Beer Brewing

Crystal is the American noble-style hop that surprised me the first time I used it — I expected something generic from a Hallertau cross, but Crystal has more character than its breeding description suggests.

Willamette is the American hop I use most often when I want earthy, traditional hop character without importing from England.

Perle is the German dual-purpose hop I reach for when a recipe needs a clean, herbal hop for both bittering and finishing in German or continental-style beers.

Styrian Goldings is the hop that sits between English and continental brewing in my recipe formulation — it’s a Fuggle strain cultivated in Slovenia, and the terroir difference from UK Fuggle produces a hop that’s earthy and spicy but with …

Tettnang is one of the four classic German noble hops and the one I associate most strongly with the spice and complexity dimension of German lager brewing.

Galena is one of the American bittering hops I use when I need high alpha acid for a big beer without the dank earthiness of Columbus or the premium price of Apollo.

Cashmere is a hop I started using after a homebrew club member brought a cream ale dry hopped with it and I couldn’t identify the melon-coconut character as coming from hops.

Magnum is the clean bittering hop I reach for first when a recipe needs neutral IBUs. It’s a German variety developed at the Hop Research Center Hüll in Bavaria, and it became one of the most popular bittering hops worldwide …

Azacca is the hop that replaced Amarillo in my session IPA recipe after I found a supplier had it in stock at a reasonable price and tried it on a whim.

Summit is a hop variety I treat with specific caution — it’s one of the most alpha-acid-efficient American varieties available, but it has a known tendency to produce onion and garlic flavors at late addition rates that can ruin an …