A bit of guidance for people unsure what hops to use for different styles based on my own experiences over the last 6 years. I make pale ales, amber/brown ales, porters and stouts, English and American versions, so not got much experience of lagers, wheat beers, Belgian ales, German beers etc:
American IPAs:
The key American hops for IPAs are Centennial, Simcoe, Columbus (aka Zeus), Cascade, Amarillo, Chinook, and Citra. These are the 7 most used hops in American IPAs. Three newer hops that are proving extremely successful and much in demand are Galaxy (Aus), Mosaic and Equinox. Some other hops that really suit IPAs are Summit, Apollo, Green Bullet (NZ), Nelson Sauvin (NZ), Ahtanum, El Dorado, Pacific Gem (NZ).
Falconer's Flight and Zythos are two kinds of pellet hops that are made from a blend of several US hops, designed for brewing IPAs/APAs. A cheaper way to use several hops in the same brew.
American Pale, Mild and Brown Ale:
All the IPA hops can be used in pale ales but with a lower IBU level and they tend not to have really intense late hopping. Other hops that suit pales more than IPAs, as they are less intense, are Willamette, Crystal, Mount Hood, Liberty and Sterling. Cascade is the classic APA hop. Centennial, Amarillo, Citra, and Ahtanum are very suitable for APAs too. Also, I had a pint of typical English bitter last night in a bar, which was very lightly hopped with Cascade, and that technique works really well for English ales with a more American hop flavour - use a restrained amount of a strong American or NZ hop.
NZ Hops: NZ has some great hops for pales and IPAs - Green Bullet, Nelson Sauvin, Motueka, Wakatu, Pacific Gem for example. Really worth getting hold of these. Green Bullet is used a lot for bittering lagers but is well suited to pales and IPAs. As is Nelson Sauvin.
Motueka and Wakatu are great for pale ales but also excellent for lagers, summer ales, and wheat beers, to provide a fruitier lemon/lime flavour than the Saaz hops they were bred from. They are fantastic in blond/lager/summer beers. For kit brewers, these are great to add to lager and very pale/golden ale kits. Sterling is a US hop bred from Saaz, also great for those styles. So are Green Bullet and Nelson Sauvin, dry hopped or boiled for a few minutes.
English Pale, Mild and Brown ales:
EKG/First Gold/Challenger are pretty similar and make beautiful English ales of all colours. We all know what that taste is like. They are three great variations of the same thing. They all bring a refined floral, citrus/orange, and spice aroma to a beer. WGV is another Goldings variation, which I am yet to use.
Fuggles and Progress are similar, they provide a lot of spice and earthiness. Usually blended with EKG for the classic English pint. Progress is like a souped up Fuggles, really worth trying.
Admiral, Pilgrim and Target are high alpha bittering hops. Work well.
Bramling X and Brewer's Gold were both bred in England by crossing English hops with a Canadian hop, and are really interesting, as they are kind of half way between UK and USA hops. They both work really well in pale ales and in dark beers.
Styrian Hops: Savinski Goldings (AKA Styrian Goldings), Celeia, Bobek, Aurora. It's also common to use Styrian hops in English ales, they add a nice citrus fruitiness in comparison with English grown hops - I particularly like Bobek and Aurora.
Northern Brewer hops are grown in Germany but suit English ales well. Northdown was bred from Northern Brewer and is a good hop for dark ales, and works well in pale ales combined with hops like EKG and First Gold.
Blonde/Summer Ales
If you want to create a light floral or fruity hoppiness in blonde/summer ale, look for hops of that nature - Goldings, First Gold, Styrian Bobek, Sterling, Motueka, Wakatu, Crystal, Willamette and Summer hops are all good gentle hop options. You can also hop lightly with more intense hops - Citra, Cascade, Centennial or Amarillo, for example.
English Porters & Stouts:
You can use any English hops in an English Porter or Stout. For bittering consider Target, Pilgrim, Admiral, Northdown, Challenger, EKG and Fuggles. Northern Brewer too.
English Porters/stouts traditionally don't use late hops, just bittering hops, to focus on the malts, but I like a 15 minute addition of a good English hop. Bram X and Brewer's Gold are great for this. Progress too, and Challenger, EKG and Fuggles.
American Porters & Stouts:
For an American porter/stout, the typical plan is to use the IPA style hops for a stronger hop bitterness and flavour, and use a neutral yeast like US-05, WLP001, Wyeast 1056. Or an English ale yeast, but I'd personally stay away from very estery yeasts and keep the yeast profile pretty clean. The Irish (WLP004/Wyeast 1064) yeast strain works really well in all kinds of porter and stout I believe.
I like the neutral yeast effect combined with roast grains and a bigger, American hop thing. A strong bitterness, choosing hops like Chinook, Columbus, Centennial, Nugget, Apollo and Galena Chinook, Centennial, Nugget and Galena have proved to be excellent in American stouts. These are all great choices. Galena is good for English stouts too, and has been used a lot in Guinness I believe, may still be. I don't go overboard with the flavour hops though, and I save the finer aroma hops like Amarillo and Citra for pale beers usually. You can add some flavour hops to US porters and stouts too, any of the hops mentioned will go well, especially Centennial and Nugget in my experience. Cascade and Willamette are also really good for this purpose.
Let me know how I could make this hop guide more useful for you, it's just a first draft.
