Hop Spotlight: Nelson Sauvin, Galaxy & Ekuanot — Three Hops Worth Trying
Quick answer: Nelson Sauvin (New Zealand) tastes of white wine, gooseberry and passion fruit. Galaxy (Australia) is intense passion fruit, peach and citrus. Ekuanot (USA) brings melon, lime, papaya and a herbal edge. All three are high-alpha, dual-purpose hops, but they're at their best added late in the boil, in the whirlpool or as a dry hop, in pale ales and IPAs.
If you've brewed with Citra and Mosaic and want something new, these three are well worth a try. Each has a character you won't get from the usual suspects. Here's how they compare and how to use them.
The three hops side by side
| Nelson Sauvin | Galaxy | Ekuanot | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Origin | New Zealand | Australia | USA (formerly Equinox / HBC 366) |
| Alpha acids | 12–13% | 13–15% | 14–16% |
| Aroma | White wine, gooseberry, passion fruit, lychee | Passion fruit, peach, citrus | Melon, lime, papaya, berry, herbal |
| Best use | Late additions, whirlpool, dry hop | Late boil, whirlpool, dry hop | Late boil, dry hop |
| Great in | Pale ales, IPAs, wheat beers | Tropical IPAs, pale ales | Hazy and tropical IPAs |
| Pairs with | Use carefully, as it dominates | Citra, Mosaic | Citra, Mosaic |
| Buy | Nelson Sauvin 200g | Galaxy or 200g | Ekuanot or 200g |
Nelson Sauvin: the white wine hop
Nelson Sauvin is named after Sauvignon Blanc, and the resemblance is real. Rub a pellet between your fingers and you'll get crisp white grape, gooseberry and tropical fruit. It's one of the most distinctive hops you can buy, and that's both its strength and its risk. A little goes a long way, and too much can taste sharp and slightly sulphurous rather than fruity.
How to use it: Keep it to the end of the boil, the whirlpool and the dry hop. Start with a modest late addition and build up in your next batch. It shines in a single-hop pale ale, where nothing hides it. It also works well in a wheat beer, where its vinous fruit sits nicely alongside the soft malt.
Galaxy: tropical intensity
Galaxy is Australia's best-known aroma hop. It has a very high oil content, so its passion fruit and peach character comes through strongly even at modest rates. It's a natural partner for Citra in a juicy, tropical IPA.
How to use it: Long boiling wastes the oils, so add it late. A whirlpool addition below about 80°C, followed by a dry hop of around 30–60 g per 23 litres, is a good starting point. Very heavy dry hop rates can turn slightly harsh, so build up rather than overloading. Ferment with a clean yeast such as Safale US-05, so the fruit leads.
Ekuanot: melon, lime and green
Ekuanot started life as HBC 366 and was briefly sold as Equinox. It's a modern American hop with high oil content and an unusual mix of melon, lime, papaya and a green, herbal edge that adds depth to fruit-forward beers.
How to use it: Use it as a late-boil or dry hop addition. On its own it can lean green and peppery. Blend it with Citra or Mosaic and that herbal note rounds out a big tropical hop bill nicely. It suits hazy IPAs. Our NEIPA guide is a good place to start.
Three easy ways to try them
- Dry hop a kit. Add one of these to a pale ale or IPA kit as a dry hop. It's the quickest way to taste a new hop. Follow our guide to dry hopping a beer kit.
- Brew a single-hop pale ale. Use one hop for every addition, so you learn exactly what it tastes like.
- Blend. Galaxy with Citra for tropical punch, or Ekuanot with Mosaic for melon and berry.
Bittering with high-alpha hops
All three are high-alpha, so you can use them to bitter. But you're paying for aroma oils that boil away in an early addition. Many brewers bitter with a cheaper hop, or a small early charge, and save these three for the end. Our hops alpha adjustment calculator helps you keep the bitterness right if the alpha on your packet differs from your recipe.
Substitutes and storage
Can't get one of them? Citra is the nearest widely available swap for Galaxy. For the others, check our hop substitution guide. Hops lose aroma once opened, so squeeze out the air, reseal the pack, and keep it in the freezer. Our hop storage calculator shows how quickly alpha acids fade.
Browse all American and New World hop pellets, the 200g hop range, or every hop we stock.