In my years as a beer buyer, I would be looking for a beer with purpose. I’d be on the lookout for a beer that had a sense of application in mind. So now, working in and around hops, I’m maddeningly curious when I receive an email from a customer looking for hops that follows the frustrating familiar path of:

“Hi, I’m looking for Citra, Galaxy, Simcoe, and Nelson Sauvin”.

From that point, I know how the rest of the message is going to go and that’s the type of email I get all day, every day, without fail.

And as a hop vendor, and having seen the full portfolio of hops a company like ours can offer, I can’t help but feel that many breweries are missing a trick and missing the opportunities these hops can present to them.

So here, I want to draw your attention to some of the hop varieties that have passed people by, those that haven’t found a home, and the ones that may have been succeeded by higher alpha varieties.

I then want to focus on some exciting hops that are will become available in the future. They just need people to be brave enough to give them ago.

Forgotten varieties

Endeavour is a forgotten variety. It’s very ‘English’ but spicy and green. Its English Cascade in its heritage and offers up lots of limey and lemon flavours. Simply put, it is fantastic and there good volumes available but it’s not getting a lot of traction as people come in wanting Challenger and East Kent Golding. I’ve used it in my own brewery so much it has become our stock English hop. Frankly, I can’t believe nobody is talking about it. Give it a go!

Brewers Gold is a variety that is grown in both Germany the US and some in Belgium, too. In the US, it was the Pale Ale hop while the crops grown in Germany were used in lots of Belgian Pale Ales as well as in Saisons thanks to its spicy and herb-like qualities. For me, the US hops shows like a light version of Chinook. It’s all pineapple, grapefruit with pine and resin coming through.

I’m fortunate getting to travel to Europe, Africa and the US. And a trend I see is the continued growth of session-strength beers, something I expect to stick around for a long time to come. Mount Hood was previously popular in English Pales and now it’s finding favour in Session IPAs. It’s amazing in light sessions styles with lots of grapefruit and peach. Everyone loves a pint of Oakham JHB, right? So if you do, you’ll enjoy this hop. At less than 20 Euro a kilo, it’s affordable but once again, when do you last hear someone celebrating it?

Summit was the hop of choice for our Underdog Brewing Competition in 2016. Each year we invite craft brewers across Europe to take part in a battle of the beers to show us their skill, creativity and dedication to flavour. The competition bans the use of the most popular hop varieties in craft brewing and instead gives you one under-used, full-of-potential hop, to show what you can do. By showing a true understanding of the hop itself and skill when combining different ingredients, the victor brews a beer that delivers big balanced flavours in the true craft style.

We chose Summit that year because of its sold very much as an Alpha bittering hop. It has high dry hopping potential but shows pure pink grapefruit. Some of the results were incredibly impressive with lots of rich orange coming through. Again, you’re not talking crazy money either.

I’m sure at some point you’ve all had an Anchor Liberty Ale from Anchor Brewery. So hear we are. It’s a versatile US hop that can be used in many pale ales. It shows up with low pine and low resin and frankly, it’s a solid quality hop. I think of it as an engine room hop with old-school aroma and some sherbet, too. Think fruit sweets and you’re getting there.

There are many varieties sitting there waiting for you guys to use them. The opportunity is there for you to take and when you have such great yeast on offer from places such as Lallemand, the interplay potential between the hops and yeast is very exciting.

Future varieties

I get a real kick seeing what is coming out and we’re lucky at Barth Haas as we have a 50% shareholding in the HBC (Hop Breeding Company). One hop that has emerged from that is HBC 472 and it is bizarre, in the best way possible. It shows up as pineapple, cedar and coconut. I used it recently in the Mexican lager we brewed as part of the 3/9 Project at Harbour Brewing, and it showed up really well in the dry-hop. It combines good alpha qualities and crazy oils. Bonkers!

HBC 431 is a personal favourite of mine. It’s not a big gun like some of the newer American hops but it shows strawberry jam and soft red fruits. It’s a hop that plays really well with Ekuanot and one where you can use a lot, or use a little, and get different results. It’ll work well in the hazy IPAs, too.

Ella is not in the same vein as Galaxy, Vic Secret or Topaz but I adore the hop. It’s used in lots of blends in Australia and works incredibly well in lagers. You can expect beautiful rich Seville oranges and tangerine from this solid crop that has amazing availability.

The first commercial hop of BRU-1 was in 2016 where it was showcased on an experimental level at the Craft Brewers Conference. Grown by Brulotte Farms, a small family setup in Yakima, the hops is pure pineapple sweets and the beer produced with it for that event were by far the most exciting.

This a new Australian experimental hop that is a peach and passion fruit bomb. To my mind, it’s an Amarillo killer and its stunning. But for hops like this, and when looking at the bigger picture, you need to stay in touch with your hop vendor. Regular discussions are so integral and if you like a hop, get it contracted so we can go back to the farmers with the all-important numbers.

Try and garner a very good relationship  which your favourite hop supplier.  AU35 and to my mind it’s an Amarillo killer is stunning.  there’s anything 3 harvests of it the match up take so if you like get on it and contracted out of going to have regular discussions not just on the contracts but importantly on what is coming out what is the reliability and what is coming down the pipe.  that is how we can go back to the Farmers an offer distance c the persistence of life is what you need to keep the prices not going batshit crazy my behalf of Mandarin a few years ago when I went sky High and then it came crashing back down volatility drives me up the wall.

New styles are coming down the line all of the time. Different hops work in different ways with different yeasts.  Biotransformation is a hot topic and it’s fascinating how the volumes you dry hop with, what you were dry hopping, the ratios, temperatures and with what yeasts. So do engage with new hops and be analytical and ask yourself, how can this sit within your portfolio and if you can grow a brand around it. Who knows, one of these hops could end up being central to your future signature beer.

But do stay in touch with your hop dealer. Have regular conversations, maintain that dialogue and utilise social media because that’s what it’s there for!