British Hop Bomb Beers

[Notlaw]

I was just think this morning (bad news when you're thinking about beer in the shower at half five), is there any really big hoppy beers that use just British hops? So like a IIPA or something that uses British rather than American hops. I'm sure there must be, but I just can't think of one. All of the really hoppy beers seem to use all of the American and Southern Hemisphere hops.

I'd be interested in trying one for comparison.

 

[peteplus1]

That's a good shout Notlaw. Most of my favourite well hopped beers I seem to happen across are US hop fed too. Indeed my brews this far in have been made with hops from across the pond.

 

[cornyandy]

I can't off hand think of anything. I seem to remember one called bluebird bitter a while back , it was very hoppy but without the real "Hop Bomb" characteristic.

 

[Covrich]

Sure there is , I think the hops are just different, they are not as citrusy explosions but more spicy earthy and and floral, More mellow I guess. English beers tend to have a little more esters and and be a touch sweeter so I think they just work differently..

That is my unscientfic interpretation which I am sure is probably factually incorrect.

 

[Sonnal]

Maybe we should get a forum brew going and give it a try?

 

[IainM]

I did have one. I can't for the life of me remember what it was called, but it was in a blue bottle and I met the guy who brewed it at the Cambridge Food & Garden Produce festival last September. He only brew with British hops, and while this one wasn't a citrus-bomb, it had a strong refreshing bitterness and was very floral. I was impressed, but had to neck it and run after my toddler, who clearly wasn't interested in talking about beer.

 

[Leon103]

Sure there is , I think the hops are just different, they are not as citrusy explosions but more spicy earthy and and floral, More mellow I guess. English beers tend to have a little more esters and and be a touch sweeter so I think they just work differently..

That is my unscientfic interpretation which I am sure is probably factually incorrect.

I agree with this. Loads of beers with strong hop flavour but just not your typical citrus flavours.

 

[MyQul]

Come to think of it I 'accidently' made a British hop bomb. It was the first time I was trying out Tony51's 'leave the hop debris in the fermenter for two weeks' method. Initially it had a very strong soapy flavour but when that conditioned out after about 6 weeks the beer had a huge floral flavour to it (I used EKG and First Gold)

 

[Leon103]

I plan a English hopped pale skin. Was going to add extra hops for that hop bomb feel

 

[Simonh82]

The Shepard's Neame IPA springs to mind. It isn't an imperial IPA, it is still fairly strong at 6.1%. There is plenty of hop flavour and aroma from Fuggle and EKG hops but as others have noted, it is very different to an American IPA as the favour/aroma is much more earthy/floral/herbal. Personally I think American hops work better for IPAs although the the Shepard's Neame offering is pleasant enough.

I think Marston's Old Empire strikes a really nice balance using a mixture of English hops and a bit of Cascade too. It's one of my favourite easily available comercial beers.

 

[chub1]

Not tried it but Brewdog do/did a beer which is/was hopped with just Bramling X but in big quantities.

 

[jceg316]

Apparently Meantime India Pale Ale, the one in a corked 750ml bottle, is made from Fuggles and another British hop, the name of which has escaped me. Also I know that Brewdog brought out a couple of beers - a Brambling X single hop and an attempt to redo an IPA from 1700s: https://www.brewdog.com/lowdown/blog/project-ipa-making-a-real-india-pale-ale. Both recipes are available in their DIY Dog PDF, but not sure how readily available either brews are.

I'm gonna be brewing something similar - an old style IPA with a load of British hops and some oak chips. Also I've made a couple of batches using Jester - one is a single hop best bitter and the other a saison, both just conditioning but they taste amazing.

 

[geetee]

Not tried it but Brewdog do/did a beer which is/was hopped with just Bramling X but in big quantities.

Bramling can be quite fruity, dark fruits and I reckon a lot of that in a dark ale would work well. I once tried it in a porter and whilst the beer was not totally balanced I could certainly get the dark fruit bit.

The problem with English hops I think is that they tend to be fragrant, herbal,spicy, earthy and having too much of those things does not necessarily make the beer better whereas with citrusy, fruity hops more is usually better.

I like the idea of a forum beer using just English hops with people brewing a range of recipes to test this theory say some with 1g/l, some 2/g/l and so on!

 

[peteplus1]

This lovely offering from Moor suggests their beer is 'showcasing modern English hops ' in this IPA. It isn't a massive hop bomb as such and I've no idea what they use, but it is rather nice!

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[jceg316]

This lovely offering from Moor suggests their beer is 'showcasing modern English hops ' in this IPA. It isn't a massive hop bomb as such and I've no idea what they use, but it is rather nice!

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They use Jester in that one. https://afemaleview.net/2012/11/22/battle-of-the-hops-can-jester-take-on-the-americans/

It's an amazing British hop.

 

[Mbanyard]

Sadlers do a very lovely hop bomb - unsure if it's British hops though.

 

[Dutto]

Out in France I found quite a few highly hopped beers and Duvell were doing a special "Tripel Hop" that was really tasty.

Presumably, the "tripel" means that:

1. They add bittering hops for the boil.

2. They then add aroma hops to the hot wort.

3. They cold hop the beer for more aroma before bottling.

The Duvell was particularly nice but, knowing the French, I doubt very much that they would be using UK hops. However, as they hate the Yanks nearly as much as the English I doubt very much that they were using American hops either! :whistle: :whistle: :whistle:

 

[simon12]

I just started to type try St Austell proper job cornish IPA but checked the bottle 1st and it says Cascade Willamette & Chinook, decided to write this anyway as in my opinion its by far the best beer ever in ASDAs 4 for £5 deal.

 

[machin05]

Moor Union Hop is meant to a hoppy little ratbag of a beer. Uses Jester hops.

 

[Godsdog]

Sadlers do a very lovely hop bomb - unsure if it's British hops though.

The Sadlers hop bomb is an ale brewed with Amarillo and citra and is in my top 5 favourites along with their jacks pale ale another wonderful ale with much the same hops but delicately tweaked