Hoppy rut

[NickL]

Hello all, just started brewing again after a few years and have a brew on the go finally, BUT I foresee a problem in that I have drifted into my old rut of using only fuggles and goldings in varying proportions and quantities. The problem is is have no idea what to try so always stick with what I know but there are 66 varieties of hops listed on the homebrew shop site and I feel I may be missing out

I brew all sorts of beer (not lager) from stouts and mild to bitter (all with fuggles and/or goldings ) anyone got any recommendations?

[seymour]

Wow, that's a huge question!

We can help, but narrow it in for us a little. What are some of your favourite commercial beers? What are some highly-rated beers you wanna try but can't get hold of? Which beer styles do you love the most? How experimental do you wanna be?

Do you crave intensely hoppy beers? If not, there's certainly nothing wrong with the classic Fuggles/Goldings combo to balance a true-to-style English ale. If you just wanna stick to distinctly English flavours and aromas, but take things to the next level, you could try some of the newer, higher-alpha varieties like Progress, Challenger, Northern Brewer, Northdown, First Gold, Admiral, Pilgrim, Pioneer, etc.

[NickL]

It is a broad question, but I don't know how else to phrase it

BUT if it helps I would drink normally allsorts (have a penchant for badger champion, black sheep riggwelter, old hooky, st peters ale, loads in fact ) but hop wise I like fruity zesty hops (love goldings ) and would like to find some new interesting flavours. I did buy some northern brewer once but didn't use it, it has expired now and I think it is unusable ho hum. I suppose I just wondered if anyone has come across any new/exciting hops they want to eulogise or any interesting flavours that I could be made aware of. I am looking for inspiration !

[seymour]

Well, if you like Goldings, I think you might like experimenting with Challenger or First Gold. Both are sometimes described as "Super-Goldings." Similarly, I kinda think of Progress as a "Super Fuggles." So, I really enjoy combining Challenger & Progress where recipes might otherwise call for Goldings & Fuggles, as a sorta classic English ale on steroids.

Similarly, Willamette is a bolder, American version of a Fuggles replacement. Cascade, as you probably know, is very citrusy (though in a different, stronger way than Goldings), so lots of American ales call for a combination of Willamette and Cascade which I think harkens back to English brewing history in a way...

Anyway, these are just a few starting points to consider. I'm sure other members will have their own opinions.

Best of luck! And let us know what works well for you.
-Seymour

[Clibit]

How adventurous do you feel? Seymour has suggested other English hops which would be different but not radically so. The Slovenian hops like Styrian Goldings, Bobek and Aurora have English roots but are different and lovely and are used in a lot of English ales. I love Bobek. You could try French hops like Triskel or Aramis, or a German hop.

Or you could be really adventurous and try a hop from USA, NZ or Australia. Many of these are much more strongly flavoured than European hops. But they are hugely popular with homebrewers,and craftbrewers now. I have never found a hop I don't like, but some people stick to English, others always use American. You probably need to taste a variety of beers to work out broadly what you like. At least try an American pale ale to see if a bigger hop thing appeals to you. It is a huge question, like someone who only ever eats fish and chips asking what else there is to eat.

[AnthonyD]

How about doing short brew length SMASH's to see which ones you like.

1.5 -2Kg Marris Otter.
c.10g of New Hop at FWH
c.20g of New Hop at 10 Mins
c.40g of New Hop at flame out
c.30g Dry hop

Or similar!

Should make for interesting 1-2 Gallon beers anyway as experiements.

[DeadFall]

It is a broad question, but I don't know how else to phrase it

but hop wise I like fruity zesty hops !

Citra or Galaxy might be worth a punt. Seymour has a recipe that looks great that I'll be brewing soon, Citra Gold. You could also take a look at his Citra Dark (also on my list). There's a few Galaxy recipes floating around. You could try getting some single hop commercial beers to get an idea of flavours? This is nice - http://hermitagebrewing.com/single-hop- ... dcf9b48447

[gibbiem]

Try Columbus and Cenntenial

[daddies-beer-factory]

you could brew an american pale ale,
malt = maris otter 90%
crystal malt 5 %
Torrified wheat 5%

hops = Magnum 50 mins,
cascade, centinnial & colombus 15 mins & 5 mins (any of the us "C" hops really)
(add a bit of chinook as well if your really keen)

yeast + safale us 05

I have had good results & I like the yeast

[pantsmachine]

Columbus, Chinook & Pacific Gem are excellent bold hops that will (hopefully) be a good start? I could also bid you Amarillo & Simcoe but their prices are high at the moment. There are other years when they will be lower. My personal choice of shop for hops is Worcester HopShop as they seem to work off a low margin of profit and i'm all for that! http://www.worcesterhopshop.co.uk/index ... 3b58247504 There are lots of high demand in vogue hops out there and as the demand rises and they become scarce the price only goes one way. Don't go for that, its a waste of money and there are LOADS to choose from. I am fancying getting into the NZ hops just because of their super cool names.

Edit- A good way to break out the rut without the bank at the same time would be say Northdown single for boil & late on a pale ale dry hopped with Topaz?

[Rookie]

I brewed an amber ale with simcoe, summit, and saphir that turned out very tasty.

[faeyd]

Citra and Amarillo and you will end up like me - with loads of left over Fuggles and Goldings in the freezer that you may never use again

[beer gut]

In my view you can't go wrong with Amarillo very tasty sh#t. My other favourite Crystal or Centennial.