Has anyone brewed much with the hop zythos?

Below is from a previous post:

I recently brewed an IPA that was a combination of Zythos and Simcoe (it is bottle conditioning right now). I wanted to brew an Amarillo/Simcoe IPA (basically a clone of Alpine Duet) but Amarillo was not available to me from my regular sources. I sampled this beer at bottling (my hydrometer sample) and it was very tasty.

A number of months ago a local brewery (Sly Fox) made a Pale Ale solely hopped with Zythos hops; that beer was awesome. Based upon drinking that beer I personally had no compunction using Zythos as a substitute for Amarillo in my recent IPA.

Below is a description from Hopunion for this blend:

“Zythos is a customized IPA/Pale Ale style pellet blend designed to embody the powerful tradition and unique aroma characteristics required in premium craft brews. While the unique flavors and aromas of our proprietary varieties cannot be duplicated or replaced, we at Hopunion, along with our growers, recognize the need to supply more of the distinct varieties and exceptional aroma characteristics craft brewers have become accustomed to. Zythos is not a replacement for proprietary varieties, but rather a premium pellet blend designed to complement existing IPA/Pale Ale lineups. Zythos can be used as a single hop addition or as a compliment to current inventories, imparting distinct tropical (pineapple) and citrus tones with slight pine characteristics.”

From my perspective (and my palate) I think the above flavor description is correct. I personally would not describe Zythos as a direct replacement for Amarillo (just like Hopunion states: “Zythos is not a replacement for proprietary varieties”). I would describe the differences between Zythos and Amarillo as:

· To me Amarillo is dominated by citrus flavor
· Zythos is a more ‘complex’ hop. It has citrus flavors but other flavors as well (e.g., some tropical fruit flavors and I personally do not perceive any pine).

If the intention is to brew a solely (or mostly) Amarillo hopped beer then I think you will indeed notice that Zythos is different. If you utilize Zythos as a replacement for Amarillo in a blended (multiple variety of hops) beer the level of difference will be less.

To repeat myself, I am a fan of solely hopped Zythos beer (the Sly Fox Zythos Pale Ale). I intend to brew a solely Zythos hopped beer (an IPA) someday.

Cheers!

 

I made a beer with 6 oz late in the boil and it came out quite nice. Only one way to find out for yourself...brew up a single hop beer with it.

 

Sorry to revive this thread, but Zythos is an American hop varietal I assume?

 

Its a blend of American hops.

 

Does anyone have any experience with both zythos and falconer's flight? I was wondering how similar they were. The pineapple description pops up for both and I'd love to add that flavor into a berliner weisse or saison this summer.

 

I have not used Zythos, but FF is heavy pineapple/tropical fruits with some grapefruit. Just make sure you get FF and not FF 7C's, they are very different.

 

I made an all-Zythos pale ale about a year ago, and it was probably my best ever APA. Don't remember all the details, but it is a great combo hop for pale ales.

 

Falconers is very tropical fruit heavy and was responsible (in conjunction with Amarillo and Citra) for producing the best XPA I've ever brewed.

Recently did a Zythos IPA (Zythos, HBC-342, Simcoe, Galaxy) that had all the makings of a great beer, but wouldn't clear and required fining. The LHBS only had superkleer finings which stripped all the hop flavor out of the beer, but the two I bottled before strippping and carb capped were excellent with lots of pine, tropical fruit, and dankness.

 

Just placed 2nd with a Zythos Rye IPA that I almost didn't enter. Zythos is mostly Cascade I think, with some other varieties in small amounts...probably Chinook, CTZ, Simcoe, and Centennial, etc. Not a bad blend, but I'd rather blend my own.

 

I just did a split batch of an american pale ale and dry hopped 2.5 gallons with 1 oz citra and the other half with 1 oz zythos. I was pretty underwhelmed with the zythos in the dry hopping regard. However, I've had a zythos IPA from Founders though that was really quite good though so I think it translates much better to boils.

 

You can clear with gelatin found at the grocery store FYI...

 

Not sure why there is any need to clear it at all. If it really bothers you drink it out of a stein...

 

I know, I bought some for the same beer but chose superkleer as it was touted as able to clear in a day as opposed to a couple (brewing on a timeline). I haven't used gelatin before as I stick to Biofine to clear quickly for events (ca. a couple hours to a day), or Biofine + PVPP for clearing in a couple days.

Superkleer sucked so if out of Biofine in the future I'll give the gelatin a try.

 

If you have good results with gelatin, consider buying the 32 pack boxes at Walmart. It's about a 1/2 the price of the 4 packs sold my most stores.