[HoosierBrew]

That one is coming up in the rotation for small batch trials. Heard a lot of good things. Thanks.

[Ethan J]

My next tasting is HBC 438 (aka "Ron Mexico") from Hopunion, which also supports the Ales for ALS charity. In contrast to the Armadillo hops, the HBC hop pellets had a great aroma before they even made it to the beer.

The Ron Mexico beer had a very distinct, aromatic nose. The main aromas were passionfruit and blackcurrant. There was also some juniper in the background.

On the palate I found that the blackcurrant character took the lead, chased by passionfruit and citrus. I picked up just a fleeting hint of dank/onion at the tail end that gives way to a smooth juniper-resin bitterness on the finish.

HBC-438 is going to be a solid IPA hop for sure. It has a solid oil content (2.5-3.5 mL/100 g), and a distinct flavor profile. It should be able to hold its own with other hops in a blend quite well. I look forward to playing around with this one a bit more.

I had a very similar experience with 438. I experienced more of what I thought was a minty/sage aroma in the background, very similar to a pure neomexicanus but less intense. The citrus and passionfruit are huge, and definitely a little bit of dank as well. Very nice hop, I've got a bunch in my freezer waiting for me to brew my next IPA. It also played nice with (and still stood out from) 2oz each of Amarillo, Cascade, Columbus, and Simcoe in a 15 minute whirlpool for my last rye IPA.

[erockrph]

My next tasting was Enigma. This is a new Australian hop that I got through Farmhouse Brewing Supply. The pellets clocked in at 18.1% AA.

The nose of the beer had a bright citrus/fruit aroma up front. There was a lot of complexity in the background, with woodsy, spicy, dank and piny aromas all present to one extent or another. The aroma was really big and bright, and had a really familiar "hoppy" character, for lack of better description. It reminded me of really peak quality Simcoe.

The flavor had big citrus and pine notes, almost giving the impression of fresh spruce tips. I did pick up some onion - nothing comparable to Summit, but still over my taste threshold. The bitterness seemed smooth, with some resin notes that fade out on the finish.

The descriptors I've read for Enigma lean towards red fruit (raspberries, red currants, etc.), but I'm not getting much of that. What I am getting still tells me that this is going to be a killer IPA hop, though. Although I did get a bit of the dreaded onion in the flavor, the bright hop aroma is too good to pass over. I'm looking forward to brewing an IPA with this in combo with some other hops in the near future.

[pete b]

I think Enigma is a crappy name for a hop. "I liked it this time, but who knows what will happen next?"

[HoosierBrew]

The 'Mystery wrapped in a riddle' hop.     Regardless, sounds pretty good to me. I'll probably pick some up.

[erockrph]

I think Enigma is a crappy name for a hop. "I liked it this time, but who knows what will happen next?"

Right. It was an Enigma before, but now I think I have a decent handle on it. Plus, who wants to be reminded of crappy new age music every time they brew with it?

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[pete b]

I think Enigma is a crappy name for a hop. "I liked it this time, but who knows what will happen next?"

Right. It was an Enigma before, but now I think I have a decent handle on it. Plus, who wants to be reminded of crappy new age music every time they brew with it?

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

I think using "crappy" to describe some new age music might be redundant.

[erockrph]

The final beer from this run was brewed using Vic Secret hops, which is another new cultivar from Australia.

The aroma of this beer was dominated by a big passionfruit note. I also got mango peel and tangerine notes from it as well. The aroma intensity was good, but not quite as high as the Enigma and HBC-438 beers from this group of trials.

The flavor of the beer was more of that big passionfruit that was on the nose, supported by some pine undertones. The intensity of hop flavor was moderate and let some of the malt character show through. The bitterness was smooth, with some lingering resin character through the finish.

I am a big fan of Vic Secret. That passionfruit character is distinct and intense. It makes me think of Galaxy, but it isn't quite as intense and doesn't have as much of the stonefruit or citrus I get from Galaxy sometimes. Vic Secret will definitely have a home in IPA's, but its lower intensity would also let it work in some other styles that may get overpowered by something like Galaxy or Citra. The ubiquitous "hoppy American wheat" would be a nice summer sipper with some Vic Secret in the dry hops. I could also see this working well with estery English yeasts if you're looking to get creative. A Landlord-style pale ale with Vic Secret in the whirlpool has a lot of potential.

Although it's not quite as potent as some of the others (it's not mild by any means, just not crushingly intense), I think Vic Secret is my favorite of the hops I've used on this run. I have an IPA coming up soon, and I think it will feature some heavy doses of Vic Secret and X-17, paired with some Meridian to complete the fruit bomb trifecta (tropical, citrus and stonefruit).

[narcout]

I just received 8 oz. of Vic Secret yesterday.  They are like 17.4% AA. 

[erockrph]

I just received 8 oz. of Vic Secret yesterday.  They are like 17.4% AA.

Mine are 16.5, so that sounds about right. I didn't have my AA%'s in front of me when I wrote these up.

Vic Secret - 16.5% AA
Enigma - 18.1% AA
X-17 - 9.6% AA
HBC438 - 16.6% AA
Exp. Armadillo - 5.5% AA