I'm a fan of NZ hops as I lived there and some good less common hops to experiment with. Pacifica is great, classy orange and spice when used late. Pacific Jade was great as a 'peppery' addition to a saison. Wakatu is like a European hop with added lime.
I just did a wheat IPA type thing with lots of El Dorado and Idaho 7. It was delicious and really different to 'C' hop IPAs, I got stonefruit and watermelon as well as more generic fruity flavours.
For the English ones Pilgrim is nice, a bit fruity and fairly subtle. I've got Endeavour in the freezer to try.
I've not tried Green Bullet but in NZ most think of it as a bittering hop, typical of commercial lagers. I found this description from a brewery who made a SMaSH with it:
"Green Bullet, a New Zealand hop with a high alpha acid content. Frequently used in lagers, it offers in this SMaSH subtle notes of spices and resin. Its palate first presents pleasant fruity flavours that then stretch out to a mild and refreshing bitterness."
But note with a bit of caution the comments in this thread from NZ (also some interesting info on other NZ hops, e.g. Super Alpha is the old name for Dr Rudi hops): http://www.forum.realbeer.co.nz/forum/topics/unfashionable-nz-hops
I just did a wheat IPA type thing with lots of El Dorado and Idaho 7. It was delicious and really different to 'C' hop IPAs, I got stonefruit and watermelon as well as more generic fruity flavours.
For the English ones Pilgrim is nice, a bit fruity and fairly subtle. I've got Endeavour in the freezer to try.
I've not tried Green Bullet but in NZ most think of it as a bittering hop, typical of commercial lagers. I found this description from a brewery who made a SMaSH with it:
"Green Bullet, a New Zealand hop with a high alpha acid content. Frequently used in lagers, it offers in this SMaSH subtle notes of spices and resin. Its palate first presents pleasant fruity flavours that then stretch out to a mild and refreshing bitterness."
But note with a bit of caution the comments in this thread from NZ (also some interesting info on other NZ hops, e.g. Super Alpha is the old name for Dr Rudi hops): http://www.forum.realbeer.co.nz/forum/topics/unfashionable-nz-hops
