Greetings from Japan

Hello all,

As you probably would have guessed I live in Japan... although I am not japanese but french, go figure. I have been living here for a few years now and as an alsacian, from the Alsace region in France, I like my beer. I do not drink a lot of beer because one has to take care of the wine too, but I just got fed-up with the swill that usually passes for beer here.

Of course you can find decent beer almost everywhere if the price is no object, considering this I am not prepared to spend the price of two meals on beer. Therefore I decided to start brewing my own and invested in BIAB gear and purchased a copy of Beersmith.

So far I have not been wildly successful, only 3 brews under my belt, mainly because I do not know my setup well enough yet but it's improving. I do not have the possibility to brew lagers due to temp control restrictions so I am focusing on ales. First try was actually with W3470 and ended up with a stuck fermentation... Second try was a SMASH with Vienna malt and Hallertau, very decent but not great, third attempt (the one I am drinking nowadays) is what I call a SMATH, Single Malt And Two Hops, with Munich malt and Hallertau plus Tettnanger. This time it turned out differently of what I wanted, but I understood why afterwards, but the result is great, not genius great but more than decent, really happy about it.

So I have a question for you guys, here in Japan the choice of hops and other stuff is really limited therefore I want to order hops from the states but I do not really know which, I guess 6 or 8 different ones would do but what is your opinion on the "must have" hops in your hop toolbox? And where should I buy in your opinion, I was looking at Morebeer as they ship internationally.

Many thanks in advance for all replies, cheers,

T

I buy my pellets by the pound from hopsdirect.com. They've got good prices, though when you buy a pound you're committed to that variety for a while. Don't know if they ship internationally, but I don't see why they wouldn't. My personal favorites for ale are Golding and Fuggles. Cascade is quite popular, though personally I'm not a fan of the whole citrus thing.  Happy brewing!

If you don't have it already, I would recommend "How to Brew" by John J. Palmer.  Make sure you get the most current version.  I believe it's 2006.  Indispensable...  I also think it's around $10 online.  He not only covers most issues in brewing and troubleshooting but covers various hops and their use in ales and lagers. 
Since I do primarily German lagers I stick to the German Noble hops (Hallertauer family, Hallertauer, Hersbrucker, Mittelfruh, ... ), Saaz, Tettang, Spalt... 

Since I haven't done many ales I can't speak for those hops.
Hope this helps..

I would go for for dual purpose hops because of their versatility. Northern Brewer is good but my favourite is Challenger which gives a smooth, rounded bitterness when used at the begining of the boil and a floral, spicy flavour when used as a late addition. It's also very good for dry hopping.

I find Goldings essential. Motueka is also good to have in the fridge. It's similar to Saaz but with more AA and more flavour. It's good in both lagers and ales. I'd recommend Gallaxy if you like big flavours.

Pellets are great if you have the equipment to use them because they take up less room and have a much longer shelf life.

Thanks to all of you.

I think I will probably go with Kent Golding, Fuggles, Challenger, Motueka and Galaxy. I am sure these will keep me busy for a while... and I still have some Hallertau and Tettnanger on top of it.

T