Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org

Author Topic: Favourite British Hop Combinations?  (Read 3274 times)

Offline OhDannyBoy!

  • Cellarman
  • **
  • Posts: 37
Favourite British Hop Combinations?
« on: November 20, 2019, 08:17:31 am »
Just wondering what folks favourite British Hop Combinations are?

Going to brew a Best Bitter with Challenger, EKG and Northdown. Going to try them all in equal amount at 85 min, 10 min and Dry Hop to see how it turns out.

Very interested to know what amounts of each hop folks would be adding and at what times for some of their FAVOURITE hop combos, like for example EKG, Cluster and Brewer's Gold? Let's say for a 5 US Gallon (18.92L) batch of quaffable 5.0% British (or British/American hybrid) Pale Ale at 30 IBUs.

Cheers! Dan. :o
« Last Edit: November 22, 2019, 10:07:53 am by OhDannyBoy! »

Offline ynotbrusum

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4882
Re: Favourite British Hop Combinations?
« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2019, 10:39:11 am »
A lot of people don't like Fuggles and then some people love them.  I am not a huge fan, but in darker British Ales, I like to add a touch of them with East Kent Goldings.  EKG is my "go to" British hop - whether solo or in tandem with Challenger, Northdown or Bramling Cross.
Hodge Garage Brewing: "Brew with a glad heart!"

Offline Barbarian Brewer

  • 1st Kit
  • *
  • Posts: 20
Re: Favourite British Hop Combinations?
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2019, 11:21:48 am »
Is there a consensus on why people do or don't like fuggles?  I've been thinking of trying them in my Irish Red.  MoreBeer.com says it's like Kent Goldings with more aroma and less "softness of Kent Goldings".
"People who drink light 'beer' don't like the taste of beer; they just like to pee alot." -Capital Brewery, Middleton, WI

Offline denny

  • Administrator
  • Retired with too much time on my hands
  • *****
  • Posts: 27093
  • Noti OR [1991.4, 287.6deg] AR
    • Dennybrew
Re: Favourite British Hop Combinations?
« Reply #3 on: November 20, 2019, 11:24:49 am »
Is there a consensus on why people do or don't like fuggles?  I've been thinking of trying them in my Irish Red.  MoreBeer.com says it's like Kent Goldings with more aroma and less "softness of Kent Goldings".

To me they smell and taste like dirt.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Offline Robert

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4214
Re: Favourite British Hop Combinations?
« Reply #4 on: November 20, 2019, 11:54:54 am »
Is there a consensus on why people do or don't like fuggles?  I've been thinking of trying them in my Irish Red.  MoreBeer.com says it's like Kent Goldings with more aroma and less "softness of Kent Goldings".

To me they smell and taste like dirt.
I still love the description I remember one English beer writer gave of Fuggles: "Fresh, English dirt in the morning."  And he meant that as a good thing!
Rob Stein
Akron, Ohio

I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.

Offline EHall

  • Brewmaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 729
Re: Favourite British Hop Combinations?
« Reply #5 on: November 20, 2019, 01:20:59 pm »
I'm one of those guys who loves fuggle amongst most of the english hops. seems it may have the same problem as summit... some folks get tangerine... I get nothing but beef broth and onion. its like a nasty french onion beer soup.

EKG, cluster and brewer's gold are a great combo too.
Phoenix, AZ

Offline goose

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1287
Re: Favourite British Hop Combinations?
« Reply #6 on: November 20, 2019, 02:36:00 pm »
I use Fuggles and EKG in my Irish Red.  Once the beer ages a bit to mellow the flavors, it is a good combination.
For ESB I use Challenger and EKG.

As you can see EKG is one of my favorites for English ales.
Goose Steingass
Wooster, OH
Society of Akron Area Zymurgists (SAAZ)
Wayne County Brew Club
Mansfield Brew Club
BJCP Certified

Offline OhDannyBoy!

  • Cellarman
  • **
  • Posts: 37
Re: Favourite British Hop Combinations?
« Reply #7 on: November 21, 2019, 11:26:26 am »

EKG, cluster and brewer's gold are a great combo too.

Sounds interesting, if not strictly British ;) What amounts of each would you be adding and at what times?
« Last Edit: November 21, 2019, 11:33:35 am by OhDannyBoy! »

Offline denny

  • Administrator
  • Retired with too much time on my hands
  • *****
  • Posts: 27093
  • Noti OR [1991.4, 287.6deg] AR
    • Dennybrew
Re: Favourite British Hop Combinations?
« Reply #8 on: November 21, 2019, 11:59:22 am »

EKG, cluster and brewer's gold are a great combo too.

Sounds interesting, if not strictly British ;) What amounts of each would you be adding and at what times?

