your favorite noble hop

Jimsal

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I haven't used many noble hops. I use mostly American hops in my beer and I was wondering what are peoples favorite noble hop and why. Im thinking of showcasing a noble hop in my next beer and I would welcome some input.

thanks all
 
I did a similar beer to Urban Chestnut's Hopswitch Pils. It's like a perfect cross between a German pilsner and an American IPA. 100% German Pilsner malt, and 100% a noble of hop of your choice, I used Hallertau Mittelfruh, which I consider to be THE noble hop. Did a bittering charge of Hallertau, then a bunch whirlpooled, and a bunch dry hopped. It was good. Kinda floral and earthy flavors come through, surprisingly it had some hop sweetness on it.

Other than that, hersbrucker, tettnang, Saaz are all good.

Liberty is an American hop that is similar to noble hops, or has noble parentage or something.
 
Im thinking of showcasing a noble hop in my next beer
Beers that traditionally use noble hops are showcasing malty goodness with the hops doing a supporting role and yeast flavors largely not part of the equation. That being said, when the hops are right, it makes all the difference.

What style do you intend to do? What yeast? For a Kolsch, I like Tettnanger. For Hellles lagers, Cream Ales, etc, I like Hallertau Mittlefruh. For Pilsners - American, German or Czech - it has to be Saaz. Here and there I'll use Spalt. Those are the 4 official "noble" varieties but most people think of German hops in general as being noble hops since they're usually cultivars and crosses based on the parent stock and share a lot of the basic characteristics.

"Showcase" hops are usually in the cross-bred category. High-alpha noble-x hops like Magnum are really popular. I bitter everything with Magnum and it's a powerhouse for adding flavor and aroma, too. If you're intending to do a more standard American style like a Blonde or Pale, you could look at the more floral end of the spectrum for hops like Opal or Saphir. Perle has an interesting herbal/minty quality. I've used Hallertau Blanc (very delicate fruit) and Smarged (intense resiny goodness) in a few different beers. A lot of brewers like Mandrina Bavaria and Huell Melon but I've never used those.
 
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It's not technically a noble hop, but I like Tradition hops. They were bred to be a disease resistant form of Hallertau, and have a similar flavor and aroma. They are great in American lagers, or any beer you would use a German noble hop in.
 
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A friend of recently recommended trying American Sterling hops. They have a German/Noble linage but are grown the PNW. Saaz and Halertau can be a little off sometimes and have some cheese and musty aromas. Sterling has a better resistance to mildew and other diseases and is said to be more reliable but still have the Noble character.

I just brewed an American lager with them. I usually use Tettnang so I’m curious to see if they work well.

Has anyone else tried Sterling?
 
A friend of recently recommended trying American Sterling hops. They have a German/Noble linage but are grown the PNW. Saaz and Halertau can be a little off sometimes and have some cheese and musty aromas. Sterling has a better resistance to mildew and other diseases and is said to be more reliable but still have the Noble character.

I just brewed an American lager with them. I usually use Tettnang so I’m curious to see if they work well.

Has anyone else tried Sterling?

Sterling is my go to when not using true noble hops. I use it as a sub or in combination with noble hops in lagers all time.
 
I use Tettnang and Hallertau (-mittlefruh when available) they mix well together if you like a bit of citrus and floral. Perle is good for aroma also.
Just saw a Sam Adams advert, they say they use German Hallertau. Never had a SA but maybe thats a good one to try and see if you like hallertau??
 
Tettnang is bad ass.
 
Beers that traditionally use noble hops are showcasing malty goodness with the hops doing a supporting role and yeast flavors largely not part of the equation. That being said, when the hops are right, it makes all the difference.

What style do you intend to do? What yeast? For a Kolsch, I like Tettnanger. For Hellles lagers, Cream Ales, etc, I like Hallertau Mittlefruh. For Pilsners - American, German or Czech - it has to be Saaz. Here and there I'll use Spalt. Those are the 4 official "noble" varieties but most people think of German hops in general as being noble hops since they're usually cultivars and crosses based on the parent stock and share a lot of the basic characteristics.

"Showcase" hops are usually in the cross-bred category. High-alpha noble-x hops like Magnum are really popular. I bitter everything with Magnum and it's a powerhouse for adding flavor and aroma, too. If you're intending to do a more standard American style like a Blonde or Pale, you could look at the more floral end of the spectrum for hops like Opal or Saphir. Perle has an interesting herbal/minty quality. I've used Hallertau Blanc (very delicate fruit) and Smarged (intense resiny goodness) in a few different beers. A lot of brewers like Mandrina Bavaria and Huell Melon but I've never used those.
Ive been trying to decide what to brew next and I came across an interesting thread on another site yesterday about Vienna lager. So I just decided That's my next brew. Its a fairly simple recipe. 84% VIENNA MALT 16% caramunich56l. Going to use s23 lager yeast and I was planning on hallertau hops but after reading about sterling Im undecided. either hallertau or sterling hops.
 
A friend of recently recommended trying American Sterling hops. They have a German/Noble linage but are grown the PNW. Saaz and Halertau can be a little off sometimes and have some cheese and musty aromas. Sterling has a better resistance to mildew and other diseases and is said to be more reliable but still have the Noble character.

