Finally! Germany has its own "C" hops.

[sbaclimber]

Since I started to brew all grain here in Germany, I have had one overriding goal in mind - to brew an acceptable IPA (which is hard and/or expensive to come by here), but using only german malt and hops (I couldn't bring myself to give up an english ale yeast).
And, my even loftier goal, was to brew an IPA that would pass as an APA, because I really love that citrusy flavor.
So far, most of my attempts have been fairly acceptable IPAs, but regardless of what hops I used (Nugget, Tettnanger, Magnung, Perle, Saphir, Smaragd, ....and even wild hops) none of my brews quite had that APA character that I was so hoping for.

So, imagine my excitement a couple months back, when I discovered a brand spanking new hop variety available through my online supplier, which had exactly the characteristics I was looking for (and a very high AA to boot) - Polaris!
http://www.lfl.bayern.de/ipz/hopfen/44228/poster_polaris_e.pdf

Needless to say, I immediately ordered a bunch, and got to brewing.

I am at this very moment sitting here drinking a glass of my first single hop Polaris GPA (german pale ale ) and am absolutely ecstatic! It tastes like a proper APA, fruity, piney, citrusy. I am stoked!

I know this isn't really anything special for those who are used to brewing with american "C" hops, but if any of you have a chance to try out any of the new german "C" varieties (I know of at least 4 which were registered in 2012), I would highly recommend it and would be really keen to hear how they compare with the american "C" hops (especially Polaris vs. Cascade).

 

[LarryBrewer]

Music to my ears. I was wondering when the Germans would catch on to what we're doing in the USA.

I just got done brewing several IPAs, and now I'm back to lagers with noble hops - hah, we're doing the opposite.

 

[sbaclimber]

hah, we're doing the opposite.

Heh, pretty much. :lol:
Due to limited brewing time (1 brew / month) I guess I have always concentrated more on brewing beers that I couldn't get in reasonable quality for a reasonable price at the local store. Which has had me trying to brew Pilsners in NZ (not very successful) and IPAs here.

 

[sbaclimber]

I was wondering when the Germans would catch on to what we're doing in the USA.

It is actually quite ironic in a way, isn't it...
Germany is one of the beer countries, but has definitely been resting on its laurels and sticking to its "tradition" a bit too long, IMO. Thankfully, there are a (albeit very slowly) growing number of breweries here who are now producing some new world brews.
One of the more recent ones I discovered was this one: http://www.stoertebeker.com/shop/brauspezialitaten/atlantik-ale-2.html
Pretty much a straight-up APA, just happens to be brewed in Germany, but good enough none-the-less. Only drawback is, it only seems to be available within about a 50mile radius of the brewery.