Smaragd Hops

[Aubie Stout]

My LHBS was out of the hops I wanted for my pale ale so I decided to experiment. He had these in an unopened bag in the freezer. They smell fantastic and the description on the bag said they were a European attempt at Amarillo.

Anyone used them before?

 

[EllisTX]

Sounds like they came from Middle Earth....

Good luck though and definitely post what the result is.

 

[Teromous]

Nope. When I read the thread title I though you were saying that you "smaragd" your hops

 

[EllisTX]

They sound good to me.

Smaragd Hops (pellets 90gm) - Product Details - CraftBrewer

 

[E-Mursed]

Smaragd is emerald in German

I did support for a database used by Mercedes called Smaragd.
Imagine how much fun I had telling people about that.

Sounds like a nice hop to experiment with.

 

[Aubie Stout]

I'm using them with Saphir hops @ 20, FWH, and dry hopping. Will advise in about 60 days.....

 

[Aubie Stout]

Still drinking this pale ale. Took me a while to narrow down the flavor profile, but I finally did. This beer reminds me of Sam Adams Noble Pils. Although, I do like the Sam Adams better...... Probably a good substitute for the noble hops which is strange because I love Sterling and don't like these.

 

[McCuckerson]

I am making an IPA with them right now! They smell somewhat celery like... Oh well too late now

McC lives on the edge:rockin:

 

[wileaway]

I used these as the main flavoring hop in an Amber ale a while back. I'd agree that they are more on the noble end of the flavor spectrum--earthy/spicy. Calling them a german attempt at amarillo is good marketing, but their attempt failed. Not unpleasant by any means.

 

[badducky]

I'm bottling an Amber ale that's Dusseldorf Alt-style-though-not-quite, today, that I dry hopped with Smaragd. The hop bill was 1.5 Northern Brewer @60, then dry hopped throughout the primary with Smaragd, so it should have a strong presence of emerald. It sure smells amazing. We'll see how it comes out in a few weeks, though!

 

[badducky]

So, I'm drinking the leftovers after bottling and this beer will be excellent, and the Smaragd hops are fantastic.

"Emerald Alt"

5 gallon batch:
3.15 Munich Malt LME
3.15 Bavarian Wheat LME
8 ounces of Pilsen DME (Mr. Malty suggested about 8 ounces of DME for bottling, so from a 1 pound bag of DME, set aside half and add the rest to the boil kettle.)
6 ounces of Belgian Caramunich
4 ounces of Carafa I

@60 1.5 ounces of Northern Brewer Hops for about 42 IBU
Dry hop in the primary for 7 days with 1 ounce of Smaragd hops

Safale US-05

Ferment in primary at <68F for 7 days
Secondary for 10
Bottle with the other half of the pound of pilsen DME.

The Smaragd hops really jump out with a strong spicy aroma and taste. Their description is fruity and floral. I taste a prominent noble hop spiciness in the front, which isn't in any description, but it's there. Smaragd is a slightly citrus-y version of Spalt, to my palette, with a lemon marmalade character in the aftertaste as a very pleasant note, but not the strongest note. This is clearly a noble-heritage hop. In a simpler beer with a single hop, the Smaragd might be more fruity, but in this one the Northern Brewer hops and malts are pretty dominant, with minty notes everywhere that are extremely enjoyable in conjunction with Smaragd's very spicy notes, and subdued marmalade. I am very pleased with this beer, and I suspect my wedding guests will also be very pleased with this beer.

Dry-hopping and late kettle additions with Smaragd in German-style and American beers, in my opinion, is recommended. It plays very well with Northern Brewer, and I suspect it would do a better job, in general, with more German-style hops like Magnum or Perle or Liberty than the Amarillo mentioned in the hop description. This is clearly a German hop, with a strong noble spiciness.

I got all the parts from Northern Brewer, if that sort of thing matters.

 

[McCuckerson]

smaragd ipa is quite good. needs a few more weeeks to clear, but the flavor is very nice. not citrus but fruity..

 

[McCuckerson]

The IPA turned out amazing! Fruity, not citriusy. So smooth. I will post the recipe soon

 

[badducky]

I'm sipping a simple, all-grain American-style Brown ale with Northern Brewer for bittering, and a flameout addition of much Smaragd hops, and it's a really fantastic combo. I could really see Smaragd pairing with one of the funkier, earthier bittering hops, like Cluster or Willamette, because the fruitiness can be almost overwhelming without some other notes for complexity.

Also, I think adding more citrus and spice notes would be a nice combo for aroma and flavor, like French Strisselspalt, or any of the of the true noble hops.