Suggest IPA Hops

[WestMichBrewer]

I'm looking for some suggestions on hops to use in an IPA I'm formulating.
In the past I've used Centennial, Simcoe and Cascade and to me they almost define the American IPA style.
I have seen others pop up in recipes here and there, like Citra and Mosaic, but wondered if there are any other hops being used out there that stand out above the crowd for this style.

Thanks in advance!

 

[JonM]

I've started using a lot of Nugget in my IPAs. It's a fantastic all-American IPA hop that I think is overshadowed by the Citras and the Amarillos.

Columbus is awesome too.

 

[ejf063]

Simcoe..... I really like how Simcoe seems to pair so well with a more red ipa. Simcoe is awesome, tho.

 

[charliethebum]

What kind of flavor profile are you looking for? Piney, citrus, floral, fruity, earthy, dank? Your choice of hops will depend greatly on your answer to that.

 

[agrazela]

What kind of flavor profile are you looking for? Piney, citrus, floral, fruity, earthy, dank? Your choice of hops will depend greatly on your answer to that.

True dat.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I'd suggest humulus lupulus for the hops. Anything more specific would be too restrictive.

Define the beer by choosing a hop. Just about anything can be used.

Mikkeller makes a fantastic IPA with Saaz.

 

[filthyastronaut]

Galaxy, Ahtanum, Apollo, Chinook, Willamette, Bravo, to name a few!

 

[WestMichBrewer]

What kind of flavor profile are you looking for? Piney, citrus, floral, fruity, earthy, dank? Your choice of hops will depend greatly on your answer to that.

Fair questions, but I guess I don't know...wanting to try some other popular combos.

Piney and citrusy are how I'd describe the hops I mentioned before.

I've had a Citra IPA that tasted too much like grapefruit so maybe shy away from that a little.

I've seen a lot of mention of "dank" recently and wonder if people really mean "damp and musty" or if this term has taken on a new meaning for beer.

 

[charliethebum]

https://www.hopunion.com/aroma-wheel/
This should help. I'd describe "dank" as Woody, earthy tones.

 

[JonM]

A great thing to do is try commercial brews that use a single hop and find out what you like best. Some examples:

Bell's Two Hearted - Centennial
Toppling Goliath Golden Nugget - nugget
Deschutes Fresh Squeezed/Zombie Dust - Citra (and Mosaic, which is really similar)
Three Floyds Gumballhead - Amarillo.

Or brew a couple small IPA batches using an identical grain bills but a different hop in each. Bonus if you do them all at the same time and pour a couple bottles together to get an idea of hop combos.

You can also do the trick of getting some Amstel light or some other neutral-flavored beer with a pry-off cap, add a couple pellets of a particular hop, recap and taste in a 4-5 days.

 

[Redlantern]

Fair questions, but I guess I don't know...wanting to try some other popular combos.

Piney and citrusy are how I'd describe the hops I mentioned before.

I've had a Citra IPA that tasted too much like grapefruit so maybe shy away from that a little.

I've seen a lot of mention of "dank" recently and wonder if people really mean "damp and musty" or if this term has taken on a new meaning for beer.

Dank, kind of darker, earthy, resinous. Spice and pine with a bit of citrus - Chinook brings that image to mind for me. Luvs me some Chinook!!

 

[WestMichBrewer]

Dank, kind of darker, earthy, resinous. Spice and pine with a bit of citrus - Chinook brings that image to mind for me. Luvs me some Chinook!!

Good to know - "damp and musty" doesn't really sound all that appealing in a beer to me!

 

[BaylessBrewer]

Just brewed a IIPA with cascade and simcoe in the boil/hopstand and dry hopped it with Columbus and Kohatu. Smells like a hop goddess would smell in my mind and tastes like heaven.

 

[HomebrewSupply]

In the right context (and depending on the flavor/aroma profile you're aiming for) pretty much any hops could work. Personally, I'm a big fan of Galaxy and Amarillo, and I've got some Zythos and Apollo on hand that I'm going to try in a hoppy Pale Ale soon (either separately or together).

