A Brief Guide to Hops, and Hop Varieties

Hops, that little green flower that you add to your beer. They are vital most beer styles. They add a bitterness that balances the sweet malty wort, flavors and aromas that range from spicy and piney to fruity and citrusy, and provide anti spoiling agents in their bitter oils to help keep beer from becoming infected. The longer hops are boiled, the more bitterness they add, but the less aroma and flavor they add. After 15 minutes, your aroma contributions will be almost none, and after 20 the flavor drops off. Between 21 and 44 minutes is kind of a dead zone where you aren’t getting great use from your bittering additions and not getting flavor or aroma either. 45-60 minutes is where you’ll get the most from your bittering hops.

Evaluating Hop Information for Brew Planning

When looking at a hop package in your local homebrew store, or browsing hops online, you may see a few words with percentages after them. These typically refer to Alpha Acids (AA), Beta Acids (BA), and Cohumulones.  Alpha Acids contribute the bitterness to your beer through boiling. The higher the Alpha Acid content, the more bitterness you’ll get. So something with an AA of 4% like a noble hop, won’t add as much as a hop with 9% AA. Beta Acids are a bit more tricky. They don’t add any bitterness to your beer when boiled and only contribute a bitterness when beer becomes oxidized during long periods of aging or lagering. Cohumulones are a type of Alpha Acid, (the other relevant one being Humulones). Cohumulones add a harsher bitterness, while Humulones add a softer bitterness. These aren’t always listed on hop varieties so if you don’t see it, you can assume it’s an average amount. If it is particularly low or high it may be listed. Being familiar with how these acids work with your beer will help determine hops to use in recipe formulation along side their flavor and aroma profiles. Now let’s go over some popular hops in the homebrewing community. 

Hop Varieties - Alphabetically

There are hundreds of hops varieties, and new ones pop up every year. Not all of them are available everywhere, or they sell out fast depending on popularity. Alpha Acids are listed in the middle of their typical range.

A

• Amarillo Pellets Admiral AA 14% Smooth Bitterness and faint citrus aroma
• Ahtanum AA 6% Citrusy and floral, strong grapefruit
• Amarillo AA 9% Citrus, Floral, Peach, Apple
• Apollo AA 18% Orange, strong bittering
• Azacca AA 15% Citrus, Tangerine, Grapefruit, Pine
• Admiral AA 14% Smooth Bitterness and faint citrus aroma

B

• Belma AA 12% Fruity, Melon, Clean
• Bramling Cross AA 8% Spicy, Lemon
• Bravo AA 15% Mild, Floral, Clean Bittering
• Brewer’s Gold AA 7% Earthy, Spicy, Black Currant

C

• Challenger Pellets Calypso AA 13% Lemon, Earthy
• Cascade AA 7% Citrusy, Smooth Grapefruit
• Centennial AA 9% Balanced Citrus, Smooth
• Challenger AA 8% Clean Bitterness, Spicy
• Chinook AA 12% Spicy, Pine, Mild Grapefruit
• Citra AA 12% Powerful citrus and tropical fruit
• Cluster AA 6.5% Spicy, Floral aroma
• Columbus (Tomahawk, Zeus, CTZ) AA 14% Strong bitterness, Earthy, Resinous
• Comet AA 10% Powerful Grapefruit, Citrus
• Crystal AA 3% Flowery, Spicy

D

Delta AA 6% Mild spiciness, mild citrus

E

• East Kent Goldings AA 5% Smooth floral character
• Equinox AA 14% Floral, Apple, Herbal
• El Dorado AA 15% Cherry, Fruity, Pear

F

• Fuggles AA 5% Spicy
• Falconer’s Flight AA 10% Citrus, Floral, Grapefruit
• Falconer’s Flight  7Cs (or 7 Seas) AA 9.5% Fruity, Pine, Earthy
• First Gold AA 7% Spicy, Earthy

G

• Galena AA 12% Citrus
• Green Bullet AA 12% Fruity, Plum
• Glacier AA 5.5% Earthy, Floral, Citrus
• Galaxy AA 7% Tropical Citrus, Peach, Bright Fruitiness

H

• Hallertau AA 3% Spicy, Floral
• Herkules AA 14% Fruity, Spicy
• Horizon AA 12% Citrus, Floral, Clean Bittering
• Herald AA 10% Strong Bitterness, Grapefruit
• Hull Melon AA 7% Strawberry, Melon

K

• Kohatu AA 6% Strong floral, Pine, Citrus

L

• Legacy AA 7% Floral, Currants, Spicy
• Liberty AA 4% Mild Spice and Earthy

M

• Manyarka [caption id="attachment_652" align="alignright" width="350"] Magnum Pellets[/caption] AA 7% Earthy, Pine
• Meridian AA 6.5% Floral, Fruit
• Magnum AA 12% Mild Aroma, Clean bitterness
• Millenium AA 14% Clean, Herbal
• Mount Hood AA 6% Mild, some fruit, some spice
• Mount Rainier AA 7% Mild Citrus, Mild Spice
• Motueka AA 7% Lemon, Tropical, Spice
• Mosaic AA 10% Mango, Berry, Melon

N

• Northdown AA 8% Clean, Woody
• Nelson Sauvin AA 12% Wine, Grapefruit,
• Northern Brewer AA 9% Neutral, Clean bitterness
• Nugget AA 12% Strong Herbal, Strong bitterness

O

• Opal AA 9% Spicy, Floral, Fruity

P

• Pacifica Pellets Progress AA 8% Mild Spice
• Pioneer AA 8% Mild Citrus
• Pride of Ringwood AA 9% Citrus, Herbal
• Phoenix AA 9% Clean Bitterness, Spicy
• Polaris AA 19% Mint
• Perle AA 7% Balanced Spice, Mild Bittering
• Pacific Jade AA 12% Peppery, Citrus
• Palisade AA 7% Fruity, Earthy
• Pacifica AA 5% Orange, Citrus, Floral
• Pacific Gem AA 14% Clean Bittering, Citrus, Summer Berries

R

• Rakau AA 9% Spicy, Stone Fruits
• Riwaka AA 6% Grapefruit, Citrus, Orange

S

• Super Alpha AA 11% Piney, Lemon
• Super Pride AA 9.5% Herbal
• Summit AA 18% Smooth, Orange, Citrus
• Stella AA 15% Spicy, Floral, Earthy
• Styrian Goldings AA 5% Spicy Aroma Hop, Mild
•  Sterling AA 8% Floral, Mild Citrus
• Spalt AA 4% Spicy
• Sovereign AA 5% Earthy, Pine
• Sorachi Ace AA 13% Lemon
• Simcoe AA 14% Pine, Citrus, Smooth Bittering
• Saphir AA 4% Fruity, Citrus
• Saaz AA 4% Soft Bittering, Spicy

T

• Target AA 9% Herbal, Earthy
• Tettnang AA 4% Spicy, Woody
• Topaz AA 9% Spicy, Orange, Earthy
• Tradition AA 6% Floral, Earthy

U-V

• Ultra AA 5% Spicy, Floral
• Vanguard AA 5.5% Floral, Herbal,

W

• Warrior AA 16% Clean Bittering, Citrus
• Wakatu AA 8% Floral, Spice, Fruit
• Willamette AA 4.5% Herbal, Spicy

Z

• Zythos AA 11% Strong Fruit, Citrus, Pine

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