Mike and I were putting together the conclusion of the kegging video series last night and I sampled the last gasp of his Falconer’s Flight IPA. Sipping it, I remembered there are other hop pellet blends available to try in your next IPA or APA. Another popular hop blend is Zythos hops.

With the increased demand of certain varieties like Citra and Simcoe, Hop Union wanted to be able to provide for all brewers looking for hops that best suited their IPA needs. This proprietary blend of American hops is meant to be a substitute for other well known and well used hop varieties.

After Mike used Falconer’s Flight in a IPA, the complexity of that blended hop pellet has me hooked on trying other ones in my own brews. These blends are definitely to be used late in the boil, at flameout, or for a spell of dry hopping after fermentation for the most desired effect.

It is supposedly a blend of the big “C” hops, but I couldn’t find any concrete information on which specific varieties are used.

Check out the rest of the details for the Zythos hop blend pellets:

Origin: USA – Hopunion

Aroma/Flavor:  Like Amarillo.  Not much grapefruit flavor.  More tropical fruit flavors

Alpha Acid: 9 – 11%

Typical Usage: Dual Purpose

Beer Styles: IPA.  American pale ales.

For homebrewers, I think that these hop blends are great for experimentation.  They are sort of like malt extracts where you do not control the blend of what is in them, but at the same time the measurements are all done for you.  Just throw them into your next brew and go!  There is no need to sweat out the measurements.

If you are will to try something new, I think that the Zythos hop blend would be a good choice for your next India Pale Ale.