New lager friendly hops

Humulus lupulus, hop

When a new hop variety is given a name these days many brewers have a good idea what she will smell and taste like in beers because 10 years or more may pass before a seed turns into a plant that farmers and brewers can trust. Many breweries will have participated in trials to evaluate the hop.

A name is the final step, but an important one. When Yakima Chief Hops offered HBC 291 for sale in 2016, just months before the Hop Breeding Company named her Loral, they included a disclaimer: “Due to the experimental nature of these varieties, it is advised that brewers do not build a specific brand based on these hops. At this time, we recommend using these varieties for one-off or seasonal brews.”

The most anticipated new name this year is whatever HBC is calling HBC 692. Releasing the name is an event is on the calendar (Sept. 9, 9 a.m. PST) for Yakima Chief’s virtual hop harvest. HBC 692 is a daughter of Sabro and depending on who is describing the aroma and flavor is packed with “grapefruit, floral, stone fruit, potpourri, woody, coconut, and pine.” She is a high impact hop, bound for plenty of hazy IPAs.

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Where have all the bitter beers gone? Gone to hazies everyone

An interesting dispatch from Brews News in Australia begins, “One of New Zealand’s leading brewers forecasts the ‘destruction’ of bitter beers” after judging the Malthouse West Coast IPA Challenge in Wellington.

Kelly Ryan, head brewer at Fork Brewing and a World Beer Cup judge, has a lot to say.

We don’t have many beer drinkers with a knowledge of bitterness anymore because there are so many beers out there that are not bitter.

We’ve entered a whole new realm of brewing – I say it jokingly but in 10 years’ time if we keep going like this there will only be lagers, the odd pilsner and the rest will be hazies, fruit beers and pastry stouts. That’s what people want.”

Luke Nicholas of Epic Brewing, also a World Beer Cup judge, agrees. “So many entries were distant from style because so many lacked hops. The bittering level was quite low for style,” he said.

Ryan and Nicholas collaborated for a recipe in “For the Love of Hops.” The 5.6% New Zealand pale ale was nicely and firmly balanced with 40 IBU.

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Make wort, CIP, repeat. #brewerylife

Last week, Evan Rail tweeted a link to a New York Times story about “The Twilight of the Imperial Chef.”

Rail wrote:

Great piece arguing against elevating celebrity chefs, recognizing that many people make restaurants great.

We’ve been saying the same thing about craft beer for years.

Breweries are *lots* of people. Delivery folks. Taproom workers. Keg cleaners.

In our culture we have a tendency to elevate & make heroes of individuals.

But our favorite breweries include more folks than just Sam, Garrett, Tomme, Evin or Yvan. (And look: you know which breweries I mean.)

These are teams. Groups. Real people. Let’s do right by them.”

Consider how Tejal Rao sets the table in the Times story:

For decades, the chef has been cast as the star at the center of the kitchen. In the same way the auteur theory in film frames the director as the author of a movie’s creative vision, the chef has been considered entirely responsible for the restaurant’s success. Everyone else — line cooks, servers, dishwashers, even diners — is background, there to support that vision.”

This is one of several stories recently about “monsters in the kitchen.” I don’t think anybody is suggesting that is going on within breweries. (On the restaurant side of brewery operations, that might be another matter.)

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‘A lot of young people said it was for old people’

Last week, Shine Registry* hosted a “virtual business shower” for Kweza Craft Brewery, which is female led and the first craft brewery in Rwanda. It was a Zoom call, set up for a maximum of 100 participants, and hundreds of others got shut out.

One hundred is not a big number, but this was the first time a Shine shower attracted as large a crowd. It is a reminder of a halo that still hangs around (craft) beer, that there is much interest in the topic of women and beer, and a realization that there’s more to beer than the European tradition that American brewing was built on.

(* Shine Registry hosts profiles of businesses and their founders with wedding registry-style lists of the stuff that they need. Founders ask for support while they are starting their businesses and give their communities an opportunity to show that support in meaningful and substantive ways.)

The presentation has been archived and runs about an hour. Worth your time. The words craft and innovation jump to life when Chiedza Mufunde speaks. She’s so, well, passionate that when she uses the word passion I’m OK with it.

And, given that this is Wednesday, the day I aim to post words related to place I particularly recommend you listen to Apiwe Nxusani-Mawela, starting at the 7 minutes mark, then continuing throughout the discussion.

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