So I've got 19 oz of First Gold hops vacuum packed in the freezer, and I want to start using them. My only experience is using them as bittering hops in ESBs. So I have 2 questions: (1) Anybody used them for bittering/flavor/aroma in beers in the English bitter family? (This is the first thing that has come to my mind.) (2) Do you have any favorite uses for these hops? Cheers!
The lack of responses indicate this is not a particularly popular hop! For those that might be interested, I found this blog page about brewing an all First-Gold ESB and this followup page about tasting that same beer, so I am going to try something similar. On the brewing page the blogger talks about how his hops smelled like Amarillo or Centennial. Mine certainly don't smell as citrusy as to be confused with either of those hops, but I believe that mine are from the subsequent year's harvest. Mine have more of an EKG aroma with perhaps a bit of citrus, but not much. Cheers!
Used it a long time ago. Can give an earthy+appricot aroma. Good for British ales, and try it Ina British style barley wine.
I used it in a mix with styrian goldings (for bitter and finishing) and scored a 39 with my best bitter at the IBU Open last year. They are what Hopfenunmaltz said, earthy with apricot. It is pretty standard fare in my bitters.
Below is from:http://therulingglass.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-drinkers-guide-to-hops-first-gold.html A Drinker’s Guide to Hops: First Gold First Gold is an English hop that was developed by the Wye College hop breeding program and was first release in 1995. Its parentage includes a variation of the Goldings variety. Here is the numerical data on First Gold: Alpha Acids: 6.5-8.5% Cohumulone (% of alpha acids): 32-35% Total Oil Content: 0.7-1.3 ml/100g Oil Breakdown: 27-29 % Myrcene (seen as high as 36%), 20-24% Humulene, 6-7% Caryophyllene, 3-3.6% Farnesene (seen as low as 1.5%) First Gold is generally considered a dual purpose hop. When used for bittering, it is generally said to give off a clean and pleasant bitterness. Its flavor and aroma profile is described as earthy, floral and spicy with notes of orange peel, dried apricot, orange marmalade, wood, cinnamon and black pepper. I have seen some discrepancies in how spicy people report the flavor to be. Some find it mild, while others find the spice more pronounced. As far as usage, most of the time you are going to find First Gold in British ale styles. Scottish brewers seem particularly found of this hop, with BrewDog, Orkney and Williams Brothers all using it in multiple beers. BrewDog uses First Gold in their Dogma (scotch ale), Alice Porter (Baltic porter) and the Ballast Point collaboration San Diego Scotch Ale. Orkney uses it in their Dark Island (old ale) and Clootie Dumpling (bitter). Williams Brothers use it in a whole bunch of their beers, including their Alba Scots Pine Ale (ale with pine added), **** O’ The Walk Scottish Red Ale, Ebulum Elderberry Black Ale (black ale brewed with elderberries), Good Times (pale ale with elderflowers), Scottish Joker IPA, Midnight Sun (porter), Profanity Stout and 80/- Scottish Ale. Other commercial beers using First Gold included St. Peter’s Suffolk Gold (ESB), Greene King’s Abbot Ale (ESB) and IPA, Boxcar Brewing’s Brown Ale, Mighty Oak’s Maldon Gold (golden ale) and English Oak (bitter), Bear Republic’s Mach 10 (imperial IPA), Civil Life’s British Mild, and Black Sheep’s Golden Sheep (golden ale). Cheers!
