* 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.
There is no organization the United States similar to those in Germany that make pre-harvest estimates. The USDA will publish final harvest data in December. However, hop merchant Hopsteiner’s annual estimates are seldom far off, so here goes:
– They estimate production will shrink to 86.4 million pounds, 17 percent less than 2023. That would seriously dent the surplus if annual shipments remain above 100 million pounds. There are indications they may not.
– Yields in 2024 will be about the same as 2023, with a couple of important exceptions. The average yield of each alpha beast Helios acre will increase by about 60 percent, because 2023 “babies” are now mature. Centennial yields will be up about 33 percent, because they are returning to normal after a horrible crop in 2023. As a result, Centennial production will increase by 33 percent.
– Among the varieties Hopsteiner specified (about 30 percent are grouped together under “others”), Centennial is the only one valued for its aroma that will not show a decrease in 2024. Production of Citra will shrink by 25 percent, Mosaic by 35 percent, Cascade by 41 percent, Chinook by 31 percent, and Amarillo by 6 percent.
CLASSIFYING THIOL HOPS
Scientists at Hopsteiner in Germany have examined 250 samples of 99 hop varieties from 12 countries across five crop years to establish lists of hops with what they call high thiol impact, medium impact and low impact.
They measured the levels of three polyfunctional thiols: 4-mercapto-4-methylpentant-2-one (4MMP, which is the same as 4SMP), 3-mercaptohexan-1-ol (3MH, same as 3SH), 3-mercapto-4-methylpentan-1-ol (3M4MP, same as 3S4MP). 4MMP may smell of tomato plant, chives, black currant or cat pee; 3MH of grapefruit, passion fruit, muscat or gooseberry; 3M4MP of passion fruit, grapefruit or rhubarb.
Because 4MMP has a much lower threshold of perception than the other two, high impact thiol hops are those in which both 4MMP and a sum of 3MH and 3M4MP exceed 10 parts per billion. 4MMP is missing in low impact hops, and only a trace of 3MH or 3M4MP is observed. All other cultivars are in between, and thus exhibit medium impact.
Although the lists are extensive, they are not complete. For instance, Ekuanot (see below), Talus, Sabro, Nectaron, Eclipse, Superdelic and Vista were among the varieties not measured. And, of course, Krush (see below).
High impact
Altus, Alora, Amarillo, Callista, Calypso, Cascade (US), Citra, Comet, Crystal, Eureka!, Galaxy, Hallertau Blanc, Idaho 7, Mandarina Bavaria, Mosaic, Nelson Sauvin, Polaris, Simcoe, Solero, Strata, Summit, Tango, Topaz.
Medium impact
Ariana, Apollo, Azacca, Bravo, Cascade (Germany), Centennial, Chinook, Cluster, Columbus, El Dorado, Ella, Gaucho (Argentina), Helios, Huell Melon, Lotus, Mistral, Motueka.
Low impact
African Queen, Akoya, Aramis, Aurora, Barbe Rouge, Bitter Gold, Bobek, Bramling Cross, Brewer’s Gold (Germany), Celeia, Challenger, Contessa, Delta, Diamant, East Kent Golding, First Gold, Fuggle, Galena, Hallertau Mittelfrüh, Hersbrucker, Herkules, Lemondrop, Lubliner, Magnum, Mapuche, Merkur, Marynka, Mount Hood, Northern Brewer (Germany), Nugget (Germany), Nugget (US), Opal, Perle, Pilgrim, Premiant, Progress, Saazer, Saphir, Sladek, Smaragd, Sorachi Ace, Southern Dawn, Southern Passion, Southern Promise, Southern Star, Spalt Spalter, Spalter Select, Strisselspalt, Styrian Golding, Sultana, Super Galena, Tahoma, Target, Taurus, Tettnanager, Titan, Tradition, Triskel, Vanguard, Willamette, Xantia.
KRUSH
Finally, HBC 586 has a name: Krush.
I posted the basics last month when the Hop Breeding Company made the announcement.
To the testimonials in that story, I’ll add this from Jeff Dailey, John I. Haas sensory manager:
“I think it exemplifies what we’ve been trying to accomplish for the last 13 or so years. 586 is the hop of the future, it’s a hop that smells the same out in the fields as it does when we kiln it, as when we make pellets and smell those, as when we make any number of products and it smells the same when it ends up in the beer.”
One additional thought that occurred to me is that although there is no trademark issue (see Ekuanot below) there might be a little confusion because the name is close to OG Kush, which is part of Abstrax Hops Brewgas series. One is more dank than the other.
WANNA BET?
A couple of weeks ago I was tagged in this post by @kenticisms on X.
“Due to all the stresses put on the hop crop by pests and weather HOP CLUBS were run in the hop growing areas to gamble on the outcome of the harvest. Here this activity is described in ‘A Handbook for Travellers in Kent and Sussex’:
“It is owing to this extreme precariousness of the crop that the amount of duty annual declared by the Excise, in respect of all hops gathered throughout the country, has become as completely a subject for wagers as the probable winner of the Derby or the St. Leger. The gambling extends to all classes in the hop district. Almost every tradesman and boy has his ‘book,’ or his chance in some ‘hop club;’ and on the publication of the duty many thousands of pounds changed hands.”
This made me realize I should have mentioned this 19th century practice last year before introducing the contest to estimate the size of the 2023 crop (sorry, no contest this year). I forget that not everybody has memorized “For the Love of Hops” in its entirety, including the footnotes. From one in the third chapter:
One way that those involved in the commerce of hops could “hedge” their positions was to bet on the annual yield. The hop duty provided the information needed. In The Brewing Industry in England, Peter Mathias wrote, “Periodicals carried regular reports of these yields, and odds were quoted in every paper through hop growing and hop marketing regions, over which large amounts of money changed hands.”
HOP PROFILE: EKUANOT
Heritage: In 2014, the Hop Breeding Company commercialized a hop previously known as HBC 366 and named her Equinox. The name didn’t last long, because Equinox Brewing in Colorado owned the trademark. HBC 366 became Eukanot instead. She is a daughter of Warrior and a Yakima Chief Ranches breeding program male, the result of a cross made in 2001.
The basics: 14-15% alpha acids, 4.5-5.5% beta acids, 2.5-4.5 mL/100 grams total oil. Rich in survivables, notably 2-methylbutyl isobutyrate and geraniol. Has a concentration of the thiol 3S4MP/3M4MP (passion fruit, grapefruit, rhubarb) that is similar to Nelson Sauvin.
Aroma qualities: Melon, berry, citrus-lime, apple and papaya, as well as spicy, green pepper.
Also notable: Although Ekuanot was commercialized in 2014, acreage was not reported until 2017 (officially withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations). That year, farmers planted 890 acres, followed by 805 in 2018. Acreage began to shrink at the time total hop production was still growing, to 632, 641, 386, 367, and 373 between 2019 and 2023. This year growers strung 347 acres for harvest. It appears that supply and demand for Ekuanot are closer to finding a balance than many other varieties.
ADDITIONAL READING
– The story about how Zumo hops ended up in Zumology IPA from Stone Brewing, a beer than otherwise would not have that name.
– Insights on brewing with Elani from BJ’s Brewing.
– It is too early for a fresh hop beer festival (although the first fresh hop beers are popping up), but not for a festival on a hop farm.