Favourite Hops?

[mmmBeer...]

I was wondering what your favourite hops were. Do you tend to fall back on the same hops each time?

I generally use Fuggles for aroma in my ales, and Hallertau in my wheats, and normally use Northern Brewer for bittering.

[YamahaXS]

try some Saaz or Styrian for flavoring. yummy!

[Jughead]

cascade for american ales

[newportstorm]

Though I don't brew, I do enjoy the creative hop selection from brewers. Last summer, Magic Hat's HiPA used all Columbus hops I believe. Lots of fresh cut grass/hay in the aroma and a tad citrusy in the flavor. I enjoyed many bombers of it.

Cheers!

[bierboy]

Saaz, but then I bought 4lbs each of Saaz and Sladek when St. Pats had their beer fire sale.

[brewmonkey]

Polish Lublin.

[unkle bik]

CAscade & Halletaur for lagers.
"Hopocan" for my ales. It is my homegrown variety of Fuggles.

[fretlessman71]

Bunnies!!!!! Who has better hops than bunnies??!?!?:D

[Tweek]

BM what is the polish lublin like? I have never heard of it before.

[chazwicke]

My favorite hops are Challanger.

[Fast_Eddy]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
Bunnies!!!!! Who has better hops than bunnies??!?!?:D

Boooooooooooooooooooooo

[fretlessman71]

....but I LIKE the bunnies.... :(

[brewmonkey]

Originally posted by Tweek
BM what is the polish lublin like? I have never heard of it before.

They are a lot like Saaz and Tettnanger and go very well in Pilsner's. IMHO they have a better flavor and the spicy note is cleaner with these. They are a low alpha hop, but I have been able to get them as T-45 pellets rather then T-90 pellets.

[barley ben]

but I have been able to get them as T-45 pellets rather then T-90 pellets.

Never heard of this. What is the difference? I just always bought pellets of what-ever variety I wanted. Never knew there was different kinds of pellets for each variety.

[S.F.B.]

I have started to use Amarillo in a few different brews. They are a lot like Northern Brewer with a bit of spice. My choice of hops does still depend on what I am brewing. I am just starting to experiment with it.

[chazwicke]

I grow cascade, chinook, saaz and willamette in my yard.

[Jughead]

How do you dry them Chaz?

[hopheaddude]

ton of cascade and a ton of liberty

[brewmonkey]

Originally posted by barley ben
Never heard of this. What is the difference? I just always bought pellets of what-ever variety I wanted. Never knew there was different kinds of pellets for each variety.

Here is a good explanation of the differences.

Hop Unions website (http://www.hopunion.com/t90t45.shtml)

[barley ben]

So what the LHS has is t-90 and T-45 is basically a more potent pellet?

[brewmonkey]

Pretty much, yes. I prefer to use T-45 when I can get them as it helps reduce kettle loss in the brewhouse. We have some beers that total about 1lb of hops per bbl, 7+ lbs takes a lot of space in the kettle and we end up losing some of each batch due to a large trub pile in the kettle.

Some kettles are set up with a deflector by the side kettle out that allows them to knockout almost all the wort, but our's lacks that and we lose about 1/4-1/2 bbl per batch to trub. By using T-45 pellets and a whirlpool we are able to reduce shrinkage and get more into fermentation.

Sounds trivial, but even at 1/4bbl per batch, and last year we brewed 122 batches we would have lost almost 30.5bbls to trub which totals 6 full kettles (batches).

Every way we can save wort/beer from loss helps us keep costs down and we don't have to raise prices.

[barley ben]

So would I ever expect to see/ be on the look-out for this at a HB shop is is it sold in bulk to mostly breweries.

[brewmonkey]

Most homebrew shops buy from the same places that breweries do. The cost differences is not much for the two and I would bet that if you asked, they might order some. The problem though is not all hops are available as T-45 pellets.

The smallest you can usually get from the supplier is 5kg packages and I would suspect that is what HBS are purchasing and repackaging for sale.

[barley ben]

one more question... Does it only benefit bitterness or flavor and aroma also?

[brewmonkey]

It will be just like using T-90 pellets. There will be no degredation of any of the properties and you can expect to get all of the bitterness, flavor and aroma from them.

[barley ben]

Just make a tighter, smaller amount of trub.

[chazwicke]

Originally posted by Jughead
How do you dry them Chaz?

I grow them for fun and have for about 10 years. The Cascade are the most prolific. I have never used them to brew although the first year I made a small kettle hop tea. They also make a nice screen. I have a homemade trellis and they grow on it very well. You have to cut them off at ground level every harvest season though.

[barley ben]

Do you use the harvest for anything? Don't know if they have any other uses.

[Stodbrew]

British: Northdown, First Gold and WGV (Whitbread Golding Variety)

Czech Saaz.

German Spalt

U.S.: Centennial and a new variety I've been playing with called Simcoe.

Cheers!

Steve

[brewmonkey]

Have to say SIMCOE is a really nice hop. Big AA% and low Co-Humulone cant be beat.