Lotus is a hop variety that showed up on my radar through a recipe for a cream ale where the brewer described it as producing an “orange creamsicle” effect when combined with a clean lager yeast.
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Beer Brewing
Comet is a vintage American hop variety that I became interested in after reading about the pre-Cascade era of American craft brewing, when Comet was one of the few domestically grown aroma hops available to American brewers.
Horizon is a high-alpha American bittering hop that I’ve used as a clean bittering addition in everything from pale ales to lagers when I want IBUs without hop character.
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 …