Least Favorite Hops?

Nothing stands out too much for me, but I have not tried as many varieties as others have, I think.

Fuggles stands out as one that has some ability to offend. I have had beers with it that I really did not like. At the same time I have had some with fuggles which I did like. So for me, I guess it is a matter of finding the right place for it.

Citra

Oh yeah. I am a huge fan of both Amarillo and Perle, but when I combined them in a pale ale last summer and did a hop stand I found the beer to be overly fruity and one diminutional. Definitely too much of a good thing.[/quote]
You see, to me that just means that I need more hop variety to balance it out. If it were me, I’d just try adding some Columbus, Apollo or Nelson the next time I brewed that beer.[/quote]
Except I started this thread saying how much I hate Columbus…

Not a fan of Nelson Sauvin. I can handle Citra in small amounts but don’t love it either.

My vote is for Citra as well, but FWIW, it seems like this is a love it or hate it hop, but like i’ve said, i hate it. Also not a fan of summit.

Fuggles…like licking earth funk

CTZ…that harsh bitterness gets me

I just can’t do Fuggles like I can’t do Briess base.

I use Fuggles / Willamette (interchangeable to me) for at least 1/3 of my beers. Love it. As Gordon Strong writes, it is kind of like the damp, leafy, woods smell after a rain. English have used em for centuries as their second favorite hop, so they must not be Too bad, as they coulda imported and grown Hallertaur if they’d wanted.

As to the posters saying they’d “just add more varieties of hops,” I gotta say: Just as there is such a thing as adding too many kinds of grain, the same is true for hops. Recipes with multi varieties of hops taste muddy and indistinct to me.

Sorachi Ace. Pledge.

[quote=“beermebeavis”]I use Fuggles / Willamette (interchangeable to me) for at least 1/3 of my beers. Love it. As Gordon Strong writes, it is kind of like the damp, leafy, woods smell after a rain. English have used em for centuries as their second favorite hop, so they must not be Too bad, as they coulda imported and grown Hallertaur if they’d wanted.

As to the posters saying they’d “just add more varieties of hops,” I gotta say: Just as there is such a thing as adding too many kinds of grain, the same is true for hops. Recipes with multi varieties of hops taste muddy and indistinct to me.[/quote]
The English could also have imported French cooking techniques, but didn’t for centuries. You might not want to base decisions of taste on what the English did.

That said, I agree with you. I also use Fuggles / Willamette interchangeably and regularly, and I will rarely use more than two hop varieties in a given beer.

While I certainly wouldn’t recommend that course of action universally, I think if your chief complaint of a particular hop or hop combo is that it tastes like too much of any one particular thing, then adding another hop variety or two for added depth and complexity is certainly a valid option.

For example, I love Citra but I would never use it as a single hop - it is just potent, monotone mango to me. But I use it in just about every APA or IPA I brew. Once you pair it with something citrusy, it adds a fantastic depth of flavor that I really enjoy.

CTZ for the most part. Way too dominant. I love Chinook though. I’ve got cat pee from Citra and Simcoe at times and not at all with other beers. Must be a crop thing.

Wow, I’m surprised that there are so many haters of simcoe, Amarillo and chinook. All three of those are my favorite IPA hops. Not a fan of fuggles and citra though.

[quote=“rebuiltcellars”][quote=“beermebeavis”]I use Fuggles / Willamette (interchangeable to me) for at least 1/3 of my beers. Love it. As Gordon Strong writes, it is kind of like the damp, leafy, woods smell after a rain. English have used em for centuries as their second favorite hop, so they must not be Too bad, as they coulda imported and grown Hallertaur if they’d wanted.

As to the posters saying they’d “just add more varieties of hops,” I gotta say: Just as there is such a thing as adding too many kinds of grain, the same is true for hops. Recipes with multi varieties of hops taste muddy and indistinct to me.[/quote]
The English could also have imported French cooking techniques, but didn’t for centuries. You might not want to base decisions of taste on what the English did.

That said, I agree with you. I also use Fuggles / Willamette interchangeably and regularly, and I will rarely use more than two hop varieties in a given beer.[/quote]

French food way overrated. Nothing like fish and chips with malt vinegar along with my ale.

[quote=“beermebeavis”][quote=“rebuiltcellars”][quote=“beermebeavis”]I use Fuggles / Willamette (interchangeable to me) for at least 1/3 of my beers. Love it. As Gordon Strong writes, it is kind of like the damp, leafy, woods smell after a rain. English have used em for centuries as their second favorite hop, so they must not be Too bad, as they coulda imported and grown Hallertaur if they’d wanted.

As to the posters saying they’d “just add more varieties of hops,” I gotta say: Just as there is such a thing as adding too many kinds of grain, the same is true for hops. Recipes with multi varieties of hops taste muddy and indistinct to me.[/quote]
The English could also have imported French cooking techniques, but didn’t for centuries. You might not want to base decisions of taste on what the English did.

That said, I agree with you. I also use Fuggles / Willamette interchangeably and regularly, and I will rarely use more than two hop varieties in a given beer.[/quote]

French food way overrated. Nothing like fish and chips with malt vinegar along with my ale.[/quote]
You picked out one of the few British dishes that almost everyone can agree is great. But I just got back from some time in Paris, and I don’t think the food is overrated at all. You can eat duck every day for a week there, and every night the duck can be prepared to have a totally different character, but all astonishingly good.

Sorry I’m getting off track here, but I just gotta say: Duck is some of the best and worst dish I’ve ever had-- Thai Kang ped pet yang was heaven. Another time I had duck and it was cooked ‘rare.’ WTS?! about couldn’t choke it down.

BTW check out Chicken Country Captain recipe. Pair with Dubbel. Heaven. Eating now.

Yea I think so. Area and growing conditions seem to play a part.
The pellet hops from Hop Union in 2012 had a very nice cat quality.
The leaf hops from Yakima Valley was tropical fruity. Very nice but no cattiness.

I have yet to open the bag of Citra pellets from Hops Direct. I can only hope. Meeoow!

My least favorite hop would be Fuggles. Ever try Shipyards all- Fuggle IPA? Yeck.

[quote=“sonex”]Wow, I’m surprised that there are so many haters of simcoe, Amarillo and chinook. All three of those are my favorite IPA hops. quote]
Not me.
Nothing but LOVE,LOVE and fricken LOVE! Columbus too.

[quote=“beermebeavis”]Sorry I’m getting off track here, but I just gotta say: Duck is some of the best and worst dish I’ve ever had-- Thai Kang ped pet yang was heaven. Another time I had duck and it was cooked ‘rare.’ WTS?! about couldn’t choke it down.

BTW check out Chicken Country Captain recipe. Pair with Dubbel. Heaven. Eating now.[/quote]
Never heard of that dish before, but I’ve got a few bottles of Dubbel left from a fall brew. I’ll give it a try, thanks.

I’d have to say Amarillo, not a fan of the fruitiness of it. Just did an APA using only Amarillo and I’m not a fan.

northern brewer, calypso, el dorado, fuggles

Citra is okay in small amounts, but it can be overly dominant if too much is used.

1 Like