A hop by any other name: The un-Chinooking of Chinook

Pioneer Hops Chinook, now called CONNnookPioneer Hops in Connecticut has begun calling hops known as Cascade elsewhere CONNcade and Chinook hops CONNnook.*

Before your knee jerks because you thought you heard the bullshit marketing alarm go off, consider that this might be truth in advertising.

Hop farmers, and of course brewers, in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and now Connecticut have all commented about how less piney and resinous the Chinook they grow are than those from the Northwest. They are more tropical — mango and pineapple are popular descriptors, sometime peach — fashionable flavores these days. Brewers want tropical, but James Altweis at Gorst Valley Hops in Wisconsin says they are confused when they get a whiff of Wisconsin Chinook because the hops are expecting piney. “In the marketplace people are looking for the Chinook they know,” he says. So Gorst Valley renamed the variety Skyrocket.

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Monday beer links: Cultural wars & Stjørdalsøl

MONDAY BEER AND WINE LINKS, MUSING, 03.13.17

Whose Culture?
When I wrote about Cryo hops recently I began with an observation they might not be as big a deal as my Twitter feed would suggest. I was wrong. They are a big deal. Well, based on my Twitter feed the recent heated discussion about Zoiglhaus Zoigl-Kölsch is an even bigger deal. That’s because I follow too many of the folks expressing opinions, so I saw some of the same tweets maybe a dozen times. You can catch up by reading what Jeff Alworth wrote, and get an idea about the vigor of the discussion by continuing to the comments. Nonetheless, I’ll suggest not as many people care about this as will stand in line for the next release at Tree House Brewing.

I do not, however, think it is trivial. To go first to the bottom line, so you can skip the rest and get to the links, I am basically in agreement with John Duffy’s comment. No matter how much we might admire another culture if we think “the correct perspective for an American to have is an American perspective and that’s all that matters” we’ve taken a wrong turn.

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But is ‘juicy’ a flavor?

The best read post here, on an cumulative basis, is “Words to describe the beer you are tasting.” From nine years ago. Quite honestly, readers arrive via a search engine, read that post, check out nothing else here, and leave. The point is they are searching.

Flavor MapThey might be better off forking over $16 (plus shipping) to buy their own Beer Flavor Map. You can read more about it here. It works like this: flavor is broken into three color-coded categories — Taste, Aroma and Mouthfeel. Within each there are sub-categories, so under Spicy you will find licorice, clove, cinnamon, etc.

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Session #121 (Bock) roundup posted

MSP
The SessionJon Abernathy did not mess around getting the roundup for The Session #121 posted.

As he notes, turnout was a little light. That’s too bad — bock is a great topic. Of course, I was one of those who did not manage to post. My excuse is I was in Minnesota to talk to the state’s hop growers. As I wrote in a tweet, with credit toward Lou Grant, they have “spunk.” Unlike Grant, I like spunk.

I wish the timing would have been a little different, because Schell’s hosted its annual Bock Fest on Saturday. I had a great time with the hop growers, but I sure wish I could have made it down to New Ulm. My consolation prize was finding Schell’s Bock on tap at the airport before I flew home.

Session #122 announced: Imported beer

The SessionChristopher Barnes has announced the topic for The Session #122 will be “Views on imported beer.”

He has seen that as craft beer sales have surged across America sales of imported beers have suffered. So he has a question (really alternative questions):

For American and Canadians: What place do imported beers (traditional European) have in a craft beer market?

For Non North Americans: How are American beers (imported into YOUR country) viewed? What is their place in your market?

The next Session will be April 7, and information about how the participate is at I Think About Beer.