Special Issue: Hop Lover's Guide Archives

Article

Calculating IBUs

In alcoholic beverages, maltiness is usually balanced by another flavor. In wine (and some styles of beer), maltiness is balanced by acidity. In most styles of beer, maltiness is balanced by the

Article

Buying & Storing Hops

There are many different varieties of hops available to the homebrewer. In addition, these hops come in a few different forms. Different forms of hops vary with regards to their storage potential

Article

Hoppy Charts

So how do you choose the right hops for your beer? With such a wide range of flavor and aroma characteristics, Brew Your Own’s online chart can serve as a helpful guide

Recipe

Dick’s Brewing Co.’s Bottleworks IPA clone

Since this is a big beer, Dick’s takes it’s time producing Bottleworks IPA. It takes a total of 6 weeks to ferment, clear in the bright tank, mellow, and then Dick’s bottle conditions the beer for another 2 week.

Project

Build A Hop Trellis

Don’t have somewhere your hops can climb 20-feet (~ 6-m) tall? Consider building a hop trellis for your bines to climb this season.

Recipe

Odell Brewing Company: 5 Barrel Pale Ale clone

Named for the 5 select hop additions, this is a refreshing pale ale with a lively hop flavor and aroma.

Recipe

Deschutes Brewing Company: Mirror Pond Pale Ale clone

Deschutes leans on Cascade hops in this classic pale ale to give this beer lots of floral and citrus notes.

Recipe

Terrapin Brewing Co.’s Rye Pale Ale clone

Dry hopped with Amarillo®, this American rye pale ale is perfect for summer enjoyment.

Recipe

Wells and Young’s Ltd: Young’s Special London Ale clone

Young’s Special London Ale is a well-balanced, bottle conditioned premium bitter brewed with 100% British ingredients.

Recipe

Bell’s Brewery Two Hearted Ale clone

Bell’s flagship IPA is brewed with 100% Centennial hops from the Pacific Northwest and named after the Two Hearted River in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Recipe

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.’s Celebration clone

First brewed in 1981, Sierra Nevada explains that Celebration Ale is one of the earliest examples of an American-style IPA, and it’s still one of the few hop-forward holiday beers. The intense, hop-heavy beer features Chinook, Centennial, and Cascade hops.

Recipe

Saint Arnold Brewing Co.’s Elissa IPA

“A traditional India Pale Ale, the Elissa IPA is very hoppy with a properly balanced malty body. Elissa has huge hop additions in the kettle that give it a wonderful bitterness and is then dry-hopped in the fermenter to create the pleasant floral, hoppy nose. Our reverse osmosis water makes the bitter very soft with no harsh notes to it. The maltiness is derived from British Maris Otter malt. Its rich flavor stands up to the hops that would otherwise dominate this beer. The Elissa is an authentic version of an India Pale Ale (IPA) style.”

Recipe

North Coast Brewing Co.’s Acme IPA clone

North Coast Brewing Co.’s Acme IPA clone (5 gallons/19 L, all-grain) OG = 1.062 FG = 1.011 IBU = 56 SRM = 7 ABV = 6.6% Ingredients 11.33 lbs. (5.1 kg) Great Western

Recipe

Rogue Ales: Imperial Pale Ale (I2PA) clone

Part of Rogue Ale’s XS series of beers, their I2PA features an intense hopping regiment and is aged for 9 months before leaving the brewery.

Recipe

Russian River Brewing Co.’s Pliny the Elder clone

Originally brewed to be part of a first-ever “Double IPA festival” back in 2000, Pliny has become the standard by which many modern double IPAs are measured. As with any hop-heavy beer, Pliny is best enjoyed fresh, while the massive hop aroma is at its peak.

Recipe

Bear Republic Brewing Company: Racer 5 IPA clone

This full-bodied West Coast IPA is one of America’s most medal-winning IPAs.

