Medusa Hops SMaSH Beer Tasting

Hey home brewing fans! Welcome to another post revealing the secrets of a new hop variety. This time around, we explore the mysteries of Medusa hops. I brewed a one gallon SMaSH beer (single malt and single hop) and we taped this video with our tasting thoughts and notes.

So, Medusa hops are a branded variety from the CLS Farms in Moxee, WA, USA. They also grow El Dorado hops there. This variety is one that is derived from the Neomexicanus hop plant that is native to North America.

Medusa Hops Notes

After we tasted this beer, Mike said he got a white grape flesh aroma with some tropical notes on top of that. He said it was a little fruitier on the palatte than in the nose. He got a mango flavor.

I read off the commercial descriptors and they included:

• Guava
• Melon
• Apricot
• Citrus fruit

When I was bottling this beer, there was a strong grapefruit flesh aroma coming from it. It seemed to have dissipated after the beer conditioned in the bottle and melded more with the tropical fruit presence.

Overall, this is a tasty hop variety. It is certainly one you want to use in large amounts late in your brewing process. You can dump a whole bunch at flameout to really draw out those flavors. We think it would also work well with other strong flavor and aroma hops if you were looking to blend.

Looking around the internet at this point in time, the variety seems to be in low supply for home brewers. I am guessing in the Fall, after the harvest is over, you should see the “Out of Stock” text disappear and this hop will be available.

Medusa hops are a real treat if you can find them. Even though they aren’t strong in the area of alpha acids, you can still make an impact with using them as a late addition hop.

Let us know if you have questions.

BREW ON!