Beer Brewing

Alternative bittering agents in beer is a topic I’ve explored both from historical curiosity and practical necessity — there are periods when hops become expensive, scarce, or simply when I want to experiment with what beer tasted like before hops …

Citra is the hop I use more than any other in modern IPAs and pale ales — it’s become essentially the default for tropical citrus character in American craft brewing, and for good reason.

Mosaic is the hop that changed how I think about complexity in a single variety. Before Mosaic, I assumed an interesting IPA needed three or four different hops to build layered character — then I made a single-hop Mosaic NEIPA …

Cascade is the hop that defined American craft brewing — before Citra, before Mosaic, before the explosion of specialty varieties, Cascade was the hop that made American ales taste American.

Saaz is the hop I use in every Czech Pilsner I brew, and I’ve never found a substitute that fully replicates what authentic Bohemian Saaz does in the finished beer.

Simcoe is the hop that I think defined a generation of American IPAs — the pine, passion fruit, and earthy combination produced the flavor profile that made Sierra Nevada Torpedo and a hundred other West Coast IPAs what they are.

Strata is one of those hop varieties where the flavor description reads like it shouldn’t work but does — passion fruit, cannabis/hash, citrus, and strawberry in a combination that sounds chaotic but produces genuinely interesting beers.

Idaho 7 is one of the most intensely aromatic American hops I’ve used — the first time I dry hopped a NEIPA with it, the tropical stone fruit character in the finished beer was immediately distinctive and more intense than …

Sabro is the hop variety that most surprised me in terms of how much flavor character it packs into a small dry hop addition.

El Dorado is the hop that I describe as candy-tropical when I’m trying to convey the character to someone who hasn’t used it.