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Nugget Hops

After learning and writing about Millennium hops, I thought I would take a trip down the road to discovering Nugget hops,  Mike has brewed with these hops before.  I feel they are a pretty well known American hop variety.  I learned they were first bred in 1970 from a fairly extensive mix of parent hops including:

  • Brewers Gold
  • Early Green
  • Canterbury Golding
  • Bavarian
  • Unknown

My favorite from this list, of course, is Unknown.  It’s like my favorite poet – Anonymous.

Nugget hops were released to the public in 1983 by the USDA.

Origin: I think Yakima, WA – United States

Aroma: Descriptors include Heavy (I like that one), spicy-herbal, and similar to Northern Brewer.

Alpha Acid:  12.5 – 14.0%

Typical Usage: Bittering mostly.  Some sources reported getting some good dry hopping results from using Nugget.

Beer Styles: Another great one for American ales and lagers.

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3 Comments

  1. 3 years ago I have bought a pound of Nugget pellets… Ahh the old days.
    I really liked this hop for bittering and thought it was a fairly pleasant bitterness, not too harsh. Really sort of sat in the background for the malt forward brewing that I do.

    Some people have complained about its flavor and aroma characteristics, but I did a few ales where I used it later in the boil. I found it to be mildly floral and lightly resin-like. It became a good hop to use in parallel to other hop varieties to help carry the flavors of more interesting hops.

    Lastly, Treogs Brewery (in PA??), has a beer called Nugget Nectar that is fantastic. While its not all nugget hops, it is a great beer that shows the versatility of the Nugget hop for supporting other hops.

    If I can ever get these in bulk again I certainly will.

  2. Lyle

    I just harvested my first round of Nuggets. They are papery and have alot of the yellow dust in them. It is said this is when to harvest. The hop smell is pretty mild. Is this typical, or could I have harvested too soon?

  3. I don’t get a lot of aroma in my homegrown hops when they are wet. Take a sniff when they are totally dried out.

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