Amarillo Substitute

[ParishBrewingCo]

As a small, new brewery, we cant get any significant qty of Amarillo for next year. What other hop can I use to get that great tangerine citrus effect? I dont want to use Summit because sometimes it adds nastiness like garlic and onion. Any ideas? We use Amarillo w/ Cascade in our APA, FYI.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[South County]

Same issue here, we're looking at citra and athanum, but availability can still an issue. We've done some "teas" with a cascade and progress blend that looks promising.
Another tough thing is how esters from the fermentation influence what the hops presence is.

[monkeybrewer]

Try chinook...it's got the grapefruit character that you would find in the Amarillo. Also it's not proprietary so shortages seemingly aren't an issue. I refuse to use proprietary hops because of these manufactured shortages...just my two cents...
Cheers

[tsewong73]

Just tried a great IPA with Galaxy as a sub for Amarillo. It was really awesome. Don't know the availability of Galaxy, but it's worth looking into.

[tariq khan]

I'm facing the same issue with my IPA, I've recently tried out Apollo and Bravo dry hopped in cask and I was really pleased with the results, so I'm going to go with one of them for late additions and dry hopping.

Cheers.

T

[kugeman]

Has anyone tried Zythos yet? My supplier is offering it to replace the 30% of my 2012 Amarillo contract that I'm not going to get.

[HinduKush]

Has anyone tried Zythos yet? My supplier is offering it to replace the 30% of my 2012 Amarillo contract that I'm not going to get.

If it's a contract isn't the supplier required to supply?

[HinduKush]

Has anyone tried Zythos yet? My supplier is offering it to replace the 30% of my 2012 Amarillo contract that I'm not going to get.

Zythos is a blend much as Falcon Flight and the old "Centennial-type" are/were. Don't these pose the same issues as the other proprietary hops?

[kugeman]

They invoked "Force Majeure" which translated from French means "You're screwed".

Apparently this year's harvest of Amarillo was down 30% and Sorachi Ace was down 67% due to weather. So they grower reps are passing that down to the suppliers who are in turn passing it down to the breweries. Now will all breweries be docked 30%? Who knows. But my contract is getting docked.

I'll deal with it because there's no other choice. So, anyone tried Zythos?

[HinduKush]

They invoked "Force Majeure" which translated from French means "You're screwed".

Apparently this year's harvest of Amarillo was down 30% and Sorachi Ace was down 67% due to weather. So they grower reps are passing that down to the suppliers who are in turn passing it down to the breweries. Now will all breweries be docked 30%? Who knows. But my contract is getting docked.

I'll deal with it because there's no other choice. So, anyone tried Zythos?

So what happens in the long run, five year contracts? Do they make up the 30% when there is a good crop year? Are you still obligated? Sounds like bullshit to me.

[kugeman]

I think it only applies to this year. But of course it's bullshit. It's the craft beer hop market...it's bullshit by definition.

[Mid Asst Brewer]

We have used zythos as an amarillo sub and are quite happy with it. It's pretty abundant too right now, according to Hop Union. Galaxy is good but I would say its a straight sub for amarillo. Also Galaxy is an Aussie Hop, will be ready in like june but good luck. It's another hop that everyone wants.

[Mid Asst Brewer]

So what happens in the long run, five year contracts? Do they make up the 30% when there is a good crop year? Are you still obligated? Sounds like bullshit to me.

Depending who you get them from, they offer subs, you can get the 30% next year or just charged for what you get. The big hop brokers as well as the small are saying the same thing about the crop sucking this year. So I don't think its bs. The one good thing though is AA% are higher this year so you'll have to use less for bittering.

[kugeman]

I brewed a single-hop pale ale with Zythos to try it out. It has a sort-of generic American hop profile but it's definitely not Amarillo. Alot more of the pine/resiny type of flavors & aromas. It's a worthwhile hop blend but I don't think you could just sub it in for Amarillo.

[Seth Gross]

We tried some Zythos in a Black IPA and also found it very resiny. I was disappointed in the harshness at first. About two weeks after the beer went on tap, it definitely lost the baby fat and I felt the resiny edges were more integrated and the beer improved. I don't think I will be bring more Zythos once we use it up.