Does anyone have any experience using these? I haven’t been able to find much info on them or many recipes that use them. I was thinking these could be interesting in a saison.
Aramis is the product of a 2002 cross between the French variety Strisselspalt and the English variety WGV (Whitbread Golding Variety). Aramis has very fine aromas, which it has inherited from the Strisselspalt line. It has sweet, spicy notes, with hints of citrus and herbs. Its aroma and alpha acid content allow it to be used at all stages of hopping.
I haven’t used or heard of these hops, but I agree with your idea about using them in a saison. Saisons are a broad enough style where they can incorporate weird hops (like Sorachi Ace). I will also say that the description you provided sounds like they would work great with a saison.
I will say, that if you are trying to get a sense of the hop with a beer, I might recommend a simple pale ale instead, as the phenolics/esters from saison yeasts can get in the way of hop aroma/flavor. Maybe a 80/10/10 2-row/munich/c20 or c40 APA with a neutral bittering hop like Magnum, then multiple additions of the Aramis late. This will allow the hops to be very perceivable, and you may be able to better figure out how to use them in the future.
Stone also used Aramis in their Japanese Green Tea IPA a few years ago. I’ve also got a brewery in town that does farmhouse styles and uses Aramis in quite a bit of their offerings. They actually post their grainbills and measurements so I could use those as starting points.
