Hop pairing

[Peatbogbrewer]

Fairly new to this game (brewing and forums). I get bogged down with the multitude of info regarding hops and it's more like trial and error that guides my hop pairing. Are there any general rules for making good hop choices? Are there some definite no no's in hop pairing? Cheers

[barry44]

What have you used so far?

I pair my hops with trial and error too but I stay around quite known hops and only combine new hops after single hopping them first.

[GrowlingDogBeer]

I tend to look at other people's recipes. Especially the more experienced brewers on here.

[Beer O'Clock]

There's a wealth of information in the Hops section. Have a trawl through that and I'm sure you can draw a few conclusions.

[Peatbogbrewer]

Cheers, I think the single hop brews is the way for me

[Fuggled Mind]

Why not start a post asking what hop combos work for forum users in the hop section. As well as some well tried and tested combinations, I'm sure you will see some of the more unusual ones mentioned too.

A less common pairing that worked well for me was a blonde ale using nugget for bittering and Hallertauer Tradition for flavour and aroma.

Personally, I enjoy experimenting but sometimes, a combination that works well for one brewer might not work well for another. Hops are often about personal taste.

Cheers

Jason

[Rick_UK]

I think choosing the right hops for the style is the first hurdle. Hop choice becomes more important with pale ales where the hop flavours dominate more than in darker beers and stouts where the roast malts take centre stage.

I'm by no means an expert but I always think in terms of 3 main hop flavours - floral (goldings, first gold, bobek, hallertau), citrusy (citra, cascade, amarillo) earthy (fuggles, challenger). Any combo of floral and citrusy works well in a pale ale for me. Darker ales and stouts, where added, are usually earthy - fuggles foe me.

Ultimately it's largely down to personal taste and experimentation though. I find I can get all my favourite hop flavours with just using goldings, bobek, citra and fuggles. I'm not the biggest hop head though!

Rick

[alecwallace]

I think the others have summed it up, but if you're after classic combinations and nothing too whacky or experimental, look at what the commercial brews use. Brewdog for example list the hops used on their website. This way you know what works, and have a beer to compare it too. Then after a while you'll have an instinct for hops because of the number of brews you've done.

All in all though, I don't think many hop combos will make a "bad" beer, but more the use and handling of the hops and process faults that will cause a beer to be unpalatable.

[barry44]

Re hop combos, I love cascade and Amarillo in a pale ale with magnum for Bittering.

The best beer I made was a combo of cascade, Amarillo and citra.



I've also found that centennial and Amarillo is a really good combo as well, again with magnum to bitter.

[Clibit]

You need to find out what you like, cos we all hsve different tastes. I have checked out the ingredients of commercial craft beers I have enjoyed to work out hop combos to try out in my own brews. The brewery website often gives the hops for their brews, ratebeer often does, or you can Google the beer with the words clone and recipe. As you make more beers you will get to know more hops, and single hop beers tell you a lot obviously. I've split most of my brews 2 or 3 ways to try different hops, using smaller boiling pots, and it's quicker to get up to boiling temp!

I have lots of part used packets of hops in the freezer! And lots of different beers on the shelves....