From Vol. 4, No. 2, June 2020
A cross made in 1974 produced a seedling called W415-90 that advanced to Hop Research Council field trials by the mid-1980s. “We’re at a meeting with hop growers, talking about if we should increase acreage of W415-90,” said Ralph Olson, who retired as CEO at Hopunion in 2011 after 35 years of selling hops. No major breweries had shown interest in the variety. “I stood up and said, ‘I hate to see us get rid of it. Some craft brewers were interested in it.’ Another dealer asked, ‘Are they paying for the program?’”
The growers voted to discontinue trials for W415-90. “I went to the farmer who had it and told him we’d change the name and keep growing them,” Olson said. He gave the variety a new name, CFJ-90, and kept selling it.
“I started to get nervous; it was getting more popular. We got to about 10 acres, and I had to go to Prosser (the USDA hops research station in Washington) and confess. I told them I didn’t know what to do. He laughed and said, ‘Let’s give the bastard a name.’”
Because the state of Washington celebrated 100 years of statehood in 1989 they chose the name Centennial. As recently as 2010, growers planted only about 400 acres of Centennial. Acreage exploded to almost 4,500 by 2015 and 5,400 acres in 2017. Production decreased in 2018 and 2019 and will again this year, as growers farmers strung only 3,000 acres for harvest.
Heritage: Still another hop that leads us back to BB1, the wild hop from Manitoba that is the mother of Brewer’s Gold and ancestor of many prominent varieties (such as Herkules and Citra). Centennial is 3/4 Brewer’s Gold, 3/32 Fuggle, 1/16 East Kent Golding, 1/32 Bavarian, 1/16 unknown.
The Basics: 8.5-12% alpha; 3.5-5.5% beta; 1-3 mL/100g total oil. Rich in geraniol. Significant level of 4MMP, with likely other thiols.
Aroma qualities: The BarthHaas aroma guide describes citrus, tarragon, chamomile tea, floral and aniseed. The Brewers Supply Group suggests additional undertones of lemongrass and pine needles.