American IPAs:
The key American hops for IPAs are Centennial, Simcoe, Columbus (aka Zeus), Cascade, Amarillo, Chinook, and Citra. These are the 7 most used hops in American IPAs. Three newer hops that are proving extremely successful and much in demand are Galaxy (Aus), Mosaic and Equinox. Some other hops that really suit IPAs are Summit, Apollo, Green Bullet (NZ), Nelson Sauvin (NZ), Ahtanum, El Dorado, Pacific Gem (NZ).
Falconer's Flight and Zythos are two kinds of pellet hops that are made from a blend of several US hops, designed for brewing IPAs/APAs. A cheaper way to use several hops in the same brew.
American Pale, Mild and Brown Ale:
All the IPA hops can be used in pale ales but with a lower IBU level and they tend not to have really intense late hopping. Other hops that suit pales more than IPAs, as they are less intense, are Willamette, Crystal, Mount Hood, Liberty and Sterling. Cascade is the classic APA hop. Centennial, Amarillo, Citra, and Ahtanum are very suitable for APAs too. Also, I had a pint of typical English bitter last night in a bar, which was very lightly hopped with Cascade, and that technique works really well for English ales with a more American hop flavour - use a restrained amount of a strong American or NZ hop.
NZ Hops: NZ has some great hops for pales and IPAs - Green Bullet, Nelson Sauvin, Motueka, Wakatu, Pacific Gem for example. Really worth getting hold of these. Green Bullet is used a lot for bittering lagers but is well suited to pales and IPAs. As is Nelson Sauvin.
Motueka and Wakatu are great for pale ales but also excellent for lagers, summer ales, and wheat beers, to provide a fruitier lemon/lime flavour than the Saaz hops they were bred from. They are fantastic in blond/lager/summer beers. For kit brewers, these are great to add to lager and very pale/golden ale kits. Sterling is a US hop bred from Saaz, also great for those styles. So are Green Bullet and Nelson Sauvin, dry hopped or boiled for a few minutes.
English Pale, Mild and Brown ales:
EKG/First Gold/Challenger are pretty similar and make beautiful English ales of all colours. We all know what that taste is like. They are three great variations of the same thing. They all bring a refined floral, citrus/orange, and spice aroma to a beer. WGV is another Goldings variation, which I am yet to use.
Fuggles and Progress are similar, they provide a lot of spice and earthiness. Usually blended with EKG for the classic English pint. Progress is like a souped up Fuggles, really worth trying.
Admiral, Pilgrim and Target are high alpha bittering hops. Work well.
Bramling X and Brewer's Gold were both bred in England by crossing English hops with a Canadian hop, and are really interesting, as they are kind of half way between UK and USA hops. They both work really well in pale ales and in dark beers.
Styrian Hops: Savinski Goldings (AKA Styrian Goldings), Celeia, Bobek, Aurora. It's also common to use Styrian hops in English ales, they add a nice citrus fruitiness in comparison with English grown hops - I particularly like Bobek and Aurora.
Northern Brewer hops are grown in Germany but suit English ales well. Northdown was bred from Northern Brewer and is a good hop for dark ales, and works well in pale ales combined with hops like EKG and First Gold.
Blonde/Summer Ales
If you want to create a light floral or fruity hoppiness in blonde/summer ale, look for hops of that nature - Goldings, First Gold, Styrian Bobek, Sterling, Motueka, Wakatu, Crystal, Willamette and Summer hops are all good gentle hop options. You can also hop lightly with more intense hops - Citra, Cascade, Centennial or Amarillo, for example.
English Porters & Stouts:
You can use any English hops in an English Porter or Stout. For bittering consider Target, Pilgrim, Admiral, Northdown, Challenger, EKG and Fuggles. Northern Brewer too.
English Porters/stouts traditionally don't use late hops, just bittering hops, to focus on the malts, but I like a 15 minute addition of a good English hop. Bram X and Brewer's Gold are great for this. Progress too, and Challenger, EKG and Fuggles.
American Porters & Stouts:
For an American porter/stout, the typical plan is to use the IPA style hops for a stronger hop bitterness and flavour, and use a neutral yeast like US-05, WLP001, Wyeast 1056. Or an English ale yeast, but I'd personally stay away from very estery yeasts and keep the yeast profile pretty clean. The Irish (WLP004/Wyeast 1064) yeast strain works really well in all kinds of porter and stout I believe.
I like the neutral yeast effect combined with roast grains and a bigger, American hop thing. A strong bitterness, choosing hops like Chinook, Columbus, Centennial, Nugget, Apollo and Galena Chinook, Centennial, Nugget and Galena have proved to be excellent in American stouts. These are all great choices. Galena is good for English stouts too, and has been used a lot in Guinness I believe, may still be. I don't go overboard with the flavour hops though, and I save the finer aroma hops like Amarillo and Citra for pale beers usually. You can add some flavour hops to US porters and stouts too, any of the hops mentioned will go well, especially Centennial and Nugget in my experience. Cascade and Willamette are also really good for this purpose.
Let me know how I could make this hop guide more useful for you, it's just a first draft.
![BREWING THERMOMETER STICKERS ACCURATELY MONITOR FERMENTING BEER & WINE LIQUID TEMPERATURES 5PCS HOME BREW SPIRITS WINE LCD ADHESIVE [US]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/311DDjo2X3L._SL500_.jpg)
