Galena Hops
I decided to learn more about Galena Hops because of the line in How To Brew: It’s the most widely used commercial bittering hop in the US. So I got to thinking, “What do the commercial brewers know that I don’t know?” Here is our profile of Galena Hops!
Origin: USA. To be more specific, Idaho. Its lineage is the variety Brewer’s Gold and open pollination…sweet, free, open pollination. It was bred in 1968 (makes sense with all the free love in the late ’60s…) and was made available in 1978.
Aroma: Although used primarily for bittering, some texts did say it could be used later in the boil. Some descriptors were “clean” and “pungent”. Some others were “pleasant” and “citrusy”.
Alpha Acid: Between 10 – 14%
Typical Usage: Bittering. It’s a nice, clean bittering hop that works well with other hop varieties. I think that is the reason it has the mass appeal that it does. Plus, it apparently has good storage qualities. Some sources were claiming it retains its alpha acids for a long time (6 months) at room temperatures. I wonder how long they last in the freezer?
Galena Hops are a good fit for American and English style beers. I might have to find some.
Read some of our other hop profiles:
These are all good bittering hops.
on November 7th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Just don’t make the same mistake I made. My usual American Pale Ale recipe calls for 1 oz of Willamette 60 min bittering hops, then 1 oz of Cascade at 30 min, 15 min, knockout, and dry hopped. But during the hop shortage, the homebrew shop owner suggested 1 oz of Galena instead of all the cascade additions. I kept the 1 oz of Cascade at knockout and dry hop, but substituted Galena for the 60 min Willamette, and left out the 30 and 15 min Cascade. I completely forgot about how hop alpha acid utilization goes up the longer it’s boiled. I had an incredibly bitter Pale Ale. The bitterness completely overwhelmed any aroma and flavor the cascade was supposed to add. Rookie mistake, I know, but worth repeating as a good reminder.