Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Hops

Unlock the perfect flavour pairings for hops according to data science. Explore unique recipes and discover the hidden mathematics of flavour.
Hops instantly conjure the evocative embrace of hop and the bracing kiss of grapefruit. But look beneath its obvious bitterness and you'll discover a captivating symphony of softer notes, a whisper of resin, a hint of cedar, and subtle accents reminiscent of blossom, contributing remarkable depth. The key to a remarkable harmony lies in understanding how these accents combine harmoniously.
To chart these harmonies, we analysed thousands of ingredients, each deconstructed across 150 distinct flavour dimensions, pinpointing the notes that best complement this ingredient’s profile. Our findings reveal, for instance, how gelatin's glutamic tones can enrich hops, or how cream's butyric notes create an unexpectedly harmonious bridge with the grassy aroma.
Flavour Profile Of Hops Across 150 Dimensions Of Flavour
Flavour wheel chart showing the dominant flavour notes of Hops: Hoppy, Resinous, Grapefruit, Blossom, Cedar, Grassy, Mango, Bergamot, Cinchona, Lavender, Poivre, Pine, Elderflower, Chamomile
An ingredient's flavour profile is determined by its core characteristics (e.g. floral, woody, and herbal) enhanced by layers of subtle aroma notes (outer bars). When pairing ingredients, aim for a mix of core traits to build balance, and select complementary aroma notes to create harmony.
Flavour Pairing Method
To understand how flavour notes harmonise, we analysed more than 50,000 popular ingredient combinations. By exploring these pairings, we identified specific flavour notes that frequently occur together, indicating they share a harmonious relationship.
The Flavours That Harmonise With Hoppy Notes
Strength of Association Between Flavours
The flavours most associated with hoppy notes are: Graphite, Citric, Bay leaf, Sage, Butyric, Rosemary, Bergamot, Eucalyptus, Thyme, Neroli, Peppercorn, Basil, Camphor, Balsam, Cedar.
Our analysis shows that the flavour of hop is strongly associated with the flavour of butyric acid. This suggests we should look for ingredients with a butyric flavour, such as cream, when pairing with the hoppy accents of hops.
The recipe below provides inspiration for pairing hops with cream.
Harmonious Flavours Of Hops
Just as our analysis revealed that hop and pencil-lead flavour notes are often used together, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the flavour notes present in hops. For instance, the resinous flavours of hops are strongly associated with glutamic and fatty accents.
The aroma notes associated with the various accents of hops can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.
Flavour Profile Of Hops And Its Complementary Flavour Notes
Flavour wheel chart showing the dominant flavour notes of Hops: Hoppy, Resinous, Grapefruit, Blossom, Cedar, Grassy, Mango, Bergamot, Cinchona, Lavender, Poivre, Pine, Elderflower, Chamomile
Matching Flavour Profiles
The flavour profile of gelatin offers many of the aroma accents complementary to hops, including glutamic and poultry notes. Because the flavour profile of gelatin has many of the of the features that are complementary to hops, they are likely to pair very well together.
Prominent Flavour Notes Of Gelatin Are Represented By Longer Bars
Flavour wheel chart showing the dominant flavour notes of Gelatin: Glutamic, Proteolytic, Poultry, Saline, Iron
The chart above shows the unique profile of gelatin across 150 dimensions of flavour, while the recipes below offer inspiration for bringing these flavours together with hops.
Recipes That Pair Hops With Gelatin
Linked Flavour Notes
Looking at the accents that are most strongly associated with the various flavours of hops, we can identify other ingredients that are likely to pair well.
Hops's Harmonious Flavours And Complementary Ingredients
Hops's Strongest Flavours
Complementary Flavours
Ingredients with Complementary Flavours
Flavour groups:
Nectarous
Acidic
Floral
Herbal
Spice
Vegetal
Maillard
Earthy
Carnal
The left side of the chart above highlights the aroma notes of hops, along with the complementary aromas associated with each note. While the right side shows some of the ingredients that share many of the accents complementary to hops.
What To Drink With Hops
The graphite notes in saumur champigny make it a perfect pairing with hops. Likewise, the glutamic flavours in pecorino create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of hops below.
How Flavonomics Works
We've pioneered a unique, data-driven approach to decode the intricate art of flavour pairing. Our goal is to move beyond intuition and uncover the science of why certain ingredients harmonise beautifully. This rigorous methodology allows us to provide you with insightful and reliable pairing recommendations.
Our analysis begins with over 50,000 carefully selected recipes from acclaimed chefs like Galton Blackiston, Marcello Tully, and Pierre Lambinon. This premium dataset ensures our model distils genuine culinary excellence and creativity.
Each ingredient from these recipes is deconstructed across 150 distinct flavour dimensions, creating a unique numerical "flavour fingerprint." This quantification allows us to apply advanced analytical methods to identify complex patterns between flavour notes.
We identify popular ingredient combinations that frequently appear in our recipe database. Regression analysis is then performed on these pairings to statistically validate and pinpoint truly harmonious flavours.
These insights drive our predictive model, which allows us to take any ingredient (e.g., Hops), analyse its detailed flavour profile, and accurately reveal its complementary flavours and perfect ingredient partners.
Explore More
Discover more ingredient profiles and expand your culinary knowledge. Each ingredient page offers detailed analysis of flavour profiles, pairing insights, and culinary applications.
The content on our analysis blog is semi-automated. All of the words were manually written by a human, but the content is updated dynamically based on the data.