US Hops

Willamette

Willamette is a pillar of the American hop industry and is one of the most grown hop varieties in the US. Its versatility has meant that is has been popular with many different big brewery beers over the years where it most commonly used as an aroma and flavour hop.

Suitable for

English Ale, American Pale Ale, Lager, Porter, ESB

Aroma Profile

Blackcurrant, Floral, Spicy, Black Pepper

Alpha Acid
4-7%
Storage

Stored at 0-2 °C


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Released in 1976 from the USDA breeding program, Willamette is a triploid seedling of
English Fuggle. For years, it was the most widely grown aroma variety in the US. It is
named after Oregon’s Willamette River which runs through the heart of the state’s hop
growing region.

Willamette is a pillar of the American hop industry and is one of the most grown hop varieties in the US. Fuggles in the UK didn’t have a very high yield and USDA wanted to create a high yielding hop that retained the earthy and spicy aroma of Fuggles.

After several years of testing, six hops were given to a panel to try and unanimously, the committee chose a hop called Columbia. However, the odd part of this story is that their decision was overturned by the chief of brewing who said that Willamette was a closer match to Fuggles.

Before the acceptance of Cascade and the growth of US hop-forward beer styles (helped by Sierra Nevada and others), US hop breeders concentrated on replicating traditional ‘noble’ hop flavours in their beers. Willamette was the culmination of this effort.

When Willamette was released, it became a massive player in the brewing world for both the big brewers and the smaller craft breweries.

Willamette is an extremely versatile hop that has been used in many different big brewery beers over the years, especially Budweiser. Willamette is mostly used as an aroma and flavour hop. There is a range of beers that you can use Willamette to make including stouts, brown ales, pale ales, amber ales, British ales and lots more.

Although most craft brewers use Willamette as an aroma addition, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t an excellent bittering hop. The aroma tones of the hop are lovely and have produced some beautiful beers when used as a late addition, but it has also produced some excellent beers when used in the bittering stages too.

It is worth experimenting with Willamette to find out the perfect time for its addition into your brew. This all depends on the flavours you want, of course. Willamette has lots of characters to add, but they are indeed quite subtle. This can suit some craft beers exceptionally well, but others may need a little fruit and spice which can be added in the form of another aroma hop.

Additional information

Weight 5 kg
Form

Pellet, Whole Cone

Year

2019

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