Single Hop beers

“ …maybe one US hop variety and one NZ”

I brewed an IPA solely hopped with Simcoe which I thought was outstanding. The dominant flavor I obtain from Simcoe is piney and I enjoy that flavor profile. I have never brewed a solely hopped Amarillo beer but I would be willing to bet that it would be tasty. If you are willing to ‘broaden’ your scope, I am drinking an IPA that was late/dry hopped with a 50/50 blend of Simcoe and Amarillo and that beer is outstanding!

I have some Galaxy hops in my freezer that I will be brewing with next spring to make an all Galaxy (from a late/dry hopping perspective) IPA.

Please report back how you all Saaz hopped beer turned out. I make a Bohemian Pilsner beer every year where I bitter with Sterling and late hop with a Saaz that I think is extremely tasty.

Cheers!

P.S. Doh! I forgot about my all Centennial hopped IPA that I make twice a year. Centennial has a yummy citrus flavor to my palate that I absolutely love!

 

Avoid Sorachi Ace. And Northern Brewer (tastes like candy).
Chinook is an interesting one.

 

Centennial, you cant go wrong.

 

I have done smash beers with citra, cascade, belma, bravo, simcoe, fuggles, willamette. Of these I would say that it depends what your goals are for the beer which ones you should use. I have made several beers with all serebrianka too, and I'm sure a few other single hop beers I can't recall at the moment.

Belma seems to work well with other hops, but less so as a single hop in IPA strengths. I thought my belma IPA was a bit muddy (that could have been party from the grain bill tho, which in hindsight was probably a bit over-complicated).

Fuggles and willamette are great single hop hops, but to make an IPA strength hoppy beer you'd need to use a helluvalotta them. For a pale ale tho, six or seven ounces of these, mostly late would be divine. A small bittering charge of magnum, warrior, or another high AA hop would probably be an ok fudge tho if you want high IBUs.

Serebrianka are like fuggles and willamette, fairly weak, with more subtle (yet very tasty) flavors. However, I did add a butt-load of them to a stout (just to use them up, something like 9 oz), with good results. I would not suggest these for an IPA.

Simcoe, cascade, citra, bravo - all great for single hop beers, even in IPA quantities. Actually just 4 oz simcoe gave me a pale ale that was close to an IPA in hoppiness. I used 3.5 oz bravo (0.5 early, 1 at 5, 2 at FO) and that made an excellent almost-IPA pale ale smash (with munich malt). Cascade is my fav hop, so I've used it in both pale ale and IPA strengths. If you like that citrus peel flavor (yellow grapefruits, lemon, oranges, citrus rind etc), definitely try cascade.

edit: and I'll echo NB and centennial as good choices.

 

Chinook is my go to hop. It brings a bit of pine, a bit of citrus, and a touch of tropical and plays very well with other hops. Amarillo and citra are great for single hop beers, but then so are simcoe, cascade, centennial, Willamette among others. The skys the limit for you, but I dig Chinook.

 

Your chance of going wrong with chinook is nil.

And fudging it on a smash or single hop beer isn't the end of the world. I view such matters are similar to literary, dramatic or artistic license...

from teh wiki: a colloquial term, sometimes euphemism, used to denote the distortion of fact, alteration of the conventions of grammar or language, or rewording of pre-existing text made by an artist to improve a piece of art.

You're not cheating, you're improving.

I just say "it's my beer, I'll do with it what I want."

 

I agree, I love Chinook, its like a pine tree covered in grapefruits. My favorite single hop is Galaxy, it is very much passionfruit flavored.

 

My favorite single hop beers have been with Amarillo, simcoe, and nelson sauvin. Citra comes in at a close fourth, but is out of the money.

 

Regarding an all-Saaz beer, I've got an all-Saaz pils on tap right now that is pretty underwhelming. And that with 1 lb of hops in a 6 gallon batch. Compared to the all-Hersbrucker and all-Hallertau m.f. versions of the same beer, the Saaz version is by far the most boring. Hersbrucker is definitely my favorite -- spicy bitterness and a really floral aroma, kind of like jasmine tea.

 

Same here. I've made a lot of no-recipe, thrown-together batches only using 2-row and Simcoe and they're turned out solid.

 

I am sorry to hear that you were disappointed with your all Saaz Pils. I took note of: “And that with 1 lb. of hops in a 6 gallon batch.” Did you use whole hops to make your Pils? Was it Czech Saaz hops?

Cheers!

 

saaz, fuggles, noble, goldings east kent are my favs

 

Czech Saaz pellets. The beer is fine, it's just that it doesn't have much hop character. I've got a pound of Sterling leaf from the 2013 crop I'm gonna try out with my next batch -- I'll be interested to see how that comes out as they are supposed to be "Saaz-like".

Hersbrucker hops are awesome though. That's gonna be my new go-to late hop for lots of German styles.

 

“Czech Saaz pellets.” Can I ask who the hop vendor was (e.g., was it HopUnion?)?

I am very surprised that a 1 lb. of Saaz for a 6 gallon batch was so muted. For my Bohemian Pilsners I use a total of 3.5 ounces of Saaz hops for late/dry hopping (I dry hop with 1.5 ounces). My Bo-Pils has a very nice & noticeable Saaz hop flavor/aroma. I would describe the flavor/aroma as a combination of herbal & spicy.

My other preferred Noble Hop for flavor/aroma is Hallertauer Mittelfruh. I late/dry hop my Classic American Pilsner with Hallertauer Mittelfruh and I really enjoy the flavor/aroma.

I have used Hersbrucker in my brewing but it has been a long time since I used it so my memory of the flavor/aroma of this hop is poor.

Cheers!

P.S. I have used Sterling hops (pellets) for bittering my Bo-Pils for the past 5-6 years. It is “the daughter of a Saaz clone and a father that had Cascade …. The result is a Saaz character …” I have not used Sterling for flavor/aroma so I don’t have any input on that hop for that application.

 

It was Farmhouse brewing. I'm not sure where they get their hops from though.

 

Made a saison with all Styrian. Kept the hopping simple - 0.5 oz at 60, 30, 15, and FO. Came out spectacular. Not sure it would work as well with US-05 (probably not), but it was perfect in a Belgian-style beer.

 

I have concerns about the 'freshness' (or packaging?) of Farmhouse brewing's hops. Maybe try another supplier next time?

Cheers!