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Ekuanot is the hop that gave my NEIPA the melon and berry complexity I was looking for after Citra and Mosaic produced a good beer that felt predictable. It’s a Hop Breeding Company proprietary variety (formerly known as HBC 366) with a genuinely unusual fruit profile, the melon, lime, and berry combination produces something more layered than most single-variety dry hops. I’ve used it in hazy pale ales, session IPAs, and wheat beers where I wanted tropical character with a distinctive melon dimension. It’s widely available in US homebrew markets and works well in blends as well as single-variety applications.
Ekuanot hop flavor profile
Ekuanot hops have a moderate to high alpha acid content (14.5–15.5% AA) with a vibrant, layered aroma: melon (watermelon, honeydew), lime, citrus (orange, tangerine), tropical fruit, and a light berry note. The melon character is the most distinctive element, it’s more prominently melon-forward than most American hops, which tend toward citrus or tropical fruit. The lime adds tartness and brightness alongside the sweet melon, creating a combination that reads as refreshing rather than candy-sweet. Used as a late addition and dry hop in hazy IPAs, pale ales, session IPAs, and wheat beers.
Best substitutes
Hüll Melon (German, melon direction): German variety with honeydew melon and strawberry, covers Ekuanot’s melon dimension with softer intensity. Use 1.2:1 (20% more) to compensate. Cashmere (melon-lime match): Melon, lime, and coconut, similar melon-lime direction with lower intensity. Use 1.2:1. Citra (lime-tropical intensity): Intense lime, mango, and tropical, covers Ekuanot’s lime-tropical dimension without the melon specificity. Use at 80% quantity due to higher intensity. Mosaic (complex tropical): Blueberry, mango, and tropical, covers the berry and tropical aspects of Ekuanot with an earthier character. Use 1:1. Belma (strawberry-melon): Shares the melon dimension with a strawberry-forward fruit character. Use 1:1.
Ekuanot in blends
Ekuanot is particularly effective in dry hop blends because the melon dimension fills a gap that most other varieties leave. In a Citra-Mosaic dry hop blend where both are dominant: adding 20–30% Ekuanot in place of an equal reduction of one of the other varieties introduces melon character that neither Citra nor Mosaic provides, producing a more complex tropical-melon-berry aroma. This is the primary reason commercial NEIPAs often include Ekuanot in their hop bills, not as a solo variety but as the melon component that rounds out a blend built on Citra or Mosaic intensity.
Common Questions
What was Ekuanot called before it was renamed?
Ekuanot was previously known as HBC 366, the experimental designation it carried during the Hop Breeding Company evaluation period before commercial release. Some homebrew publications and recipes from 2015–2018 reference it as HBC 366, and the two names refer to the same variety. It was commercially released as Ekuanot in 2017. There are also references to it as “Equinox” in some markets, Equinox was an early commercial name that was used briefly before being discontinued (there were trademark concerns, and the name was changed to Ekuanot). If you encounter a recipe calling for HBC 366 or Equinox hops: substitute Ekuanot at 1:1, as they are the same variety under different naming periods. For substitutes when Ekuanot specifically is unavailable: Cashmere at 1.2:1 for the melon-lime direction, or Citra at 80% for the citrus-tropical intensity with reduced melon specificity.
