Lemondrop is one of those hop varieties that does exactly what the name suggests, and I say that as someone who’s skeptical of varieties with obvious flavor-descriptor names.
Liberty is the American noble-style hop I use when I want continental character from a domestic variety.
Hersbrucker is the German noble hop I return to whenever I’m brewing a traditional Bavarian lager and want the herbal, slightly floral character that defines southern German hop culture.
Hallertau Tradition is a German hop variety I’ve used in Helles and Pilsner recipes where I wanted the reliability of a modern Hallertau selection without sacrificing the classic noble character.
Saphir is a German hop variety I discovered when researching alternatives to standard Hallertau for a Märzen I wanted to make slightly more interesting.
Spalter Select is a German noble hop that I use in German Pilsner and Kölsch recipes when I want something close to the original Spalter character but with better availability and more consistent alpha acid.
Sorachi Ace is the hop variety that divides homebrewers more than almost any other. The first time I used it in a cream ale I thought the dill character was an infection — then I tasted it again and realized …
First Gold is a UK hop variety that I think of as the dual-purpose workhorse of English ale brewing — it was specifically developed to bring higher alpha acid to the classic Goldings family without losing the floral, spicy character …
Target is a high-alpha English hop that I first used when building a traditional British bitter recipe from a 1980s homebrew book.
Apollo is the hop I reach for when I need a very high alpha acid bittering addition and want to use as little hop mass as possible.