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ROBCamra
26-02-2013, 11:18
I realised recently that I've started to avoid beers called Cascade or ones which say they are brewed with Cascade hops.

I've found most of these beers to be OK, just not very interesting or even very different from each other.

So if there's a decent choice on the bar I'll go for something else.

On the other side of the coin if a beer is called Citra/or brewed with Citra hops or is brewed with New Zealand hops I'll almost always try one.

Is is just me who seems to be partially taking the wine route? Choosing by hop rather than grape of course. :)

I still like and drink a really wide range of beer and styles, but my head is often turned by the flash of a certain hop. :o

sheffield hatter
26-02-2013, 15:03
I've been avoiding all American and New Zealand hops for a while now. I don't get on with them at all, especially Citra. Funny how our tastes differ. I was at the Luton Beer Festival on Saturday and drank almost exclusively best bitters with English hops.

Aqualung
26-02-2013, 16:02
I realised recently that I've started to avoid beers called Cascade or ones which say they are brewed with Cascade hops.

I've found most of these beers to be OK, just not very interesting or even very different from each other.

So if there's a decent choice on the bar I'll go for something else.

On the other side of the coin if a beer is called Citra/or brewed with Citra hops or is brewed with New Zealand hops I'll almost always try one.

Is is just me who seems to be partially taking the wine route? Choosing by hop rather than grape of course. :)

I still like and drink a really wide range of beer and styles, but my head is often turned by the flash of a certain hop. :o

I remember years ago having a beer called Cascade by I think it was Itchen Valley which I thought tasted pretty horrible, but about a year ago I had a dark one with Cascade in the name that was very nice.

Brodie's have been doing a series of single hop 5% Pale Ales since last summer, all of which I have enjoyed, some more than others. Needless to say the series hasn't included a Fuggles Pale or a Goldings Pale! I'll try just about anything except sour beers which seem to be fashionable at the moment.

The Easter Brodie's beer festival promises an 8% Caramel Salt beer. I'm finding it hard to imagine how this could taste anything other than truly vile.

Al 10000
26-02-2013, 17:38
I have been in thousands of pubs over the years and have never really noticed any beers with hop names on them and even if they did i would'nt have the faintest idea what that type of hop would do to the taste of the beer.

I have been going to beer festivals since 1980 and always try to drink real ale when i visit a pub,so i must be walking round with my eyes closed to have not noticed any of these hop beers.

I do tell a slight lie because i have seen the Marstons single hop range in the last year but that is it.

Mobyduck
26-02-2013, 20:12
I realised recently that I've started to avoid beers called Cascade or ones which say they are brewed with Cascade hops.

I've found most of these beers to be OK, just not very interesting or even very different from each other.

So if there's a decent choice on the bar I'll go for something else.

On the other side of the coin if a beer is called Citra/or brewed with Citra hops or is brewed with New Zealand hops I'll almost always try one.

Is is just me who seems to be partially taking the wine route? Choosing by hop rather than grape of course. :)

I still like and drink a really wide range of beer and styles, but my head is often turned by the flash of a certain hop. :o


I've been avoiding all American and New Zealand hops for a while now. I don't get on with them at all, especially Citra. Funny how our tastes differ. I was at the Luton Beer Festival on Saturday and drank almost exclusively best bitters with English hops.
I personally love Cascade hops as well as Citra, Amirillo, Galaxy , Kiwi the list goes on as long as they are citrusy I like them,to be honest my taste seems to be the opposite of sheffield hatter's , if it is a "Best Beer " I will be inclined to avoid it, to many bland boring brown beers about in my book, but just to buck the trend my local had Kelham Island's Pride of Sheffield, brown/amber in colour , brewed with English Fuggle hops and it tasted wonderful , it was full of flavour, I'm not sure if its classed as a Best Bitter but if more were half as good as this I'd be more keen.

london calling
26-02-2013, 21:44
I just love these new hoppy beers but find the boring browns with British hops so bland now.Still good brewers can make them interesting so i live in hope but first choice in any pub is a beer with a hop name.

Aqualung
26-02-2013, 22:40
I have been in thousands of pubs over the years and have never really noticed any beers with hop names on them and even if they did i would'nt have the faintest idea what that type of hop would do to the taste of the beer.

