Queries 8.05: Fresh hop festivals, a bitter reminder & Peacharine

* Temperature and thiol biotransformation
* Bitterness has an altitude problem
* CGX Fresh Hops
* Fresh hop festivals
* Hop profile: Peacharine
* Additional reading

Hops bound for cooling floor at Carpenter farms.

Welcome to Vol. 8, No. 5. Harvest in the Northern Hemisphere is at full throttle. My Instagram feed if stuffed with photos from every angle of harvest. This one from @carpenterhops in the Yakima Valley is particularly striking.

FREEING THIOLS, BUT TO WHAT END?

Researchers from Oregon State University and Lallemand Brewing presented information at the 2024 EBC Congress and Brewers Forum in France that showed a strong correlation between increasing fermentation temperature and free thiol formation. The results also remind brewers that free thiols alone do not necessarily produce the most fruity, citrus, and tropical-flavored beers.

The research examined the performance of five commercial yeast strains at three temperatures (15°C, 22°C, 30°C/59°F, 71.6°F, 86°F). Pale ales were hopped with 1.2g/L of Cascade at the start of kettle boil and 3.0 g/L of Cascade in the whirlpool. They were not dry hopped.

They measured the levels of 3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol (3SH) and 4-methyl-4-sulfanylpentan-2-one (4SMP). Those increased with temperature across all yeast strains. LalBrew Diamond lager yeast produced the highest overall concentrations of both thiols. LalBrew Nottingham and London ale strains showed the greatest changes with temperature. LalBrew Verdant IPA and BRY-97 showed less change in thiol concentrations with temperature.

Read more

Queries 8.04: Hello Krush, new thiols list, harvest estimates

* 2024 crop
* Classifying thiol impact
* Krush with a K
* Wanna bet?
* Hop profile: Ekuanot
* More reading

Welcome to Vol. 8, No. 4. Hop harvest has begun, and in some regions finished, in the northern hemisphere. Plenty of photos of bright green cones in my Instagram feed, as well as a couple of videos of trellises that went down in stormy weather. Here is an example from @westcoasthopbreeding. Next month, I plan to post a list of fresh hop festivals. Feel free to send me information.

ACRES + YIELD = HOPS

This is the way it is supposed to work. Plant more acres, get more hops. String fewer, get fewer. Increase yield, get more hops. Pre-harvest estimates suggest that has happened in both the US Northwest and Germany.

Each of Germany’s five hop growing regions (Hallertau is by far the largest) provided estimates as harvest began. Production in the Hallertau increased 21 percent over 2023, to 42,350 metric tons, while overall German production grew 18.8 percent to 48,964 metric tons (98.1 million pounds). Why? Yields in Germany were up 20.5 percent. Although yields in 2023 had improved on 2022’s particularly disappointing harvest, they were still below average.

Important numbers for those interested in traditional landrace varieties: Hallertau Mittelfrüh 565 metric tons (+4.6 percent), Hersbrucker 1,714 metric tons (+38.2 percent), and Spalter Select 906 metric tons (+26.7 percent). Yes, Select is the bred version of Spalt Spalter, but there is no published estimate for Spalt Spalter, which is planted on far fewer acres.

The overall harvest yielded about nine percent more hops than an average crop the last 10 years, which a press releases notes will be sold into a market that is “. . . oversupplied.”

That oversupply is why farmers in the Northwest removed almost 10 percent of acreage from production between 2022 and 2023 and another 18 percent between 2023 and 2024. Higher yields in 2023 compared to 2022 offset the cuts in acreage and overall production increased two percent, from about 102 million barrels to 104 million barrels.

Read more

The wait if over, HBC 586 has a name: Krush

The Hop Breeding Company has finally given HBC 586 a name, and for the press release making the announcement breeder Jason Perrault, says, “Many of my brewing friends are simply saying, ‘It’s about time.’”

In 2022, Perrault estimated that Yakima Valley hop growers had strung about 150 acres1 of the cultivar beginning today known as Krush, and many brewers expected her to be named before the 2023 planting season. However, the release was delayed because of surprisingly low yields in some fields, perhaps because of a heat dome that settled over the growing region in 2022.

This is a reminder of why it takes so long for a new cultivar to be commercialized. Sometimes a hop must prove herself one more time. Krush is the product of a cross made 17 years ago.

