Time to mix up my hops

Ingredients
1

So I have a ton of Amarillo, Citra, Centennial, Cascade, Warrior hops both home grown and bulk pellet and am looking to get out of the fruity, citrus, typical American hop funk and would like some suggestions on other hops I should give a whirl with. I brew a variety of styles on a pretty regular basis and am not afraid of going non traditional in the hops. I do several Ales and IPA’s, Belgians, Wheats, Saison and Rye styles as well as bitters.

So far my thoughts were:
Nelson Sauvin (I’m ordering these anyways before I can’t get them)
EKG
Perle
Saaz

Any other suggestions, trying to do more low AA, earthy, piney, resiny, etc types of hops to mix up my styles a bit and bring something fresh to the table.

2

Ultra?  High alpha cross of Hallertau & Saaz.  I am thinking about growing it next year but I haven’t tried it out yet.

3

I used saphir hops in a light Belgian ale last year and thought they gave a nice bright, floral aroma.

4

Willamette, Simcoe, and Chinook are some of my favorites to use in conjunction with citrusy hops.

5

I would throw in Columbus with the Chinook and Simcoe as another piney, resiny hop.  But those are not low AA though.

6

Good call on the Columbus and I totally spaced the low AA percentage, my bad on that.

7

Nelson’s taste weird to me in high quantity. Try Galaxy if you can get them.

8

I’ve been enjoying liberty a lot lately. Hallertaur is always a winner in my book.

9

I just brewed an IPA with Mosaic…it’s now one of my favorite hops!

10

Willamette and Fuggles are big favs of mine.  And my Hefeweizen wouldn’t be complete without Hallertau.

11

Thanks all for some great suggestions! The Saphir sound interesting, anyone have other experiences or styles they’ve tried them in?

12

I’ve used them in ‘farmhouse’ style beers some. they were nice. A friend used some in a dubble but it was a little overwhelmed by the body of that beer.

13

Thanks Mort, that was kind of the direction I was thinking with my Farmhouse as well. Might give them a shot in my pale as well.

14

I’m a fan too. Brewing an IPA today with 75 ibus of equal parts Simcoe and mosaic

15

Mosaic is great! Still use it and have some, I’m really just trying to go in another direction from all the stone, fruit, citrus hops and looking for the pine, resin, floral earthy to mix things up in some of my beers that have been brewed over and over to find a new twist

16

Goldings are great also. very herbal and grassy if used in volume. Until I started playing around more recently with American grown noble variants I used a lot of Belgian goldings and Challenger in saisons.

17

I’m a big fan of EKG, Saaz, and Perle. Perle is an underrated hop, IMO. I think it goes well with American varieties like Simcoe and Cascade. Not too much Perle, a light hand is needed with that hop. I use the Perle in my Rye Pale Ale.

Otherwise, I have been really enjoying UK Sovereign and Boadicea. I like the fresh hay and stone fruit flavors from them. Haven’t used those in anything other than British Ales, though.

EKG and Saaz are just a good idea to have around at all times. First Gold, Styrian Goldings, Mittlefrueh, Mt. Hood are nice to have around for their versatility, as well.

18

One of the whole reasons I got into homebrewing in the first place was to experiment with hops. One of my philosophies is that I’m not really looking to produce something that I can just get at the store, so I’ve started to gravitate towards a lot of the newer varieties that you don’t see in a lot of commercial beers.

Here are my current favorites:

Nelson Sauvin - I get a big Cascade-like white grapefruit note, paired with a white wine character that I really enjoy. This has become a standard in my IPA’s. A nice sub for Cascade or Centennial if you’re looking for something in the same ballpark but different.

Apollo - another new standard in my IPA’s. I know some people get onion/sulfur from it, but I never have. I get a cross between Amarillo and Columbus - a lot of tangerine balanced with a bit of dank.

Motueka - A Saaz derivative that has a great lime zest/lemongrass character along with noble-like herbal character. It’s not potent enough to stand up to oilier hops in an IPA, but it’s great for something like a lager, saison, American wheat, etc. where you want an interesting hop note without going full-on hop bomb.

Meridian - I get flavors that remind me of sweeter stone fruits like apricots or nectarines, but without a lot of citrus. Great in combination with hops with more of a citrus character.

Caliente - I get a lot of stone fruit with this as well, but it’s more like ripe red plums to me. It has some citrus character to it as well. Not as “sweet” as Meridian. Flavor has some Fugglish earthiness. It’s really nice in ESB’s, and it’s amazing paired with WY3864 (Unibroue) in a hoppy Belgian beer.

19

What I get from EKG’s when I use a lot of them is a distinct anise note. It’s rather pleasant at a low level when paired with dark English crystal malt and earthier hops like Fuggles, but it definitely keeps me from using my usual “bombs away” approach with real hoppy beers.

20

I too enjoy brewing things I can’t get commercially as well, it’s the fun part for me! Thanks for the personal take on some of the newer varieties, I’ve made some notes and may try a few for the new year.