El Dorado® is a CLS Farms hop with citrus, stone fruit, tropical and woody groups in Yakima Chief Hops' current profile. The familiar “candy” shorthand is not the whole variety and should not become a promise that every lot or beer will taste like hard candy.
El Dorado profile at a glance
| Field | Supplier reference | Planning note |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | El Dorado® CLS; released in 2010 | Preserve the named cultivar in recipe records |
| Aroma groups | Citrus, stone fruit, tropical, woody | Define which dimensions the beer requires |
| Alpha acids | 13–16% | Use the purchased lot value |
| Beta acids | 5.5–7.5% | Typical reference range |
| Total oil | 1.5–3 mL/100 g | Does not prescribe a universal late-hop rate |
Yakima Chief describes El Dorado as dual-purpose, combining high alpha acids with aroma potential. That supports separate bittering and aroma decisions; it does not make one mass ratio suitable for both.
Calculate an early replacement
If a hypothetical early addition uses 30 g of El Dorado marked 14.5% alpha acids and an available replacement lot is marked 12%, holding product form, time, volume and utilisation assumptions constant:
30 × 14.5 ÷ 12 = 36.25 g
The brewing scale may justify rounding, but the calculation still equalises only labelled alpha-acid mass. It does not guarantee the same measured IBUs or aroma. Enter the packet values in the hop substitution calculator.
Choose the aroma trade-off explicitly
Rank citrus, stone fruit, tropical and woody for the target beer. A candidate that strengthens citrus can reduce stone-fruit emphasis; one selected for tropical character may add an attribute outside the El Dorado brief. Describe that change rather than asserting a universal substitute.
For a hypothetical 80 g two-hop trial at 75:25, the masses are 60 g lead hop and 20 g supporting hop. This is mass arithmetic, not a tested blend, dose or predicted sensory share.
Source and limits
BrewMyBeer has not brewed or tasted the compared lots. Use coded equal-volume trials, save the lot and notes in Beer Lab, and consult the hop replacement guide for broader selection.
Learning check: what does “dual-purpose” establish?
It means the variety is used for bittering and for aroma. It does not mean one substitution ratio can reproduce both roles.