new cheater hops?

Scott Janish, the co-owner of Tonsmeire's brewery, Sapwood Cellars, is pretty enthusiastic about Idaho 7.

 

El Dorado, Vic Secret and maybe Cashmere as well. Not a big brewer of IPAs so I can't say I have a personal opinion on whether or not these hops are cheaters.

 

El Dorado & Vic Secret for sure. Especially Vic, kinda kicking myself for not buying enough last release. Got my eyes glued on YVH.

To answer your second question. Yes and no. Citra and Galaxy on their own can carry a beer. But in a blend they add complexity in smaller amounts.

So is it cheating. Yes because you only have to use one hop. But no because I believe what he’s trying to say is that an order to get complex flavors you don’t have to blend a bunch of varieties.

So cheating like having an ace up your sleeve, no. Just in the sense you’ve just simplified part of the ingredient process.

My two cents.

 

Sabro, a Neomexicanus derivative.

 

Sabro is the most potent hop I’ve ever used,
Stronger than Galaxy even. However on its own the tropical qualities get overpowered by its woody character. A little goes a long long ways.

Strata is amazing. For me this is a top 5 hop in the world. It reminds me very much of Mosaic but without some of the weird mosaic notes. At least the batches of it that I’ve used.

Lotus is a new hop that seems to have potential. Was called Exp 06297. Tree House used it in a beer and Alchemist has done a Skadoosh with it. I’ve got a beer going with it now. Strong Orange and Vanilla

Lots of breweries are using Cashmere these days.

Idaho 7 is really potent although I get a bunch of tea character from it.

El Dorado

Vic Secret

Nelson if you can find the good stuff which can be hard.

Ekuanot. Supposedly it’s been getting better, less green pepper now than before. Really high oil.

Denali, or whatever number they had to change it back to. Really high oil

Southern Passion from South Africa. The stuff I’ve used however leaves a bit to be desired. Didn’t seem that strong at all.

 

There’s the real can of worms brotha

 

Cashmere immediately became a favorite for me. Mosaic and cashmere is a rediculous combo

Why did they have to rename Denali? GM?

 

Is there a post where he defines "cheater?" I only found this post where he has a recipe (two recipes?) called Cheater Hops. I've heard people use the rerm on podcasts. Does it mean anything more than "these hops will add what people seem to be looking for in NEIPA?" That's what I got from context, although if that's what it means, I don't think cascade, centennial, Columbus, and possibly Simcoe necessarily belong here, as I think of them as West Coast IPA hops.

 

Do hop terpenes count?

 

I don't think you should have a lesser impression of a beer because they used citra or mosaic. Personally, I like those tropical NEIPA type beers, but I don't see much differentiation among them. I think that consumers will eventually get jaded of tropical fruit if beers all start to taste the same.

 

I have pretty much already reached that point. I now look forward to drinking what most folks would classify as being an 'old fashioned' West Coast style IPA. I may homebrew another Juicy/Hazy IPA in the future (I have homebrewed 3 batches so far) but I suspect that I will only brew West Coast style IPAs in the future.

Cheers!

 

I second @JackHorzempa. I like to use the new tropical hops along with the old favorites of Centennial, Amarillo, and Simcoe, and I still like a firm bitterness.

 

I think the east vs west popularity will equalize eventually because it’s all personal preference. I enjoy a both styles but from a global hop market perspective neipa isn’t a very sustainable style. It’s also sad that hops farms are having to phase out production of classic hop varietals to grow more “cheater hops”

 

I think that belief towards those hop varieties is bordering on insulting towards brewers that brew great IPA’s with those varieties and is also a belief that has been fostered in large part by brewers that are jealous of other brewers that have learned to harness the potential of those varieties. I’ve had so many conversations with brewers that make comments like that and normally those brewers are the ones that are too cheap to spring for those hops, or they buy hops that are 2-3 years old to save money. Couple that with the amount of bad beers I’ve had with Citra and Mosaic and the varying quality of the hops themselves (for example the Citra that tastes like onions or the Mosaic that has been a mix of rotten blueberries and pine-sol) and it’s easy to see it’s not the hop variety that makes a beer and that there’s really no such thing as “cheater” hops.

To answer the question though, I think the up and comer is Strata. Only a couple growers for it right now and they share a fence line, work together with the development, and harvest at the same time, so there is basically no bad Strata or variance right now except for what’s been stored poorly. The passion fruit aroma from Strata is truly incredible.

 

And to expand on this further, I think of SNPA as the gold standard for incredible Hop flavor from a variety of hops (cascade) that isn’t considered “sexy.” If every grower’s Cascade has the same orange and floral components that Sierra Nevada’s has, I believe that would be in the same league as these newer, hyped varieties. One of my highest rated IPA’s used a Cascade lot that I selected specifically for its floral contributions and it was paired with Idaho 7. The peachy esters of LA3 pair perfectly with Cascade that has those characteristics.

 

I also have a problem with this. It would be one thing if "cheater" hop meant a hop that is nearly guaranteed to provide good flavor. That's just how some ingredients are, and it's natural. It's another thing to say that some hops are obvious, overused, or somehow a handicap to a beer.

Are there "cheater" grains? A "cheater" yeast? Other "cheater" ingredients?

Are eggs a "cheater" for breakfast? "Oh, that breakfast contained eggs? Well, that's a lame, overused ingredient."

It's important to remember that we still don't have a consensus definition for "cheater." Maybe that's because it's a worthless term. You can't cheat in brewing in my opinion unless you add designer chemicals or things like that.

I once saw a behind-the-scenes clip of a beer commercial. The producers added dish soap to a beer to get it to foam better when it was poured. Now that's cheating.

 

Wow, do people actually talk about "cheater hops" with the serious implication that people using them are somehow not playing fair? I'd always assumed it was one of those things that people would only say to be a bit jokey and self-deprecating about stuff they'd brewed themselves...