This is what we’ve got laying around. Do you think they would play well together in a brew?
I was thinking nugget for the bittering hop and citra for flavor/aroma.
Perhaps a pale ale of sorts.
Thoughts?
I’ve never used Nugget. But according to the Hop Union hand book http://www.hopunion.com/17_HopVarietyHa … fm?p3=open it appears to be an excellent bittering hop. I have used Citra and I can attest to the fact that it a fabulous aroma hop. So I’d have to say you’re on the right track.
Nugget is a good, high alpha bittering hop. To me, I get piny notes versus the typical citrusy thing with citra. I personally wouldn’t use them together, but it’s up to you. Give it a try.
I don’t see any problems combining Nugget and Citra. IMO if you have to brew with only those hops, I would use Nugget for bittering and then combine Nugget and Citra for aroma. I would not use either hop by itself for flavor/aroma.
Why not?
[quote=“stompwampa”]
Why not?[/quote]
I did not like Citra in a single-hop beer. Found it too fruity and one-dimensional. I’ve never done a single-hop with Nugget, but given my experience with it, I would use it like Northern Brewer–for bittering and in combination with other hops for aroma/flavor.
Just my two cents.
I cannot stand Nugget. Personal taste probably, but its bittering effects are too cloying and its flavor contributions seem to always throw in a little bit of cheesy qualities despite freshness.
Citra, on the other hand, I probably use more than I should. I always blend it like most people have said because the hop solo aspect of citra leaves something to be desired.
Nugget has become my house bittering strain for hoppy beers as of late. It doesn’t have quite as much bite as something like Chinook or Columbus, but it isn’t as clean as Magnum, either. I haven’t used it for late hops yet, however.
And Citra seems to find a way into the majority of my IPA’s and APA’s, but I always pair it with at least one more fruity hop to add some depth to the fruitiness. I think of Citra as a strong base that says “this is a fruit bomb”, but it’s rather monotone and needs some complimentary hop notes to fill out the aroma and add some complexity.
My biggest concern is that the two seem to have opposite flavor & aroma profiles. Not sure how well they’d blend together.
I thought ‘cloying’ meant ‘sweet’ (?)
To the OP, I personally think these would work fine together. Have you ever had Nugget Nectar by Troegs? That is Warrior, CTZ and Nugget, I’m guessing the latter two are the late additions. I personally am not a huge fan of the beer, but depending on your system, a quick brewday for 5G of APA is not a huge risk to take if you want to see how the hops play together.
Do it up.
Thanks for the feedback.
I’m leaning towards the whole “might as well try it out!” idea.
Either way, beer will be made.
And…if it sucks…I can give it away!
Good move.
I would keep a simple grain bill, such as 80% 2row, 10% munich, 10% wheat, then:
-citra FWH
-nugget bittering
-nugget/citra @ 20, 15, 10, 5, FO and maybe dry hop. You could either blend the two for each addition, or alternate, though I have found with the latter that sometimes one hop can blow away the other. In the case of my last APA, the Simcoe totally overwhelmed the Galaxy when I alternated at the 20, 15, 10, 5, FO additions.
I just want to wish you good luck, we’re all counting on you.
It’s worth noting that Troegs also use Nugget in their Hopback Amber. For my money, one of the best amber ales available.
Malts: Pilsner, Munich, Crystal
Hops: Cascade, Williamette, Nugget
HopBack Hops: Nugget, Crystal
Yeast: Ale
I also love Nugget Nectar. Better than Hopslam IMO.
I’ve used citra and nugget with cascade in my last IPA and I liked it very much. My experience with citra is that it can dominate other hops in terms of flavor, so I used about half as much citra compared with the nugget/cascade.
I thought ‘cloying’ meant ‘sweet’ (?)
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I had to look it up after you said that. It was obviously a word that I appropriated without actually researching. I guess it can mean “richness” and not necessarily “sweetness” but all the pings are bending in your direction when it comes to the term as a beer descriptor.
So I suppose what I meant was that the bitterness had a long, hard aftertaste that overwhelmed the rest of the beers that I’d used it for as a bittering hop.
I’ll have to look up the above mentioned brewskis. You guys haven’t steered me wrong yet.
