I went to pour a pint of my new Porter, but my CO2 leaked out through the pressure relief valve (my best guess). So the Dude must abide… It’s White Russians tonight.
Nothing wrong with a good Caucasian, Frank 
I’m not a big fan of single-hopped IPA’s - I prefer a little more complexity. Having said that, I’d put Meridian, Galaxy and Enigma on my short list if I had to brew one. Nelson Sauvin might be a good choice as well. Nelson might be something to look in to if you were thinking of doing a single-hopped Cascade IPA. I get a lot of the same grapefruit character from Nelson that I do from Cascade, but it is more potent and also has a nice vinous character that adds some depth.
After thinking for a minute. Full Pint Brewery out of Pittsburgh brews Night of the Living Stout in the fall. It’s a 100 IBU beer brewed exclusively with cascade. It’s a different direction, but it’s really good. Don’t ask me how they get 100 IBU out of cascade either lol
I’d add Galaxy, too. Really want to try Enigma soon. I usually blend though, too.
+3
Hard to beat that simple yet elegant balance that you get with a Two Hearted-esque, single-hopped (Centennial) IPA!
I’m with you on the Mosaic. It’s a great hop.
Southern Tier isn’t a brewery I’d make ultimate judgements on ingredients by in my opinion. I’ve had two of the worst ever beers from them (Pumpking and Creme Bru Le) that I actually poured out. Nasty. But I’ve had an IPA I thought was quite good. So hit or miss I wouldn’t buy their beer again…
I’m not a real fan of southern tier either. This beer was in a mix a six at my local grocery store. But this is about the 10th commercial beer with mosaic that I don’t like. When mosaic first came out, I bought two pounds. I brewed three batches with it. Hated it in my own beer. Gave the remaining 14 ounces away.
I’m curious what you didn’t like about Mosaic hops.
It’s my palette. Just like others don’t like simcoe or summit or whatever. To me, as I explained above, it tastes like a bail of straw that’s been stuffed with onions and then stored in a musty basement. I get nothing good out of it at all. I keep trying it, but it doesn’t get any better for me. The only beer that I know has mosaic in it that I didn’t mind was victory hop ranch. I believe it’s mosaic and Azacca.
Buy by no means am I saying that anybody else shouldn’t like it. Obviously people like it, since so many breweries are using it now. Jon just knows that I don’t like mosaic, that’s why he mentioned me. Time to get off my hatred for mosaic and get back to the OP’s thread.
One of my first grain beers was a single hopped chinook beer. I remember loving it, but it was so long ago. It was also just right after I switched from extract 4 years ago. I might have to revisit that.
I gotcha. I felt the same way about Chinook, though I brewed a single hop strong ale trying to somewhat replicate Arrogant Bastard, and loved it. I guess I just didn’t care for how it mixed with other hops or something.
I’m still convinced people perceive some hops differently. Nobody would dislike what they perceive as a good hop. I think, like with the gene that makes people perceive cilantro as good or horribly plastic-y, it’s a sensory/perception thing. Kind of interesting actually.