Single hop brew choices

Cascade at every opportunity.

 

This is a hard question to answer in a vacuum. Depending on the style you're going for and the malt you'll pair it with, different hops might be more or less appropriate. Big fruity or resinous American hops might be what you're looking for if you want maximum flavor, but classic European Hops like East Kent Goldings can make great SMaSH beers too.

I wouldn't write off Citra too quickly. I bet a Citra/Vienna Pale Ale would be killer. If it's massive, complex flavor that you're looking for, I'd recommend experimenting with some of the newer Australian/New Zealand varietals.

 

Just make sure it isn't Rakau. That hop is trash IMO.

 

The winner hands down is Centennial. Just think: Two Hearted.

Cheers!

 

Hallertauer

 

I'm loving the Sorachi Ace right now.... mmm... lemon herbal tea..... it's so unique.

Seems kind of old school, but Centennial is a fantastic option, so is Cascade, Amarillo, um.... oh, I know....

Brewer's Gold. Very nice underrated hop. Very slight berry/currant thing going on, nice in a maltier Vienna or Munich based beer. Signature hop of Pete's Wicked Ale, God rest its soul.

Bad choices would be pretty much any hop that many people go gaga for -- Citra, Mosaic... way back in the day it was Chinook that everyone hated, but of course now hardly anyone talks about it at all.

Research any hop and find out if it has so-called "high cohumulone". Avoid those for bittering, or actually you could still use them but "hopburst" all very late in the boil to avoid excessive harshness. I haven't tried that much but it might be a useful technique for those nasty cohumolone hops.

Not sure about Columbus.... for some reason I think I would like that one. On the other hand, the bitterness might be kind of harsh. Just a guess.

Love the English hops, too. EKG especially are quite good. Never a huge fan of the Fuggles but they can be alright at times.

Noble hops are great for boiling. Add them all up front and boil for the full 60 minutes or whatever. No need to add any late unless you want your beer tasting like grass. They'll have the best effect in there for the full boil.

My 2 cents.

 

All of the above, particularly Cascade and Amarillo. And I've got to disagree with you on Citra. In massive quantities (it doesn't take a lot of Citra to qualify as 'massive'), it blows the top of my head off! It's one of the few hops that I actually prefer by itself. My son and I do a ten gal batch of all Citra IPA every Father's Day - he gets one keg, I keep the other. It was inspired by Zombie Dust. In fact, I usually work the word 'Zombie' into the name.

 

I enjoyed my Simcoe Rakau beer very much. I got apricot from Rakau. Haven't used it as a single hop though.

 

“Love the English hops, too. EKG especially are quite good.”

Yup, I have made many a tasty English Bitter Ale solely using East Kent Goldings. You need to use a lot of hops though since EKG is a non-potent hop as compared to hops like Centennial, Citra, Cascade, etc.

More information here: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/hops-combinations.36188/#post-3908433

Cheers!

 

I have a Wheat Beer I just bottled that I used all Sorachi Ace, I cannot wait for it to condition. I am surprised to see someone say Citra is a bad choice, I love citra and my next brew is going to be a basic APA with all Citra hops. I love the citrus and tropical layers that it brings. To each his own I guess!

 

I found it to be overwhelmingly lemon-forward, which I do not care for. Yakima valley lists it as "tropical fruit aromas of passionfruit and peach", which is what I was hoping for. Most people who have tried it have described it as citrusy with a few finding it lemony. I could see it paired with simcoe as being tasty. Maybe some galaxy too.

 

Well, you can't like all the hops. This makes your hops shopping list easier. I'll use it again someday.

 

My favorites have been Mosaic, Mandarina Bavaria, Pacific Jade, and Southern Passion. Also Nelson for a SMASH saison was nice, barely any bittering hops, I added it mostly in the whirlpool and dry-hop.

 

Hops I wouldn't use in a single hop beer higher than 60ibu with at least 50% of the ibu from late hops:

Chinook
Columbus
Summit
Warrior
Magnum
Fuggles
Nelson Sauvin
Zythos - a blend, but still
Northern Brewer
Apollo
Bravo
Challenger
Bullion
Calypso

But I would use most of them with other hops.

 

It depends, there are a lot of hops that I like as the only hop in certains styles that I wouldn't even think of adding as part of a blend in others. What style are you trying to SMaSH, and what base malt are you thinking of? Paging @AlCaponeJunior

 

I like cascade and Columbus for single hop pale/IPA brews. Goldings or northern brewer for stouts, and tetnangg for button ale.

 

Saaz, tettnanger, spalter, challenger(ok Betty said so), Cluster (if you can get it fresh).

Ron Mexico? Darn that RR beer at NHC was fun, I only have 2 ounces to play with. Will make a small batch and bitter with something else due to lack of the variety.

 

Personally, I love the taste and smell of Amarillo.

 

My favorite single hop IPAs have been Citra, Mosaic, Equinox, Galaxy, Amarillo (especially in a wheat IPA), Simcoe, Centennial & El Dorado