With so many different hops available these days, it's impossible for each homebrewer to brew all of them single-handedly. Jim's Beer Kit is a great place to read what worked for other homebrewers, but it's especially handy when commercial brewers do this "dirty-work" for us. I taste every single-hop beer I can find, and post ratings to Ratebeer, which serves as a handy online resource whenever I need to remember my impressions of a certain hop. It occured to me these thoughts might benefit other nerdy homebrewers on this forum too.
Disclaimer: these are my own subjective opinionated conclusions, based on just one sample, at one specific moment in time. I am frequently surprised by how much another brewer's results differ, even using the same single hop variety. Your mileage may vary, and I certainly don't think my taste buds are superior to anyone else's.
ALPHA BELMA IPA
From my Ratebeer ratingCommercial Description: Next in our series of single-hop IPAs, featuring new US variety Belma. Much more subtle and noble than most New World hops, this one emphasizes clean bitterness with faint grassy, flowery, and herbal notes.
Aroma: 7 out of 10, Appearance: 3 out of 5, Taste: 7 out of 10 , Palate: 3 out of 5, Overall: 14 out of 20
Total Score: 3.4 out of 5
Sampled at their tap room. It poured a slightly hazy golden colour with weak white foam. I’m not a member of the majority kick-me-in-the-face-with-crazy-hoppy-IPA party, so bear that in mind. But I really like this low-key Belma hop. Pleasant but mellow, allowing more malt complexity to shine through, yet still has that snappy dry finish of a well-executed strong IPA. Probably too nuanced to be a huge crowd-pleaser, but this is a good hop in a good beer. UPDATE: Tasted again with more dry-hops and conditioning at the 2014 St. Louis Brewers Guild Harvest Fest. Still subtle and still very good. Nice green-hop essence: green tea, grass, flowers, faint black pepper, perfumey alcohol, honey...