“Introducing a new hop variety to a wider craft market is always a thrill,” says Michael Ferguson, director of hop breeding at John I. Haas, a partner with Yakima Chief Ranches in the Hop Breeding Company. “Krush is incredibly versatile and has the immediate potential to inspire brewers with its robust citrus and tropical fruit profile. The hop has performed exceptionally well during years of rigorous trials, and I look forward to more brewers utilizing Krush in their recipes for years to come.”

Krush contains 12-13% alpha acids, 7.5-8.5% beta acids, and 1.2–2.5 ml/100g essential oil. She is rich in “survivables.”

“Not every variety translates so clearly from raw hop aroma to finished beer, but Krush bursts with peach, mango, citrus, and tropical notes at harvest and adds a pop of these same flavors to every Krush beer I’ve tasted,” Tiffany Pitra, senior sensory manager at Yakima Chief Hops, says for the press release.

Perrault, CEO as well as breeder at Yakima Chief Ranches, says he considers the cultivar a rarity. “Some hops you have to experience to understand. Krush is one of them. It delivers a big tropical and fruit punchiness without being overpowering.” he says.

1 For perspective, 150 acres is three times the size of the average farm in Germany,

Queries 8.03: Relax and have a Saaz hopped beer, because there’s still plenty of Citra

* This is your brain on Saaz
* Random observation: The best Citra?
* Hop profile: Styrian Wolf
* Links
      – Two faces of Citra
      – Down on the small hop farm
      – BarthHaas annual report
      – Hop sensory
      – Hops and NA beers

Welcome to Vol. 8, No. 3. Hop harvest has begun east of the Mississippi, and will be underway in the world’s primary growing regions in a matter of weeks. Reports indicate that most farms “are in a pretty good position to get to the finish line.” Of course, those of us west of the Mississippi who are waking up these days to hazy skies that result from wildfires remember the impact of smoke taint on the 2020 and 2021 crops. Be alert.

RELAX, HAVE A PILSNER

After a conversation with a hop merchant about fractionating essential oil, I revisited research—mentioned briefly in “For the Love of Hops”—related the relaxing effect of certain compounds.

Scientists at Sapporo in Japan used headband sensors to measure the brainwaves of participants, first when they were smelling beer, then later in an experiment that included drinking the beer. They found:

– When subjects smelled the odor of essential oil extract from Saazer hops, the rhythm of the frequency fluctuation in the right frontal alpha-waves significantly increased in regularity, showing that the subjects felt a lower level of arousal and became more relaxed.

Read more

Two faces of Citra

Citra spider chart

Citra spider chart

Earlier this week, Yakima Chief Hops posted information about a flash sale on Instagram, drawing attention to changes in the way customers may compare hop lots. The details:

“Review the brewing values, sensory characteristics including charts, and grower information anytime via our revamped Lot Lookup Tool. Just input the Lot Number into the tool. You even have the ability to compare HOT LOTS to each other. Enjoy the assurance of knowing exactly the aroma characteristics of your Spot order will be.”

You need to be a customer to use the tool. I am not. [A correction of sorts, and thanks to Max Coleman. Brewers who have a lot number may use the tool.] anybody can get a look at it here. The Instagram post included spider charts for a few lots, including the two posted above.

I originally thought to post this because for too many years I’ve received the occasional email asking, “What happened to [add your favorite hop name]. It is not the same as it used to be.” My catchall answer is that hops are an agricultural product. These charts are proof, but . . .

There is something else to consider. That’s a T90 pellet lot at the top, and a Cryo lot at the bottom. That the T90 lot is quite woody and the Cryo lot not at all woody suggests removing green matter (which happens when hops are cryogenically concentrated) eliminates the woody character found in “old fashioned” hops. Cool. Unless there’s something else in the green matter that might make the beer taste like some of us prefer.

This is not going to turn into a post about the pros and cons of concentrated hop products. Just something to think about. Scott Lafontaine, whose expertise I have leaned on multiple times, will be talking about “Deconstructing the Chemical Composition of a Hop Cone – a 21st Century Fractionation Approach” at the World Brewing Congress in August. Should be interesting.

A final note: These charts represent T90s and Cryo pellets before they are introduced during the brewing process. Biotransformations = change.