Talk about giving your beer some pungent mild, spicy and flowery Aroma… just drop some Crystal hops into your beer towards the end of the boil or dry hop and you’ll be set… this hop was developed from the German Hallertau aroma hop with contributions from Cascade and Brewer’s Gold, which is no wonder why this is such an aromatic hop…

This is a great hop variety to use for aroma in light beers such as Pilsners, Kolsch style beers and the like… Since it does have some spicy qualities it is also found in British beers like ESB or some Belgian-style ales.

Like most aroma hops, storage is poor so it’s best to buy this variety as you brew and not in bulk. After 6 months of storage at 70 F you will only find about 50% of alpha acids to remain in the hops.

Some say this hop is tolerant to downy mildew while others lean more towards it being somewhat susceptible to it. It sounds like it’s a good variety to grow, so if you find some rhizomes and grow them, let me know how susceptible they are to downy mildew. This hop variety is primarily grown in Oregon, so I’m assuming wet climates are probably best to grow this variety.

Crystal Hops Alpha Acid %

3.5 – 5.5%

Crystal Hops Beta Acid %

4.5 – 6.7%

Crystal Hops Oil Content

0.8 – 2.1%

Crystal Hops Cohumulone %

20 – 26%

You can try to substitute this hop variety with Mt. Hood Hops, Hersbruck hops, French Strisselspalt, Liberty, or Hallertau itself… all these hop varieties are somewhat pungent with spicy qualities… oh and in case you are like I was when I first heard the word pungent, pungent simply means that it has some penetrating power when you smell the hops… kind of like smelling wasabi…

Anyways…

Let me know if you have a beer recipe that uses Crystal hops…

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