Oregon's Fresh Hop Beers

Following up on yesterday's surprisingly popular description of hop varieties, I will localize thing for the variety of fresh hop beers available this year in Oregon. The Brewers Guild

has released a full list of 58 different beers

from 36 breweries (that's counting the 16 Thundercones from sixteen different McMenamins, as one beer).

Not all fresh hops are created equally.

Some really sing when their fresh, and some ... don't. Every year, this is reflected in greater reliance on just a few types of hops. Over half the beers employ just four varieties: Cascade, Centennial, Crystal, and Nuggets. (The preponderance is shifted massively if you include the 16 McMenamins, which used Cascades.) This reconciles with my own experience--these hops have been used reliably in a number of fan faves over the past few years. Last year,

I thought Chinooks acquitted themselves nicely

, too--but only two beers use them in 2010.

In any case, below is a list of beers divided by hop type, and just to be comprehensive, I'll include the hop description from yesterday's post. A bit redundant, I'll admit, but I didn't have the list of beers when I posted yesterday--and I'll put it beneath a "jump" so you don't have to see the same long list. Consider it a "clip 'n save" opportunity.

Bravo

Beer Valley Black Flag Imperial Stout.

  • History. A super-high alpha hop with principally Zeus and Nugget parentage released by SS Steiner in 2006.

  • Flavor/Aroma. Not much available on this new hop, which is described in generic terms as "fruity" and "floral." (alpha acid: 14-17%% / beta acid: 3-5%. Total oils 1.6 - 2.4 ml.)

Brewers Gold

Double Mountain Killer Green

  • History. A British bittering hop developed in 1919. Both Brewer's Gold and Bullion are seedlings found wild in Manitoba. It's an English/wild Canadian cross. Many modern high alpha hops were developed from Brewer's Gold.

  • Flavor/Aroma. It has a resiny, spicy aroma/flavor with hints of black currant and a pungent English character. (alpha acid: 8-10% / beta acid: 3.5-4.5%. Total oils 1.6-1.9 ml.)

Cascade

Deschutes Fresh Hop Mirror Pond, Hopworks Goldilocks, MacTarnahan's Fresh Hop, Beer Valley Hwy 19 (with Zeus), Silver Moon Hoppapotamus, Astoria Fresh Hop Dark, Natian Alton Organic Fresh (organic hops), Laurelwood Hop Pickin' (organic), Vertigo Special Bitter (with Willamettes)

  • History. The first commercial hop from the USDA-ARS breeding program, it was bred in 1956 but not released for cultivation until 1972. It was obtained by crossing an English Fuggle with a male plant, which originated from the Russian variety Serebrianka with a Fuggle male plant.

  • Flavor/Aroma. The most-used Northwest hop, with a lovely mild citrus and floral quality. (alpha acid: 4.5-7% / beta acid: 4.5-7%. Total oils 0.6-0.9 ml.)

Centennial

Astoria Pursuit of Hoppiness, BridgePort Hop Harvest, Deschutes King Cone, Full Sail Lupulin, Golden Valley Fresh Hop, Ram Hop Sack, Rock Bottom Hop Harvest, Green Dragon Hop Diddley (with Perle)

  • History. Centennial is an aroma-type cultivar, bred in 1974 and released in 1990. The genetic composition is 3/4 Brewers Gold, 3/32 Fuggle, 1/16 East Kent Golding, 1/32 Bavarian and 1/16 unknown. Akin to a high-alpha Cascade.

  • Flavor/Aroma. One of the classic "C" hops, along with Cascade, Chinook, and Columbus. Character is not as citrusy and fruity as Cascade; considered to have medium intensity. Some even use it for aroma as well as bittering. Clean Bitterness with floral notes. (alpha acid: 9.5-11.5% / beta acid: 3.5-4.5%. Total oils 1.5-2.5 ml.)

Chinook

Beer Valley Leafer Madness, Oakshire Locovore Fresh Hop (organic)

  • History. Chinook hops were developed in the early 1980s in Washington state by the USDA as a variant of the Goldings Hop.

  • Flavor/Aroma. An herbal, smoky/earthy character. (alpha acid: 12-14% / beta acid: 3-4%. Total oils 0.7-1.2 ml.)

Crystal

Cascade Fresh Hop Porter, Laurelwood Some Like it Hop, Lompoc: Harvest Man Red, Crystal Missile, Ale Connor Fresh Hop, Ninkasi Total Crystalation, Deschutes Hop Trip, Deschutes Bend Yam-a-Lama, Three Creeks Cone Licker

  • History. Crystal was released 1993, developed in Corvallis a decade earlier. Crystal is a half-sister of Mt. Hood and Liberty.

  • Flavor/Aroma. A spicy, sharp, clean flavor. It is not complex like Cascade but offers a clear note when used with other hops. (alpha acid: 4-6% / beta acid: 5-6.7%. Total oils 0.8-2.1 ml.)

First Gold

Full Sail Lupulin

  • History. A dwarf hop developed in England derived from a dwarf male and a Whitbread Golding variety.

  • Flavor/Aroma. Similar to Goldings--spicy and earthy. (alpha acid: 6.5-8.5% / beta acid: 3-4%. Total oils, 0.7-1.5 ml)

Goldings

Three Creeks Fresh 'n Bad Badlands

  • History. A centuries-old British variety transplanted to the US in 1993.

