Hop
Sovereign
A gentle English dwarf aroma hop with grassy, floral and faintly herbal character.
Aroma and flavour
Descriptors are impressions rather than analytical results. BeerHQ rates this characterisation as commonly reported.
Belongs to
Analysis
| Alpha acid | 5–7% |
|---|---|
| Purpose | aroma |
| Origin | United Kingdom |
| Released | 2006 |
| Storage stability | moderate |
How it is used
- Late boil. Added in the last few minutes, retaining more aromatic oils while adding modest bitterness.
- Dry hop. Added after the boil, during or after fermentation. Contributes aroma and flavour with essentially no isomerised bitterness.
If you like Sovereign
Hops with comparable character. Similarity and substitutability are different questions, so each entry says which it is: a hop can smell alike and still change the beer if its alpha acid is far off.
Boadicea 5–9% alpha
Shares grass, floral, herbal with Sovereign; an aroma variety at a comparable alpha acid.
Not the same: nothing in the recorded profile separates the two, which means BeerHQ cannot tell you how they differ rather than that they are interchangeable.
Smells alike, but the alpha acid differs enough that a like-for-like swap would change the bitterness.
East Kent Goldings 5–7% alpha
Shares floral, herbal with Sovereign; an aroma variety at a comparable alpha acid.
Not the same: brings earth and wood that Sovereign does not; lacks the grass of Sovereign.
Close enough in both aroma and alpha acid to swap in a recipe.
Willamette 4–6% alpha
Shares floral, herbal with Sovereign; an aroma variety at a comparable alpha acid.
Not the same: brings earth and wood that Sovereign does not; lacks the grass of Sovereign.
Close enough in both aroma and alpha acid to swap in a recipe.
Progress 5–8% alpha
Shares floral, herbal with Sovereign; an aroma variety at a comparable alpha acid.
Not the same: brings earth and wood that Sovereign does not; lacks the grass of Sovereign.
Close enough in both aroma and alpha acid to swap in a recipe.
Fuggle 4–6% alpha
Shares grass, herbal with Sovereign; an aroma variety at a comparable alpha acid.
Not the same: brings earth and wood that Sovereign does not; lacks the floral of Sovereign.
Close enough in both aroma and alpha acid to swap in a recipe.
Straight substitutes
Close enough in both character and alpha acid to swap at a similar weight. Substitution is directional and imperfect — these are the nearest available options, not equivalents.
- East Kent Goldings — Shares floral, herbal with Sovereign; an aroma variety at a comparable alpha acid.
- Willamette — Shares floral, herbal with Sovereign; an aroma variety at a comparable alpha acid.
- Progress — Shares floral, herbal with Sovereign; an aroma variety at a comparable alpha acid.
- Fuggle — Shares grass, herbal with Sovereign; an aroma variety at a comparable alpha acid.