Just bought 8 ounces of South African Southern Passion hops from Yakima Valley on a whim. From what I've read they offer passion fruit and berry flavors/aromas that tend to be on the subtle side. I'm not a fan of single hop beers and want to pair this up with another hop, but at the same time don't want the subtle characters of the Passion hops to get lost. Has anyone brewed with this hop or a similar hop with subtle characters? Any suggestions what to pair it with for whirlpool and dry hop additions? Thanks and Cheers!
Can't help you with the SA hops, but do offer an easy way to cut through some chaff. To find a hop's true aroma (and flavor somewhat) I get a Heineken or Amstel, open it, and drop about three pellets in, then re-cap. Wait a week or so then open and evaluate. Most any simple lager will work, all you're doing is exposing the hops to a neutral base. Would probably work with multiple varieties.
I tried that once years ago. Don't recall the hop variety, but remember it coming across as vegetal and graasy. I'll have to give it another shot. Thanks.
I’ve used most of the available SA hops from YVH and ZA Hops. Honestly I’ve only done one beer that was all SA hops (rest were parts of blends) but to me the ones I’ve used have been a little lackluster. The aroma out of the bag and when rubbing has left a lot to be desired. Pretty sure the drought has been pretty bad in SA and most of these hops didn’t get widespread acreage until 2017? Or 2018? harvest I think. They were controlled by the ABI? farms for a while but that’s changed recently which is why they’re now so readily available to homebrewers. I’ve seen very few “reputable” hoppy beer brewers using SA hops recently. Not sure that’s because of the ABI control that started a few years ago (that’s over now) or that the hops haven’t been that great. I think Jeff Erway was the first brewer in the US I heard rave about Southern Passion and at that time J17 (African Queen) and the the guys at Cellarmaker said Southern Passion was a top 5 hop from them at the time (maybe 2016/17?). I was really excited to try them but the ones I’ve bought really haven’t been that great. Homebrewers generally get the short end of the stick when it comes to hops so there might be some great lots out there? Not sure. I will say the character that comes from them is unlike anything else. Crazy exotic fruits and aromas/flavors that are hard to describe. However the lots I’ve used have been rather subdued and a little “grassy“. From everything I can gather Southern Passion is the cream of the crop. I’ve paired it with Galaxy and Sabro but those are the two most powerful hops so I’m not sure how much the Southern Passion added. I’d maybe try it with some Mosaic or some NZ hops personally.
