What to do with these hops? And what hops to get?

[Huey]

I picked up a Tap-a-draft system off of Craigslist the other day and the guy had some vacuum packed hops to I bought a pound of a few different types.

I have:

• 1/2 lb Tettnanger
• 1/4 lb Spalt
• 1/4 lb Ahtanum

I used some of the Ahtanum for a stout since that's what I had and I wanted to get my first beer going (I've been mainly making Apfelwein.)

The types of beers I'm primarily interested in brewing to start out with are APA, IPA, bitters, graff and stouts. Next up is probably the Bee Cave Brewery Haus Pale Ale or Graff. Maybe both.

How will these varieties of hops work for the types of beers I'm looking to brew? The Tettnanger and Spalt seem to be recommended for lagers such as pilsners and kolshes. I'm guessing they'll work alright for these other brews but I figured I'd check.

I'm thinking about picking up a pound or two from hopsdirect.com after seeing their wonderful prices. What type of hop would compliment what I already have for my beer styles? I don't have a vacuum sealer system so I'm hoping to just get one or two more types that I can use for most of these beers so I can use them up in a reasonable amount of time.

Cheers.

 

[Bob]

Hops is hops. Spalt and Tettnang are good in lots of different Continental styles. Light lagers to bock, Koelsch and Alt. In fact, Spalt is often considered the signature variety for Alt.

That said, you can brew anything you like, regardless of the variety. My Mild, for example, uses Hallertau, even though EKG or Fuggles are a far better choice; Hallertau was what I had on hand when I brewed the best batch, so that's what's in the recipe.

You've got a pretty good mix there except for a decidedly English variety. But that's of little concern.

APA, IPA: Ahtanum. That variety has many of the floral, citrus characteristics so necessary in American styles.

Bitter: Depends on exactly how "true" you want to be. Me, I <3 Bitter with non-traditional flavor/aroma varieties; I think an Ordinary Bitter dry-hopped with Tettnang would be freakin' delicious.

Stout: Doesn't matter, because you're hopefully not wasting flavor/aroma hops on Stout. Use whatever variety has the highest AA%.

If you want a versatile variety, Willamette always gets my vote. It's a Fuggles cultivar, so it has many of the same characteristics. I find it useful for my favorite beers: English and Belgian styles. Not so much for American styles, as it's not as distinctively American.

Don't worry overmuch about the vacuum sealer. If you buy pellets, you can repackage in ZipLoc-type bags and stop worrying about it. I happened to have a box of small ZipLoc baggies, so I repackaged my pellets into convenient 1-ounce increments. Keep 'em in the freezer, double-bagged. You'll be fine. If you start buying whole hops in bulk, then start worrying about vacuum-packing.

Bob

 

[Huey]

Thanks for the great info Bob.

I'm looking at getting Willamette or Cascade for general use in a number of different beers. Or maybe another general use hop if someone has a different recommendation.

It will probably take me 8 months to get through a pound of these hops. Should I also get a bittering hop like Chinook or Columbus for stouts:

Stout: Doesn't matter, because you're hopefully not wasting flavor/aroma hops on Stout. Use whatever variety has the highest AA%.

Or just burn through some Cascade / Willamette bittering stouts to I go through my supply of hops quicker to keep them fresher?

I understand that the bittering hops have morer AAUs per $ but would the trade off in freshness of the hops be worth when I'm still going through the same two pounds of hop pellets in a years time?

Any advantages besides cost to using bittering hops over something like Willamette?

 

[Bob]

Not really. In order to get real bang for your buck, you're looking for a variety that gives decent bittering as well as flavor/aroma characteristics. You're also looking for something fairly "flavor-neutral"; you don't want a really distinctive flavor/aroma.

Willamette generally can get that done for you. While Cascades usually have good AA% and awesome flavor, they're 100% and obviously American. You really can't brew a Belgian Dubbel with Cascades. But you can brew that style using Willamette. You can brew more styles with Willamette (or some other "earthy, vegetal" hops variety).

As for also buying a high-alpha hops, you might, so long as the flavor/aroma characteristics are good and neutral. Target is a good one, as are Magnum and Challenger. Amarillo and Chinook are excellent, but they're obviously American in flavor, restricting your options.

Again, freshness really isn't an issue with pellets over that amount of time, so long as they're kept sealed - ZipLocs - and in the freezer.

Bob