What hops should i grow?
What hops should i grow?
I like beer! - IPA's and similar atm, but i drink most beer. Looking in to start brewing myself (having a kit at home) I'm also looking in to growing my own hops.
Do you have any recommendations on what verity? Something that could be used for many different brews but have a distinct taste.
Cascade is a hop that grows well throughout the US (assuming you live there) and can be used in a wide range of american focused styles (APA, American Stout etc) and tends to be fairly high in bound thiols which you can unlock by using a yeast strain that can free them to create extremely tropical, fruity IPAs. It also has a solid AA% making it a fairly good bittering hop.
Welcome! This is why I love homebrewing - there's so many paths to explore that you never get bored unless you really want to.
I've limited knowledge on hop growing, I seem to recall however that some hop varieties may be under patent, so might be difficult to source for growing purposes.
I myself am quite partial to Simcoe since it has a relatively high alpha acid content so you'd use less for bittering than for example Saaz. I also like the flavour of Simcoe when people use it for aroma and dry hopping. I might be mistaken but I think it may have gone out of patent protection.
I've heard of people who've...acquired...Citra rhizomes. Totally legally, of course.