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Special Issue: Hop Lover’s Guide
If you are a hop-loving homebrewer, this special issue is for you. In it, you will learn what hops are, how to store them, the many ways hops can be used and infused into beer at every stage of brewing (even serving!), how to bring out the best hop character in your creations and even how to grow and dry your own hops
In this issue
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articleBuying & Storing Hops
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articleHoppy Charts
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recipeDick’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.
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projectBuild 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.
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recipeOdell 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.
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recipeDeschutes 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.
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recipeTerrapin Brewing Co.’s Rye Pale Ale clone
Dry hopped with Amarillo®, this American rye pale ale is perfect for summer enjoyment.
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recipeWells 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.
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recipeBell’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.
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recipeSierra 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.
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recipeSaint 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.”
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recipeRogue 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.
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recipeRussian 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.
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recipeBear Republic Brewing Company: Racer 5 IPA clone
This full-bodied West Coast IPA is one of America’s most medal-winning IPAs.
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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.
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recipeThree Floyds Brewing Company: Dreadnaught clone
This unforgettable imperial IPA features an intense citrus hop aroma and a huge malt body.
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recipeAlesmith 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.
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recipeDogfish 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.”
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recipeGreat Divide Brewing Company: Old Ruffian clone
Old Ruffian is a hefty, hop-forward barleywine with subtle fruit aromas and complex caramel sweetness.
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recipeDogfish 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.
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recipeGreat 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.
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recipeFlying 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.
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recipeLeft Hand Brewery’s Twin Sisters (Double IPA) clone
A big, chewy, resiny, hop extravaganza. Not a brew for the feint of heart.
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articleGrowing Hops
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articleHopping Help for Extract Brewers
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articleWort Boiling & Hop Character
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articleHop Basics
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projectBuild 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.
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recipeFuller’s ESB Clone
This recipe is for the bottled version of ESB. The cask version in the UK is 5.5% ABV.
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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.
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recipeStone 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.
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recipeAnchor 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.
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recipeSierra Nevada Brewing Co.’s Pale Ale clone
Updated recipe with the latest information gleaned from Sierra Nevada’s website. ‘The’ classic American Pale Ale.
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projectBuild a Hop Spider
Keep hop debris from clogging your kettle with this project — build your own “hop spider.”
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recipeBierce’s Bitter IPA (2 Step Recipe)
India Pale Ale, n. A style of beer inaccessible to stovetop homebrewers — unless you use the Texas Two-Step method.
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recipeTröegs HopBack Amber Ale clone
This hoppy amber ale features a complex balance of chewy caramel and toffee notes from the malt and grapefruit flavors from the hops.
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projectBuild a Hop Drying Oast
Sure, you could dry your homegrown hops on an old screen, but wouldn’t you rather build your own oast?
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projectBuild a Hop Transducer
What is this thing that Dogfish Head Brewing has unleashed? Here’s how to build the ultimate serving gadget for hopheads!
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recipeNorth Coast’s Old Rasputin clone
This rich, intense, and iconic Russian imperial stout has earned North Coast Brewing several gold medals from around the world.
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projectBuild a Stainless-Steel Hopback
Build a simple, no-weld, stainless-steel hopback for big hop flavor.