Another Hop substitution Question

[szap]

I have been brewing for about 4 months and have done 10 brews. I have a partial mash kit for a nut brown ale. The kit uses 1 oz Kent Golding hops at the start of the boil and then 1/2 oz fuggle at the 15 min and 5 min points. I was considering not using the fuggle and adding 1/2 oz Mt. Hood at the 15 min point and 1/2 oz Willamette at the 5 min. point.

I came up with these hops from a Moose Drool clone recipe and my wife loves Moose Drool. I thought this might add some Moose Drool characteristics to my nut brown. Is this flawed thinking? How much is hop choice dependent on the grains being used? Would having software like Beersmith help me figure this out on my own.

 

[Epimetheus]

Your particular choices sound very reasonable. The Mt. Hood will probably give a brighter aroma and flavor than the Fuggles.

I am new and I have also been reading everything. From what I can tell, hops choice is independent of grain choice. People will throw anything together. Hop and grain are chosen to match a certain flavor and aroma for a particular known style (EKG and Fuggles for a traditional English nut brown) or to clone a particular beer - if and only if you want to match something.

Brewing software only calculates bitterness, like this online calculator. It does not take into account the flavor and aroma.

You could brew a recipe without changes the first time to see what it should taste like, then try variations. Or you could split a batch. It's a hobby. It's your beer. Go for it.