Simcoe was well received when it was introduced in 2000, but by 2006 enough unsold inventory had built up growers almost gave up on it. “The demand just wasn’t there,” said Jason Perault, CEO and head hop breeder for Yakima Chief Ranches.
The attention beers such at Pliny the Elder and Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA attracted helped sustain it until larger brewers put in substantial orders. Production of Simcoe grew from 226,000 pounds in 2008 to 1.6 million by 2012 and peaked at almost 8 million pounds in 2017.
Heritage: When YCR 14 (which would be named Simcoe) was patented in 1999, she was described as “a new hop plant variety of unknown parentage which was discovered among plants created as part of a controlled breeding program.” Perrault was in high school in 1988 when he helped Chuck Zimmerman cross-pollinate several males and females of interest. “His feeling was it biased things talking about pedigree,” Perrault said. Zimmerman, who previously ran the USDA research facility at Prosser Station, kept a nursery at his house. “Warrior and Simcoe came out of those crosses. Simcoe was in row 2, hill 56. I still remember that. It had a nice-looking growth in the field.”
The patent described YCR14 as moderately tolerant to powdery mildew and stated that she would yield 2,650 to 2,800 pounds per acre. However, it turns out Simcoe is susceptible to powdery mildew and does not yield nearly that well. With Simcoe’s future uncertain, Perrault crossed her with a Nugget-derived male bred for resistance to powdery mildew. Some of the resulting seedlings had Simcoe’s unique aroma attributes, plus others of their own. One numbered HBC 369 turned out to be disease resistant with a much better yield. That one earned a name—Mosaic.
The basics: 10-16% alpha acids, 3.5-5.5% beta acids, .5-3 mL/100 grams total oil. Contains a significant level of 4MMP.
Aroma qualities: Known for her complexity, delivering berry notes, plums, passion fruit, pineapple and grapefruit.