 

[slym2none]

Founder's has an all-Azzaca brew out right now, and the latest (I think) SN Beer Camp Tropical IPA is pretty heavy on the Azzaca, I am guessing. The two beers taste so similar they could be twins.

 

[dstockwell]

Falconer's Flight

 

[normonster]

Good to know - "damp and musty" doesn't really sound all that appealing in a beer to me!

I like my women like my IPAs, Damp and Musty....

Nope, that doesn't work!!!

 

[slym2none]

Good to know - "damp and musty" doesn't really sound all that appealing in a beer to me!

Actually, "dank" (at least as far as I thought) means it smells like marijuana. Columbus is very "dank" to me.

 

[TonyKZ1]

All those sound good, one of the IPAs I made recently had chinook hops in the recipe, it smelled great while brewing and tasted pretty good too!

 

[Roland_deschain]

For my tastes its Citra all day long!

 

[charliethebum]

The best beer I've ever brewed was a citra/mosaic ipa with nugget for bittering. I was shooting for a deschutes fresh squeezed clone but it was waaay better imo

 

[Ruckusz28]

Check out the hopunion wheel and see what you like. Usually when I try new hops, i'll do a small batch smash just to get the taste into my brain. Most recently I did a NZ IPA using Rakau, Wakatu, and Galaxy hops. Motueka, Belma, and some of the experimentals have been gaining interest.

 

[skoodog]

A great thing to do is try commercial brews that use a single hop and find out what you like best. Some examples:

Bell's Two Hearted - Centennial
Toppling Goliath Golden Nugget - nugget
Deschutes Fresh Squeezed/Zombie Dust - Citra (and Mosaic, which is really similar)
Three Floyds Gumballhead - Amarillo.

Or brew a couple small IPA batches using an identical grain bills but a different hop in each. Bonus if you do them all at the same time and pour a couple bottles together to get an idea of hop combos.

You can also do the trick of getting some Amstel light or some other neutral-flavored beer with a pry-off cap, add a couple pellets of a particular hop, recap and taste in a 4-5 days.

Is Mosaic really that similar to Citra? It tastes almost sour to me (vs Citra which tastes like a hop bine did a three-way with a pineapple and an apricot). Hops & Grain here in Austin does an all-Mosaic IPA and it's flavor has almost earthy tones to it (they also use a lot of German malts which may be heavily affecting the flavor).

Not trolling, I just never really put the two hops in the same flavor profile (and surprised Fresh Squeezed uses them both - it's one of my favorite IPAs)!

 

[JonM]

I read somewhere (I think, IIRC, etc.) that Mosaic is kind of a super-Citra the way Centennial is a super-Cascade.

EDIT: I'll be damned. It's a descendant of Simcoe, not Citra. But it has the mango fruity thing like Citra.

 

[specharka]

Gonna piggyback on this thread a bit...

I recently bought 10 lb of hops and I'm looking to use a lb or so in an upcoming session IPA. Recipe is based on Braufessor's East Coast IPA (using Conan yeast)...looking for a hazy, fruity punch. I've got the following odd varieties at my disposal:
Ella
Cluster
Columbus
Warrior

Anybody have experience with these hops?

 

[Ruckusz28]

In michigan, founders did a SMASH using golden promise and Mosaic called Mosaic Promise. Maybe it was just this year's batch, but I didn't think it tasted much anything like Citra. Then again, everybody tastes differently.

 

[evchenko]

The best beer I've ever brewed was a citra/mosaic ipa with nugget for bittering. I was shooting for a deschutes fresh squeezed clone but it was waaay better imo

+1 to the Citra/Mosaic combo for me, best IPA I've done to date.

 

[ejf063]

Gonna piggyback on this thread a bit...

I recently bought 10 lb of hops and I'm looking to use a lb or so in an upcoming session IPA. Recipe is based on Braufessor's East Coast IPA (using Conan yeast)...looking for a hazy, fruity punch. I've got the following odd varieties at my disposal:
Ella
Cluster
Columbus
Warrior

Anybody have experience with these hops?