How long is a piece of string?  ;)
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Online BrewBama

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 6055
Favourite British Hop Combinations?
« Reply #9 on: November 21, 2019, 02:07:08 pm »
... What amounts of each would you be adding and at what times?

Lately, I’ve begun thinking in ratios when it comes to hops. If I want a malt forward beer maybe just a single 100% addition from 30-60 min to hit the intended perceived IBU(s).

If I want more pronounced flavor I shoot for something like a maybe 30/70 split starting at 5, 10, 15 min until 70% of perceived IBU(s) are reached then the 30% bittering charge between 30-60 min to hit a total perceived IBU.

The hops can be added together or in ‘layers’ of different hops at different times. However, some hops are considered bittering hops and others are better for flavor and/or aroma. Some do well in either case. This is a fairly good article: https://www.morebeer.com/articles/master_hop_character

Hope this helps.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
« Last Edit: November 21, 2019, 02:11:47 pm by BrewBama »

Offline Silver_Is_Money

  • Brewer
  • ****
  • Posts: 292
  • Developer of 'Mash Made Easy'
    • Mash Made Easy, MashRite, LLC
Re: Favourite British Hop Combinations?
« Reply #10 on: November 22, 2019, 03:10:33 am »
A lot of people don't like Fuggles and then some people love them.  I am not a huge fan, but in darker British Ales, I like to add a touch of them with East Kent Goldings.  EKG is my "go to" British hop - whether solo or in tandem with Challenger, Northdown or Bramling Cross.

I'm one of those who will take Fuggle hops over EKG anytime.  I first came to that conclusion in the 80's, and it's never changed for me.

But oddly enough, I find Willamette hops to be terrible.
« Last Edit: November 22, 2019, 03:13:43 am by Silver_Is_Money »

Offline OhDannyBoy!

  • Cellarman
  • **
  • Posts: 37
Re: Favourite British Hop Combinations?
« Reply #11 on: November 22, 2019, 07:31:12 am »

EKG, cluster and brewer's gold are a great combo too.

Sounds interesting, if not strictly British ;) What amounts of each would you be adding and at what times?

How long is a piece of string?  ;)

;D I know!... Interested to know what amounts of each hop folks are adding at what times for some of their FAVOURITE hop combos like for instance EKG, Cluster, Brewer's Gold? Let's say for a 5 US Gallon (18.92L) batch of quaffable 5.0% British (or British/American hybrid) Pale Ale at 30 IBUs.

Offline Kevin

  • Brewmaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 726
  • Great beer. Less work. More fun.
Re: Favourite British Hop Combinations?
« Reply #12 on: November 22, 2019, 08:11:30 am »
Fuggle and EKG mainly but keep in mind that England imported a LOT of hops from America. The varieties are hard to pin down since the brew logs often didn't say anything more than "Pacific" or "New York".
“He was a wise man who invented beer.”
- Plato

Offline Robert

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4214
Re: Favourite British Hop Combinations?
« Reply #13 on: November 22, 2019, 08:18:57 am »
Fuggle and EKG mainly but keep in mind that England imported a LOT of hops from America. The varieties are hard to pin down since the brew logs often didn't say anything more than "Pacific" or "New York".
Cluster will be as close as we can get to any of those old American hops, and will have a reasonably similar character to what they would have been like.   Any modern American hops will be inappropriate as substitutes.
Rob Stein
Akron, Ohio

I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.

Offline Northern_Brewer

  • Assistant Brewer
  • ***
  • Posts: 158
  • British - apparently some US company stole my name
Re: Favourite British Hop Combinations?
« Reply #14 on: November 22, 2019, 09:22:00 am »
Fuggle and EKG mainly but keep in mind that England imported a LOT of hops from America. The varieties are hard to pin down since the brew logs often didn't say anything more than "Pacific" or "New York".

In the 19th century maybe (so - before the invention of bitter or crystal), but not much since WWI until very recently. The invention of pasteurisation massively reduced demand for hops for preservation.

Put me firmly in Team Goldings, I've never particularly got on with Fuggles. But one thing to remember is that we have weather in the UK, so you can get very marked differences between vintages of hops. August 2017 was very overcast and so everything came out a bit earthy, whereas the heatwave of 2018 "vaporised" a lot of the fruity aromatics (particularly in hops like BX) and you were left with quite an austere bitterness.

Also in the same way that we don't get the pick of the Citra or Mosaic crop, US homebrewers will be last in line for the best of the UK hops...

So give me Goldings for preference, but mixing them say 2:1 with a fruity one like Bramling Cross, Bullion or Jester can be delicious in brown bitters. And a recent surprise was a Godiva SMaSH, although Godiva is a new Farams variety that's almost unobtainable even here. It won't give Citra any sleepless nights but delicious all the same.