Named after the mighty river that flows through the Willamette Valley of Oregon, Hops Willamette is considered one of the most popular hop varieties in American style craft beers.
Originally bred as a replacement for Fuggle, Willamette is one of the most widely grown aroma hops in the United States.
Origin and History
The daughter of the renowned English Fuggle, Willamette is one of the most widely-grown aroma hops in the United States. It was first released by the USDA in 1976 and named after Oregon’s Willamette River which runs through the heart of the state’s hop-growing region.
Historically, Willamette was one of the most common hop cultivars in the United States, accounting for nearly 20% of the total crop at its peak. Today, it has an incredibly diverse range of brewing uses, thanks to its moderate alpha acid content and pleasant aroma profile.
Willamette’s origins can be traced back to the early American settlers, who faced a shortage of native hop plants. Fortunately, breeding programs soon began to create new cultivars from either successful European varieties or from hybrids combining European cultivars with indigenous native American hops.
Characteristics and Flavor Profile
Hops are the essential ingredients that give your beer its signature bitterness, aroma and flavor. They are a flowering perennial plant that produces cone-shaped flowers and tiny yellow pods called lupulin that contain resins and essential oils (aka terpenes) that give beer its bitterness, aroma and flavor.
Historically, the most widely grown hop variety in the United States is Willamette, named after the Willamette River and the Willamette Valley in Oregon. This triploid seedless variant of the renowned English Fuggle was released in 1967 and is still one of the most popular American aroma hops.
Brewers can use Willamette to accentuate aroma and flavor in a wide range of beer styles. It’s a moderate alpha hop that is mellow and pleasant, making it a perfect addition to many beer styles including English ales.
Brewing Uses
Willamette hops are used to brew a wide range of beers, including pale ales and IPAs. They have a floral and spicy flavour that makes them perfect for these styles.
They are also used in lagers and other light-coloured beers. Their high levels of humulene and linalool make them an excellent choice for dry hopping, which adds more aroma to the final product.
Willamette is a dual-purpose variety that can be used to brew both bittering and aroma beers, but most brewers only use it in one or the other role. For example, if you’re brewing an IPA and want to add some hop flavor and aroma, you’ll usually add it near the beginning of the boil.
Pairing of $ prompt with different beer styles
Whether you are a craft beer aficionado or not, pairing food with beer is an important part of the overall enjoyment of both. Pairing can be as simple or as complicated as you like.
There are several guiding principles for good pairings. First, you want to choose a beer and food that compliment each other.
Second, you should also try to find a beer and food that aren’t too intense.
This is especially true if you are serving spicy Indian or greasy fried foods. These flavors can overpower a beer that is too light in body or flavor.
Availability and Cultivation
Willamette is one of the most popular aroma hops amongst American brewers. Its moderately spicy, floral and fruity notes complement any style of beer, and it blends well with other hops in your recipe.
The Willamette variety is bred to resist hop downy mildew, but it is also susceptible to Verticillium wilt diseases. Willamette has an oil content of 1 to 2%, an alpha acid of 5 to 7% and a distinct fragrance.
Originally bred in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, Willamette is grown throughout the country. It has become the most widely planted aroma variety in the United States, accounting for about 20% of hops acreage.
The hop plants are dioecious (male and female flowers on separate vines) and produce pale green cones that grow up to 4 in. in length and are papery. They are ripe for harvesting when the cones begin to dry out and turn brown.