I used both Columbus and Warrior. I have never used Warrior for anything other than bittering. Columbus on the other hand, (and I hope the OP takes a little note on this) is a very well balanced hop that I have successfully used for bittering, flavoring and aroma-ing. It is probably the hop I use the most. I have paired it well with Citra, too. And one can easily score a pound of Columbus for under $12.

Now, (back to the OP), as I mentioned earlier in this thread, my attention is with Simcoe. I don't know what it is about that hop, but I really like it. Simcoe pairs very well with Amarillo, too. I suppose Simcoe would pair well with any of the "C" hops which impart that citrusy flavor.

No matter what you do, as long as there are enough hops in your IPA you should have a nice beer. Someone mentioned earlier that everyone's tastes are different. Agreed! One person my love a specific hop, but that hop could taste like onion to another taster. The 'unknown' about this hobby is what I like the most. And if I ever made a beer with a hop I didn't like, I am certain there are plenty of people in my neighborhood and in this forum that would do me the favor of taking the beer off my hands.

I really cant wait to hear what you decide on AND the outcome.

 

[m00ps]

Gonna piggyback on this thread a bit...

I recently bought 10 lb of hops and I'm looking to use a lb or so in an upcoming session IPA. Recipe is based on Braufessor's East Coast IPA (using Conan yeast)...looking for a hazy, fruity punch. I've got the following odd varieties at my disposal:
Ella
Cluster
Columbus
Warrior

Anybody have experience with these hops?

cluster isnt really suited for an IPA. its more noble-ish but slightly higher aa%

ella is great. Spicy, with some grapefruit peel going on

columbus is a classic american IPA hop. resiny, citrus, pine

warrior is basically bittering only IMO

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

cluster isnt really suited for an IPA. its more noble-ish but slightly higher aa%

warrior is basically bittering only IMO

Double Mountain and Smuttynose disagree about the cluster.

Flying Dog disagrees on the warrior.

All rate respectably.

 

[Zekk]

I love mixing Simcoe and Amarillo. Granted I like my IPAs to be very fruity and with a lot of citrus. Grapefruit sculpin and Fresh Squeezed are my two favorite IPAs.

 

[normonster]

I love mixing Simcoe and Amarillo. Granted I like my IPAs to be very fruity and with a lot of citrus. Grapefruit sculpin and Fresh Squeezed are my two favorite IPAs.

Well I hated Citra the time I used it but it sounds perfect for you. The stuff is on another level of fruitiness IMO.

 

[Magnus314]

I go in stretches where I love one Hop best. Amarillo is my current favorite.

 

[Zekk]

Well I hated Citra the time I used it but it sounds perfect for you. The stuff is on another level of fruitiness IMO.

Never used it but I might try it. Had a local brewery's pale ale that they advertised as being heavy on the Citra, it was not good. Otoh most of their beers are not good either.

 

[normonster]

Haha...yeah, when I used it it was like 4 oz in a ten gallon batch at flameout/whirlpool and out the gate it tasted like I added orange and grapefruit juice...a lot! Aged 2 months plus and I can finally drink a few pints of it now and then because it's mellowed a bit.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I go in stretches where I love one Hop best.

This.

But if I have learned anything about hop usage, it is to NEVER relegate any hop to single use.

I've realized my most interesting beers through use of hops outside of their accepted applications.

 

[hanuswalrus]

Has anybody mentioned El Dorado? That is an awesome hop. Probably my favorite after Simcoe

 

[Sailingeric]

I did an IPA with New Zealand only hops that was very tasty, Nelson Sauvin and Pacific Gem.

 

[slym2none]

I need to learn how to layer hops. Anything I come up with on my own (for hop-forward beers) all have the same hops in each addition. I need to learn how to get one flavour in at 20 minutes, maybe mix two kinds at 5 minutes, then throw a flameout addition of just the second one, or maybe with a third.

That's one of those things I just don't know yet.

 

[te-wa]

i just made a belgian red (ipa) with citra, mosaic, and bavarian mandarina. tastes like a pound of orange zest.. with the 550 slightly spicy yeast it is really good.
i'll be using mandarina hops in the future, fo' sho'.