I have been going to beer festivals since 1980 and always try to drink real ale when i visit a pub,so i must be walking round with my eyes closed to have not noticed any of these hop beers.

I do tell a slight lie because i have seen the Marstons single hop range in the last year but that is it.

It's a fairly recent thing emanating from the so called "Craft" brewers. I don't keep notes or anything so really couldn't distinguish if a beer had one hop in it or another. In the distant past when I did a bit of brewing myself it was Fuggles, Goldings or one other whose name I've forgotten that was available at the home brew shop. The new brewers seem happy to use any combination of hops from all around the world, which when it works well produces superb results.

I can't say that I necessarily find brown beers boring as hops are only part of the equation. To me beers are only boring if they are omnipresent (GK IPA, London Pride, Courage etc etc), and that doesn't mean they are bad beers. A bad beer is usually due to it not being kept well, but some of the Brain's beers I've had of late have been very bland. In contrast their St David's Day Ale (which I had last year and hope to also drink this Friday) is actually a very good pale bitter.

Wittenden
26-02-2013, 23:05
Interesting point. I'm probably a Kent hops are best type, but I'm not averse to some new world stuff, as long as the brewer hasn't bunged in a whole shed full of different varieties without pausing to think about it, just because he or she can. I seem to enjoy Aussie or New Zealand type hops, more than those from the good ole US of A. Dark Star's Hophead Galaxy being a case in point.
However, my main gripe is finding it difficult to ascertain what hops (and malts) are actually used-too many brewers don't disclose.
Funnily enough, most of our neighbour's Goldings are exported to the "craft beer" scene in America.

hondo
27-02-2013, 06:51
definitely look for specific hops in the beer name

gillhalfpint
27-02-2013, 08:30
Acorn have had a 5% single hop beer coming out for a few years now and I have tried a few of these. Wish I had kept notes on which ones I liked though as I do not like extremely hoppy beers that are over citrussy. (Never liked lemonade, and don't really want lemon in my beer!).

london calling
27-02-2013, 21:51
Its up to the brewer to put the right amount in to create a balanced beer.I like citra hopped beer but have tasted a few clunkers that tasted and smelled like toilet cleaner.Darkstar-Brodies and Oakham seem to know how to use it.

Bucking Fastard
28-02-2013, 17:23
An interesting thread,but apart from including the hop variety in the beer name,it is disappointing that so many brewers fail to mention the hops they use for either aroma or bittering on their websites.This information also seems absent from the GBG tasting notes,which tend to concentrate on wine tasting prose,rather than highlighting hop varieties used.Is this inside information ?

I am keen to be educated on what I am quaffing.:drinkup::drinkup::drinkup:

Aqualung
28-02-2013, 19:18
An interesting thread,but apart from including the hop variety in the beer name,it is disappointing that so many brewers fail to mention the hops they use for either aroma or bittering on their websites.This information also seems absent from the GBG tasting notes,which tend to concentrate on wine tasting prose,rather than highlighting hop varieties used.Is this inside information ?

I am keen to be educated on what I am quaffing.:drinkup::drinkup::drinkup:

Wetherspoon's current tasting notes DO include the hops used in their guest beers, so I doubt that it is inside information. I guess most brewers think that the average punter isn't that interested.

london calling
28-02-2013, 20:40
The Egham fest named all the hops used in the beers so i was expecting loads of hoppy beers but most brewers use so little you can hardly taste them,Single hop beers always name the hop .Even something bland like Greene King ipa will have 3 or 4 diffrent hops although it might be hard to believe.

MJ71
02-03-2013, 21:30
I prefer English hopped beers without really knowing it. When I think of my favourite beers and breweries they are Ludlow, Holden's, Batham's, Banks' and Hobsons, their beers are all British hopped in the main.

Oakham - a brewery whose beers are rated by many - are one brewery whose beers I now avoid. Admittedly their beers usually taste fantastic at first sip but I find that by the time I've nearly finished I am tired of the overwhelming hop bite. It's all about balance for me. 'Hop explosion' beers......no ta.

rpadam
02-03-2013, 22:26
The Belgian approach...