Suitable hops for English and American ales

[clibit]

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.

 

[DoctorMick]

Thought about writing a book? A lot of the info you've posted on here beats is better than I've read in books.

 

[clibit]

Maybe one day! Still got a lot to learn before I get there I think. I wrote the above, and the other guides, mainly to put down in writing what I know, to get it clear in my head, have something to refer to, and so that others might benefit. If people do that's great. I'm pleased that some people have tried AG who might not otherwise have done. I've been in teaching/education roles since 1989 so i obviously enjoy learning things and passing them on to others.

 

[MyQul]

Lovely clibit. You make ale the ales I'm interested in (English Ones - bitters, milds, porters and stouts) this is guide is really useful for me as I usually simply follow a receipe and just put what hop in it say to

 

[ManseMasher]

As ever clibit, a fantastic post. I would have stuck with kits was it not for your absolute mine of information. As it is, I won't be going back from AG. Oh, and SWMBO says thanks - we haven't been out for a meal in at least two months because I've spent the money on brewing kit! :razz:

 

[clibit]

Tell her she can thank me for all the meals she wil have in future because of all the money saved on buying beer.

 

[GHW]

Good guide, thanks.

The amount of hops available is mind boggling especially to us newer brewers trying to get our heads round what's good or not.

I've mentioned this blog/site before but I find the writing great, and there's lots of inspiration in his recipes and write ups, though it's very US oriented (not intended as a criticism, it's a US site!).

Anyway, it's this page that's relevant, huge list of hops and their substitutions, typical alphas etc.
http://www.bear-flavored.com/2011/12/bear-flavoreds-ultimate-guide-to-hop.html?utm_source=BP_recent

 

[ManseMasher]

I've done some brave things in my life, and some foolish. But not once have I ever wanted to get strangled, so you tell her!!

 

[clibit]

I've done some brave things in my life, and some foolish. But not once have I ever wanted to get strangled, so you tell her!!

Your idyllic home life is looking less rosy today. :-D

 

[ManseMasher]

Oh no it's all rosy - I'm on a boat in the middle of The Irish Channel - she can't reach me out here!!

 

[Sonnal]

Great info as usual Clibit. Need to make it a "sticky" I think.:-D

 

[Godfather50]

Straight forward and clear, thanks clibit. Don't stop there! Views on late hopping would be valued. I've always held back due to cost. Is it worth it? Also addition times you favour? Also when adding at "end of boil" how long do you leave it before chilling wort?

 

[clibit]

Try the late hopping out. It's increasingly popular. Make a small batch perhaps. 200g of hops doesn't cost that much when you are making your own beer from grain. If you make 5L then add 40-50g late. £2?

With post boil hops I wait 20-30 mins before cooling.

 

[Covrich]

Try the late hopping out. It's increasingly popular. Make a small batch perhaps. 200g of hops doesn't cost that much when you are making your own beer from grain. If you make 5L then add 40-50g late. £2?

With post boil hops I wait 20-30 mins before cooling.

Do you dump them straight in at flame out ? I heard some wait until the wort is down to 80ºc before dumping in and whirlpooling.

 

[LarryF]

Thanks Clibit, that'll certainly come in very handy when buying hops at any point in the future.

 

[cornyandy]

I will always find some way of adding some late hops (last 15 mins of the boil) even if a recipe doesn't have in goes 15 g of goldings. I think that is why I like AG brewing, like my paintings there is no end to your creativity and it is surprisingly difficult to make a bad beer.

 

[Ashley]

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.

I like a copper English bitter but I have a recipe (self created) that uses a little citra at the end of the boil and works brilliantly.

 

[Ashley]

Oh and also I only use fuggles, goldings, EKG and occasionally Styrian Goldings. I don't like high alpha hops but a little citra at the end can be very pleasant! !!

 

[clibit]

Oh and also I only use fuggles, goldings, EKG and occasionally Styrian Goldings. I don't like high alpha hops but a little citra at the end can be very pleasant! !!

Even if you don't like the pungent American hops there are plenty of options apart from Citra. Try Amarillo at the end. And Centennial, Motueka, Wakatu, Crystal, Sterling, Mount Hood. There are other English hops you will like. Challenger, First Gold, Northdown for example. Do try First Gold, it's great.

 

[Aarondapastyman]

Question about Dry Hopping, is it a good idea to mix Hops to improve the flavour of a kit?

I'm doing a Coopers Draught at the minute with 1kg BE1 and 500g DME, but was considering a Dry Hop with Cascade and maybe something else like Citra. But I don't know if they'd mix or if it's a good idea to combine them?

Anyone got experience doing this kind of thing?

Cheers.