  • Flavor/Aroma. Contains more of the tangy American character and less of the sharp, spicy English character. A versatile hop. (alpha acid: 4-5% / beta acid: 2-3%. Total oils, 0.5 - 1.0 ml)

Hallertauer

Oakshire Wet Hop Harvest

  • History. Traditional German hop from Hallertau region. One of the classic “noble hops” originating in Germany’s most famous hop-growing region. Many cultivars.

  • Flavor/Aroma. Pleasant herbal character with an excellent bittering and flavoring profile. US Hallertau exhibits a mild, slightly flowery and somewhat spicy traditional German hop aroma. (alpha acid: 3.5-5.5% / beta acid: 3.5-5.5%. Total oils 1.5-2.0 ml.)

Liberty

Amnesia Mother Plucker, Eugene City Wet Hop

  • History. Another cross of the Hallertauer Mittelfrüher, with characteristics similar to those of Mt. Hood, released in the mid-80s around the time of Mt. Hoods' release.

  • Flavor/Aroma. Mild and spicy, closely akin to Mt. Hood and Hallertauer. (alpha acid: 3.5-4.5% / beta acid: 3-3.5%. Total oils 1.0-1.8 ml.)

Mt. Rainier

Full Sail Hopfenfrisch

  • History. Also an Oregon State University product, Mt Rainiers were bred from a variety of plants, including Galena, Hallertauer, Golden Cluster, Fuggles, and Landhopen (?). It was released commercially in 2008 or '09.

  • Flavor/Aroma. An interesting hop that contributes a minty or anise note. (alpha acid: 7 -9.5% / beta acid: around 7%. Total oils- NA.)

Nugget

Cascade Rye Pale, Deschutes-Bend Wingnut, Upright: Tyler the Elder, Jonathan the Younger, Widmer Black Nugget

  • History. Nugget is a bittering-type cultivar, bred in 1970 from the USDA 65009 female plant and USDA 63015M. The lineage of Nugget is 5/8 Brewers Gold, 1/8 Early Green, 1/16 Canterbury Golding, 1/32 Bavarian and 5/32 unknown.

  • Flavor/Aroma. A sharply bitter hop with a pungent, heavy herbal aroma.. (alpha acid: 12-14% / beta acid: 4-6%. Total oils 1.7-2.3 ml.)

Palisade

Oregon Trail Hop Doctor

  • History. A proprietary strain bred by Yakima Chief. Possible Tettnanger and wild parentage.

  • Flavor/Aroma. A gently floral, slightly grassy hop with apricot notes. Its subtlety has kept it obscure. (alpha acid: 5.5-9.5% / beta acid: 6-8%. Total oils, 1.4 - 1.6 ml)

Perle

Deschutes-Bend Fresh Hop Lager, Green Dragon Hop Didley (with Centennial) Ninkasi Parlay

  • History. Bred in Germany in 1978 from English Northern Brewer stock.

  • Flavor/Aroma. Combines qualities of spicy English hops and rich, floral German hops. Excellent, clean bittering and aroma. (alpha acid: 6-8% / beta acid: 3 - 4%. Total oils 1 - 1.5 ml.)

Santiam

Cascade Lakes Harvest Fresh

  • History. A triploid hop resulting from a cross between 1/3 German Tettnanger, 1/3 Hallertauer Mittelfrüh, and an American hop (possibly Cascade). The first seedless Tettnang-type hop. An OSU hop released in 1998.

  • Flavor/Aroma. Noble hop character, herbal, floral, but with a little American character. (alpha acid: 5.5-7% / beta acid: 7-8.5%. Total oils 1.3 - 1.7 ml.)

Simcoe

Big Horse Vernon the Rabbit Slayer, McMenamins on Monroe Thundercone

  • History. A propriety strain bred by Yakima Chief.

  • Flavor/Aroma. Simcoe is best characterized as having a pronounced pine or woody aroma. The cultivar was bred by Yakima Chief in the USA. It is sometimes described as being “like Cascade, but more bitter - and with pine.” (alpha acid: 12-14% / beta acid: 4-5%. To2.0-2.5tal oils ml.)

Sterling

Pelican Elemental Ale

  • History. Sterling is an aroma cultivar, made in 1990 with parentage of 1/2 Saaz, 1/4 Cascade, 1/8 unknown German aroma hop, 1/16 Brewers Gold, 1/32 Early Green, and 1/32 unknown.

  • Flavor/Aroma. Similar to Saaz in aroma and flavor. Aromas are fine, rustic, earthy, and spicy. Used in this year’s Full Sail LTD 03. (alpha acid: 4.5-5% / beta acid: 5-6%. Total oils 0.6-1.0 ml.)

Summit

Fort George Hopstoria

  • History. Summit is a recently-released super-high-alpha hop variety. It is a dwarf variety grown on a low trellis system. Because the low trellis is not machine harvestable, these hops are picked by hand in the field.

  • Flavor/Aroma. Strongly pronounced orange/ tangerine aroma and flavor. A favorite hop of Rob Widmer and used in recent releases (W ’07, Drifter). (alpha acid: 17-19% / beta acid: 4% - 6%. Total oils 1.5 - 2.5 ml.)

Willamette

Hopworks Fest of Fury, Philadelphia's Sellwood Golden, Vertigo Special Bitter

  • History. An older US-bred hop with Fuggles parentage.

  • Flavor/Aroma. A classic earthy/spicy hop with great versatility. (alpha acid: 4-6% / beta acid: 3.5% - 4.5%. Total oils 1 - 1.5 ml.)

Jeff AlworthFresh Hop Festival, fresh hop beers4 Comments