hops

What is the best way to evaluate a hop for flavor and aroma before brewing?

first, look at the characteristic of the hops and research the flavor and aroma profiles.  Then think about the beer you plan to make.  Would you want grapefruit and passionfruit in a porter?  Do you want an herbal Pilsner?  Think about what you want.

Smell the hops and pick out familiar aromas.  Do you want those in the beer you plan to make?

There are a ton of resources out there that have tables etc often effectively called "hop substitute" charts. These are super helpful when you get to the store with a recipe and they don't have the hop you are planning on using. I personally like John Palmer's Hop Wheel, it's a great presentation:

https://biohazardbrewery.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/hop-character-wheel.png


I always go to the store with my recipe loaded onto my phone so that I can handle updating hops with different AA% on the fly and make sure I buy the right quantitites.

Thanks for those replies. Nicasio Tom