Recipe

Bear Republic Brewing Company: Hop Rod Rye clone

This high-gravity IPA is brewed with 18% rye malt and has a floral hop aroma and caramel notes.

Recipe

Three Floyds Brewing Company: Dreadnaught clone

This unforgettable imperial IPA features an intense citrus hop aroma and a huge malt body.

Recipe

Alesmith Brewing Company: Alesmith IPA clone

This well-balanced West Coast IPA is a San Diego classic that is filled with aromas of grapfruit and tangerine, fresh pine, and tropical fruit.

Recipe

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery: 90-Minute IPA clone

90 Minute IPA was the first beer that Dogfish Head brewed using their continuous hopping technique of adding hops throughout the boil. Esquire magazine has called it “perhaps the best IPA in America.”

Recipe

Great Divide Brewing Company: Old Ruffian clone

Old Ruffian is a hefty, hop-forward barleywine with subtle fruit aromas and complex caramel sweetness.

Recipe

Dogfish Head Craft Brewing: Indian Brown clone

This dark IPA is available year-round and is dry hopped similarly to Dogfish Head’s 60 Minute and 90 Minute IPAs. It is roasty, with a mild hop bitterness.

Recipe

Great Divide Brewery’s Yeti Imperial Stout clone

According to Great Divide’s website, “Yeti Imperial Stout is an onslaught of the senses. It starts with big, roasty malt flavor that gives way to rich caramel and toffee notes. Yeti gets its bold hop character from an enormous quantity of American hops. It weighs in at a hefty 75 IBUs.” There are many variants to the Yeti base beer including the famed barrel-aged version.

Recipe

Flying Dog Brewery’s Gonzo Porter (Imperial Porter) clone

Brewed in honor of Hunter S. Thomson, this beer is “big, bold, and beautiful.” It features notes of roasted chocolate, coffee, and vanilla malt flavors.

Recipe

Left Hand Brewery’s Twin Sisters (Double IPA) clone

A big, chewy, resiny, hop extravaganza. Not a brew for the feint of heart.

Article

Growing Hops

One of the easier ways you can put the “home” in homebrewing is to grow your own hops. This widely distributed plant, with the latin name Humulus lupulus, is broadly part of

Article

Hopping Help for Extract Brewers

All forms of homebrewing – whether all-grain, partial mash or extract – share many similarities. However, each it has its own set of challenges as well. One of the biggest complaints of

Article

Wort Boiling & Hop Character

The bitterness in beer is developed by adding hops to boiling wort. Likewise, boiling hops adds hop flavor and aroma. The bitterness keeps the beer from being too sweet and the flavor

Article

Hop Basics

Historically speaking, hops are a fairly recent innovation in the brewing world. Although evidence exists of their cultivation as early as 200 AD in Babylon, and 700 AD in Germany, they

Project

Build a Randall-Style Hop Filter

When Dogfish Head created their Randall filter system for draft beers, it was to add a hop boost to a beer being poured. Build your own inline draft filter for hops and more.

Recipe

Fuller’s ESB Clone

This recipe is for the bottled version of ESB. The cask version in the UK is 5.5% ABV.

Recipe

Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA clone

This innovative IPA employs Dogfish Head’s method of adding hops continuously over the entire boil. Showcasing a big US Northwest hop bill, 60-Minute is the session beer sister of 90-Minute IPA.

Recipe

Stone Ruination IPA (1.0) clone

This recipe is for the original formulation of Ruination, a West Coast IPA that defined the style with resinous pine, a big malt backbone, and a lovely orange amber color.

Recipe

Anchor Brewing Co.’s Anchor Steam clone

This beer takes its name from the days when beer was made in the cool climate of San Francisco on rooftops in the nineteenth century—open vessels were used to help cool the beer quickly. Steam is the beer that convinced Fritz Maytag to buy the brewery in 1965 and carry on the brewing tradition that started there in the late 1800s. It features a deep amber color and Northern Brewer hops.

Recipe