[roguejim]

I'm getting back into the English ale kick, and see that there is a domestic Challenger hop available through Hops Direct.  How close to the English hop is it? 

How critical to an English pale is the bittering hop?  If I used Magnum in place of either Challenger or Target, would it be obvious in the glass, provided I stuck to either EKGs or Fuggles as the flavor/aroma addition?

[dak0415]

I my experience for bittering, you are better off using northern brewer (or Northdown) than magnum.  If NB, target, and challenger are not available, I recently used Perle in a porter and it was great.  Otherwise, just use EKG for bittering.  The flavor profile from magnum is not bad, it's just so different that it's disappointing.

[bluesman]

I my experience for bittering, you are better off using northern brewer (or Northdown) than magnum. 

+1

Northern Brewer is a great bittering hop for English Ales and I like to use UK EKG's for flavor and aroma in my ESB.
Challenger is also pretty good but go with the imports if you can.

[BrewingRover]

Has anyone used the domestic Challengers? I like them a lot as a late hop and I'd love to be able to buy a pound at Hops Direct prices. But only if the flavor is similar enough to the imports.