Bullion hops are an English variety and one of the first bred specifically for its high alpha hops. They are not widely available because of two reasons: They have a strong, pungent aroma and they do not store well. Other bittering hop varieties have taken its place in large breweries’ recipes so the demand is low. Less than 100 acres of Bullion are now grown in the US, but they are still available in a homebrewing shop…somewhere.
Origin: England. Most sources stated that is was first grown in 1919 and it is a cross between a wild Manitoban female and a English male hop.
Aroma: Here’s a new one: Black Currants. Must be fairly earthy/musty.
Alpha Acid: 8 to 12%
Typical Usage: Bittering
Beer Styles: Stouts and dark lagers. I also saw recipes using this hop for Bitters and IPAs as well.
Check out Bullion if you come by it. If you have used them in the past, let us know.
Mike
I wonder if due to storage issues, this would be a good candidate for commercial brewers to use as a wet hop specialty brew.
Certainly not something we as homebrewers would have access to, unless you could get a rhizome of Bullion for yourself…which would be cool.
Tony New Zealand
I have a hop plant growing wild over my neighbours apple tree. Come harvest time I stocked up on a huge supply. Not having a clue what type of hop they were I overdosed my next brew on them to try and get a good feel for the flavour + aroma profile. Well what do you know – Black currant! Little bit overpowering in the quantities I used. Almost comes across as a cats piss aroma.
I now use them as my standard bittering hop because I have a good (cheap) supply.
Adds a bit of character to by darker beers.
I am assuming that they are Bullion as I’d suspect it would take about 90 yrs for a plant to find it’s way from England to my neighbours back yard.
John
Pretty cool.
Yeah, I don’t think cat piss is a desirable aroma.
Baybrewer
Bullion is an excellent hop. I have used it several times,not just in dark beers but in I.P.A.’s as well. Not hard to get at all either.Hops Direct sells them for $8.75 a pound!
I recommend them for most higher gravity English ales.
John
Thanks for the tip!
Jeff
I just received a pound obtained through http://www.wholesalehops.com, and have an Irish Red Ale fermenting now with it used for bittering. I used 1 oz at 60 minutes, 1 oz of Cascade at 15, and 1 oz of Tettnang at flameout. It sure does have lots of aroma. I have heard it is a good dual purpose hop. It was about the same price as Hops Direct sells it for.
Lucas E Szymanowski
That earthy blackcurrant aroma and taste does come through. Im sitting here and trying to get a good feel for a pale ale that we did a 60 minute add of bullion. Its definitely earthy, and I think that I would highly recommend it!
John
Thanks Lucas – that’s good feedback.
The Professor
Bullion is a hop I’ve been using for more than 30 years and I always make sure I have a supply of it; it is definitely one of my ‘go to’ hops.
It is distinctively intense and earthy, and a must for all of my ales, and most especially my IPA. I routinely use it along with Cluster with excellent results.