Simcoe Hops

a modern favorite for complex aroma

Simcoe hops is one of our favorite modern hops in the market today! You may have encountered this hop variety in your American Pale Ale or India Pale Ale, for instance in Green Flash Brewing Company’s West Coast IPA or Aspen Brewery’s Independence Pass Ale IPA. Many American craft brewers and homebrewers are choosing Simcoe to help give their brews bitterness and strong aroma, leading to it being a staple beer supply for brew setups around the U.S.

Simcoe hops is a relatively new variety. It was released in 2000 by the Yakima Chief Ranch in Washington State. The Simcoe variety is used widely in the American craft brewing scene and with home brewers, and is known for its strong aromatic qualities. Brewers describe Simcoe’s strong aroma as possessing fruity characteristics as well as herbal, pine and earth fragrances. This is in part due its alpha acid content of 12-14 percent, and a relatively low beta acid content at 4-5 percent.

Simcoe is a dual-purpose hop. A majority of brewers commonly use this hop for both its aromatic and bittering qualities. The flavor profile of Simcoe includes hints of citrus, passion fruit, apricot, and berry. It also has the essence of pine and earthy scents. With these tastes combined, beer experts describe the flavor of Simcoe hops as earthy and fruity.

When it comes to brewing beer with Simcoe hops, brewers need to choose a hop variety to grow on their backyard. Since Simcoe is a patented hop, they may not be able to use rhizomes to brew their beer. The workaround is to settle on non-proprietary hop varieties. A few alternatives to consider are Chinook, Cascade, and Magnum. Cascade is a good choice, as people often call Simcoe the “Cascade on steroids.”

Popular beers containing Simcoe hops include Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA, Weyerbacher Brewery’s Double Simcoe IPA, Boulevard Brewing Company’s Saison, Magic Hat Brewing Company’s Hugh Malone Ale, Blue Frog Brewery’s The Last Hop Standing, Widmer Brothers Brewery’s Drop Top, 23rd Street Brewery’s Bitter Professor IPA, Walking Man Brewery’s Knuckle Dragger, El Toro Brewing Company’s Deuce Imperial IPA and more.

Hop Havoc offers guaranteed best pricing on a plethora of varieties, including Simcoe Organic from 2016’s crop year. Simcoe, additional varieties such as the popular galaxy hops from Australia and other beer supplies can be found on our store page, here.

Brewing Profile

Alpha Acid: 11.5 – 15%
Beta Acid: 3 – 4.5%
Co-humulone: 17 – 21%
Total Oil: 0.8 – 3.2 mL/100g
B-Pinene: 0.5 – 1% of total oil
Myrcene: 40 – 50% of total oil
Linalool: 0.5 – 0.9% of total oil
Caryophyllene: 8 – 14% of total oil[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]