There are 100’s of hop varieties to choose from, which makes it somewhat difficult to identify the appropriate hop pairing and combinations.
How do you choose the right hop combinations for the beer you are brewing? How do you know what hop pairings work well for a specific hop?
You can spend hours searching the forums, and wade through all the different advice that’s being offered. But that’s time consuming, and you’re not always sure the advice you’re getting is sound.
What the beginning homebrewer needs is a hop pairing guide. A simple tool that lets you select a specific hop, and the tool spits out what hop combinations work with that selected hop.
Hop Pairings and Combinations
That’s exactly what I created, a hop pairing guide.
BTW, If you want to bypass all the reading, click here to download my hop pairing guide.
I know, I know… There’s really no right or wrong answer on the pairing of hops, it’s all a matter of personal preference. And I agree with that, at least to an extent.
While I’m all about experimenting and doing what I want to do when it comes to homebrewing, there are normally some guidelines that I like to follow. The pairing of hops is one of those guidelines. At least for now.
Hop Pairing Guide
If you read the Bio on my site, you’ve probably noticed that I work in IT, and have a passion for technology. Why not combine my homebrewing hobby with some basic tech, and create something that could provide some value to the homebrewing community.
So how does this thing work?
Well first off, I didn’t go too crazy. It’s really nothing more then a basic spreadsheet that does some data lookup’s via a few unique functions. All the data was gathered via a number of reputable websites.
The hop pairing and hop combinations were gathered from a few homebrewing forums, by pouring through quite a few posts on hop pairings. It took quite a bit of effort wading through all the information to come up with this list.
Additional information on hop profiles was pulled from Hopslist, BYO.com, and Bear Flavored’s Hop Cheat Sheet.
The tool is very easy to use. Simply select the hop that you want to pair from the drop down list, and the tool will generate a list of hops that pair well with the selected hop.
In addition, the tool will give you some basic information on the hops selected (hop profile, hop character, alpha acid percent), as well as some hop substitution guidelines.
Hop Pairing Guide Release Notes
You can download the latest release of the hop pairing guide right here.
I’ll keep this section updated as I make various tweaks to the tool and add new hops to the guide. For this initial version, I’ve got 12 different hop varieties loaded.
If you find something here that just doesn’t seem right or have other suggestions, please let me know by leaving a comment. I’ll be using that feedback as I make changes to my future releases.
Version History
| Release | Date | Release Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | 5/29/2019 | Initial Release. 12 hop varieties loaded that focuses on American Hops (Cascade, Centennial, Amarillo, Citra, etc...) |
Until then, cheers…
Image by
Iva Balk from Pixabay
Very cool! I like the information you included. It will save me some time searching through the various forums and other sites. When do you plan on updating this to include additional hops such as Galaxy, Vic Secret, Sabro, or any of the Nobel hops?
Thanks for the comment. I am planning an update to my hop pairing tool, hopefully in the next week or so. Not quite sure what hops I will be adding at this point, but definitely come back.
Nice
This is a great idea and has fantastic potential! Are you thinking of developing it further? More varieties, clone combos, beer styles, malt, water profile and yeast compatibility, etc. Maybe it could help understand the hop oil profiles and why some hops combine well!
Thanks Jim. My plan was to keep adding to this, need to find the time to give it some focus. You’ve got some good ideas here and I’ll look at trying to incorporate them.
Awesome tool, thanks for taking the time to create it. Can’t wait till the next version with more hops added.
Appreciate the feedback. I’ve got some other changes in mind as well, just need to find the time to update it.
Hi there- I’m really interested in taking a look at your hop pairing guide but it won’t download when the link is clicked. Please can you help?
Many thanks
Alan
Thanks for letting me know Alan. I’ll take a look and see what’s up, and respond back here. Odd as I haven’t heard other complaints and it looks like that file has been accessed.
Hi – all is working fine now. Many thanks for your help. I’ve bought a MiniBrew machine- one gallon fully automatic. I’m looking to tweak my recipes now. It’s a great journey! Cheers
I would agree with you on it being a great journey. I’m fully hooked on this homebrewing hobby.
Good idea, but the entries are still thin. When will the next, extended version be available?
I am currently looking for a combination with Sultana / Denali.
Especially for new hops, where experience is limited, it would be the ultimate tool.
Best
RAdulph
Thanks for the feedback. Agree the hop pairings I have here is a bit thin. Haven’t spent much time on this, since I wasn’t getting a whole lot of feedback on its usefulness. This is something I have on my list to build on, so perhaps I’ll try to get back into it.
I love the idea and it is exactly what I was looking for. Just one question / feedback…..you characteristics listed for mosaic says “earthy tones”. It might be worth re-checking this one. should be “Lively lemon and lime tones with
background hints of tropical fruit.” I think
Thanks for the feedback Grant. Let me recheck the characteristics I have for Mosaic and double check things. Appreciate the call out.
just a note of feedback,
This is can be very useful. Not sure many know of its existance. But def need more hops to choose from, while the one i needed right now is included there are some for future ref not included.
Yea, I know. Need to get back to updating things on the site. Appreciate the feedback.
I like the concept and think some additional info will ultimately make this a great tool. Ratios, links to commercial examples. Perhaps figuring out a way to crowdsource – with references and attributions – would build your data. Beer Mavetick might be a good partner although I’m sure they would need to monetize some way.
Thanks for the feedback John. Now if I can just find the time to look into this in more detail.