Hop substitution for Horizon hops

[JR]

I'm working my way through the American ales in Brewing Classic Styles.  Almost every recipe uses Horizon hops for the bittering.  I can’t seem to get any of those hops so I need a suitable substitute.  Most of the substitution guides I have found say substitute with Magnum, which I also can't get.  Are these fairly neutral bittering hops or do they have a bit of character?

The last one I made (fermenting) I substituted Chinook but I understand they might be a bit sharp and interfere with the flavour the recipe intended.

 

What would you use to sub for Horizon?

Options are

 

Imported:

Northern Brewer

Nugget

Crystal

Columbus

Liberty

Chinook

 

Or NZ:

Pacific Jade or Gem 

 

[MrC]

Just go with Nelson Sauvin for bittering and you'll never look back.

[Martin Bridges]

Out of the imported ones I'd go with Nugget.

Can you not get any Southern Cross? I've been happy with that as a fairly neutral bittering hop.

[JR]

I can get southern cross, I might go with the nugget though as I'll keep it all American and its listed as a sub for magnum which is a sub for horizon.

This seems pretty usefull for imported hops but not so much for the NZ hops. http://pint.com.au/calculators/hopsubstitution/

[Reviled]

Why substitute??

http://craftbrewer.com/shop/details.asp?PID=608

http://craftbrewer.com/shop/details.asp?PID=617

[denimglen]

Craftbrewer like Rev said or go with Southern Cross asd Martin mentioned.

While Southern Cross isn't an American hops it's low cohumulone so imparts a softer bitterness, and it's character is slightly American-ish - citrus and spice I believe (Rev can comment here a bit more, he's used it in a late addition, I've only ever used it for bittering).

It also has the benefit of being cheaper - so you can spend more money on your late hops.

[Reviled]

Yeah I agree re the Southern Cross nugget thingy, to me, the only difference ive noticed between the two is that nugget is a little more resinous, but im not sure if thats just my perception...

Nugget late can impart a lemony character, and Southern Cross late did exactly the same thing for me...

I dunno about Southern Cross being cheaper tho? And if it is it cant be by much as Nugget isnt a very expensive US hop..

[denimglen]

Yeah that was an assumption really, being locally grown and produced compared to imported blah blah blah. Good point though, nugget is one of the most grown varieties or something IIRC.

What's the alpha% on Nugget at the moment? When I bought some ages ago it was only like 8% I think, compared to 14ish% for SC. So dollar per alpha may be cheaper? Ounce for ounce on par?

Either way I'm a staunch SC user, great results with that hop :-)

[Reviled]

Last time I got nugget it was about 11% and SC was about 13%, ive brewed the same recipe with both and couldnt really tell a difference as it was just bittering...