Hop
Willamette
An American Fuggle seedling: mild, earthy and floral, and a staple of American ales.
Aroma and flavour
Descriptors are impressions rather than analytical results. BeerHQ rates this characterisation as well established.
Belongs to
Analysis
| Alpha acid | 4–6% |
|---|---|
| Cohumulone | 30–35% |
| Purpose | aroma |
| Origin | United States |
| Released | 1976 |
| Ancestry | Fuggle |
| 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.
- Bittering (early boil). Added at or near the start of the boil, where long exposure isomerises alpha acids into bitterness and drives off aroma.
If you like Willamette
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.
East Kent Goldings 5–7% alpha · editorial
A comparable restrained English aroma hop.
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.
Close enough in both aroma and alpha acid to swap in a recipe.
Fuggle 4–6% alpha · editorial
Its parent, and near-interchangeable.
Not the same: brings grass that Willamette does not; lacks the floral of Willamette.
Close enough in both aroma and alpha acid to swap in a recipe.
Progress 5–8% alpha
Shares earth and wood, floral, herbal with Willamette; 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.
Celeia 3–6% alpha
Shares earth and wood, floral, herbal with Willamette; 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.
Close enough in both aroma and alpha acid to swap in a recipe.
Whitbread Golding Variety 5–8% alpha
Shares earth and wood, floral with Willamette; an aroma variety at a comparable alpha acid.
Not the same: brings stone fruit that Willamette does not; lacks the herbal of Willamette.
Smells alike, but the alpha acid differs enough that a like-for-like swap would change the bitterness.
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 — A comparable restrained English aroma hop.
- Fuggle — Its parent, and near-interchangeable.
- Celeia — Shares earth and wood, floral, herbal with Willamette; an aroma variety at a comparable alpha acid.
- Sovereign — Shares floral, herbal with Willamette; an aroma variety at a comparable alpha acid.