I just brewed an American lager with them. I usually use Tettnang so I’m curious to see if they work well.

Has anyone else tried Sterling?
interesting. I may try this instead of hallertau
 
Beers that traditionally use noble hops are showcasing malty goodness with the hops doing a supporting role and yeast flavors largely not part of the equation. That being said, when the hops are right, it makes all the difference.

What style do you intend to do? What yeast? For a Kolsch, I like Tettnanger. For Hellles lagers, Cream Ales, etc, I like Hallertau Mittlefruh. For Pilsners - American, German or Czech - it has to be Saaz. Here and there I'll use Spalt. Those are the 4 official "noble" varieties but most people think of German hops in general as being noble hops since they're usually cultivars and crosses based on the parent stock and share a lot of the basic characteristics.

"Showcase" hops are usually in the cross-bred category. High-alpha noble-x hops like Magnum are really popular. I bitter everything with Magnum and it's a powerhouse for adding flavor and aroma, too. If you're intending to do a more standard American style like a Blonde or Pale, you could look at the more floral end of the spectrum for hops like Opal or Saphir. Perle has an interesting herbal/minty quality. I've used Hallertau Blanc (very delicate fruit) and Smarged (intense resiny goodness) in a few different beers. A lot of brewers like Mandrina Bavaria and Huell Melon but I've never used those.
I just made a pale ale with centennial bittering charge and 1 oz mandarina at 5 mins and 1 oz flameout. 2oz dry hop of mandarina for four days. was very good but its a subdued hop. slight tangerine aroma and smell. I will make it again. beer was fantastic.
 
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and I was planning on hallertau hops but after reading about sterling Im undecided. either hallertau or sterling hops.
For a Vienna Lager, Hallertau is a better choice. I like Sterling a lot but it's got a relatively fruity profile compared to Hallertau. For a beer that's malt-forward like that, a good charge of Hallertau at 60 and just bit at 10 minutes will give you a good balance.
 
Not a true noble hop, but I like Perle. Well, it is German :)
 
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Not a true noble hop, but I like Perle. Well, it is German :)
I thought Perle was counted among the Noble Hops... But maybe not. I get mint flavors from Perle, quite nice in some beers.
 
I thought Perle was counted among the Noble Hops...
We think of Magnum, Perle, etc as noble hops because they're German varieties with noble parentage but they're not of the original 4 traditionally grown varieties.
Here's a quote from a Beer and Brewing article:
"The term was created in the United States only sometime in the 1980s and has no technical meaning. It was meant to set apart from the world’s hundreds of hop varieties a select few, venerable Continental European ones with fairly low alpha acid and fairly high essential oil contents. These were initially the German Hallertauer Mittelfrueh, Spalter, and Tettnanger, and the Czech Saaz from the Žatec region of Bohemia."
But, yeah, I think of Perle as a noble hop along with Opal, Saphir, Smargd, etc. ;)
 
Ive been trying to decide what to brew next and I came across an interesting thread on another site yesterday about Vienna lager. So I just decided That's my next brew. Its a fairly simple recipe. 84% VIENNA MALT 16% caramunich56l. Going to use s23 lager yeast and I was planning on hallertau hops but after reading about sterling Im undecided. either hallertau or sterling hops.
Sterling is suppose to be a sub for Saaz, I've tried it a few times and never thought it was even close. My Vienna is 100% Vienna malt with a 30 IBU 60 min single addition mix of Magnum and Saaz. Vienna malt has a ton of flavor all its own, i wouldn't muddy up the flavors with such a large dose of cara. Sometimes I throw in a pinch of Carafa or Sinimar for color.
 
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But, yeah, I think of Perle as a noble hop along with Opal, Saphir, Smargd, etc. ;)
Cool, then I would also argue for Smaragd and Mandarina Bavaria. Very good for wheat beers, but I even use them for my IPAs/Pale Ales.
 
We think of Magnum, Perle, etc as noble hops because they're German varieties with noble parentage but they're not of the original 4 traditionally grown varieties.
Here's a quote from a Beer and Brewing article:
"The term was created in the United States only sometime in the 1980s and has no technical meaning. It was meant to set apart from the world’s hundreds of hop varieties a select few, venerable Continental European ones with fairly low alpha acid and fairly high essential oil contents. These were initially the German Hallertauer Mittelfrueh, Spalter, and Tettnanger, and the Czech Saaz from the Žatec region of Bohemia."
But, yeah, I think of Perle as a noble hop along with Opal, Saphir, Smargd, etc. ;)
I think we can stop at the "no technical meaning" phrase and just stick with the original four. Don't know where I read that Perle is sometimes included but given the definition provided, it's rather moot. Maybe we should use "yummy teutonoic hops" instead.... ;)
 
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Maybe we should use "yummy teutonoic hops" instead....
I tend to use the term "European" hops because they're almost always a heavy percentage of one or more of the noble varieties and share a lot of the flavor and smooth bittering character of the original 4. As opposed to American hops which all tend to be more citrus/fruity/piney to some degree.
 

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