How to Decide What Hops to Use

David Woods · Nov 6, 2024

Wondering if these is a guide or similar to help choose what hops to use for a specific style of beer and how far can you vary from that. So how far can you mix them up etc.

Main reason being I want to have a go at experimenting with my own recipes and styles but don't know where to start. I am familiar with the usage in terms of which times in the boil will do what - so bittering hops at the start - flavour hops at the end.

The other reason is I have leftover hops and want to use them up in a "one off" brew so would like to have a bit of a clue what I am doing rather than blindly following recipes. I guess there are hops better suited to bittering and others for taste/flavour.

I tend to favor dry hopped beers.

Any pointers would be good.

Clint · Nov 6, 2024

You could look at beers you like,look at a "clone" recipe and see which hops have been used.
Another way is to do SMASH recipes...Single Malt and Single Hop. You can just get what a single variety gives. It's trial and error after that as you go forward adding other hops.
As for "user uppers" you may make your best beer...or your worst!

pilgrimhudd · Nov 6, 2024

Hi David, I often look at the guide on crossmyloof's website. It gives a small description of what the hops can be used for, and a general guide of what you can expect from aroma and flavour. I then will just google a selection and see what beers other people have used them in and build a recipe from there. Once you get the hops you want you can tap them into a recipe builder like beersmith for example.

https://www.crossmyloofbrew.co.uk/hop-guide

MmmBeer · Nov 6, 2024

I tend to use dedicated bittering hops, like Magnum and Admiral, that are high in %AA and low in price.

For aroma hops pick ones that are from the country / region that matches the style you are brewing.

European hops tend to be gentle, flowery and sometimes spicy, suited to lagers and European beer styles.
English hops have the aromas of an English woodland, earthy, woody, grassy and suited to bitters and other British ales.
U.S. hops tend to be big and brash, with citrus, piney and similar aromas, suited to US pales, IPA's and NEIPA's.
Australian and New Zealand hops have tropical and stone fruit aromas and are suited tropical pales etc.

These are obviously generalisations, but a good starting point. To get more specific characteristics on individual varieties, I still rely on home brewing books such as Greg Hughes' Home Brew Beer, or web sites like www.hopslist.com/hops/, which breaks them down into bittering, aroma and dual use hops. Hop retailers websites are also useful and published recipes give you an idea of hop quantities and addition times suited for different beer styles.

Brewing software is very useful in getting the %ABV, bitterness (IBU) levels, colour, residual sugars and indicates whether each is compatible with the style you are brewing.