Opinions Please

I have a happy willamette hop plant that has left me with about a pound of hops taking up space in my freezer. I’m giving a lot of them away to brewing friends, but am wondering what you think the best all grain beer would be to use a lot of them up? Recipes or styles - all appreciated.

Willamette is pretty versatile. You could make a really good ESB out of them. Or throw them into an American brown ale, or a porter or stout. Russian imperial stout would be very tasty. You can even use them in Belgians and German lagers if you want to try something different. It’s all good.

I agree with Dave, Williamette is a very versatile hop. It is the same hop as Fuggles or Styrian Golden, though because it is grown in the Pacific NW it has slightly different characteristics from those, but it is still close enough to be used interchangeably in any recipe that calls for them.

So yes, it works well in pretty much any British style beer and a number of Belgian ones. It has some earthy character to it, so brown ale are good or really anything that has a good malty backbone and you aren’t aiming for a hop bomb.

Thanks for the feedback. I planted willamette because I like english ales, brown ales, and stouts. I have a hard time imagining it at work in a belgian. Are there commercial examples of willamette in what would be an unusual or out of style place?

Styrian Golden is often used as the bittering hop in Belgian beers, and it is the same cultivar as Williamette. One of the things I like about this hop is that it can keep to the background when you want the malt or yeast flavors to dominate the beer profile, as is common in Belgian beers.