Vintage Drawing - Hops

Vintage Almanac - Hops

French Hop Varities

Searching for hops from France reveals four varieties so far.  Strisselspalt, Elsasser, Precoe de Bourgogne and Tardif de Bourgogne.

"Strisselspalt Hops is one of the few hops varieties from France. Other varieties from the country include Elsasser Hops, Precoce de Bourgogne, and Tardif de Bourgogne.  Strisselspalt is a natural variety grown mainly around Stasbourg.

Strisselspalt hops is very much an aroma variety with a 1:1 alpha beta ratio and alpha acid content ranging from 3.0%-5.0%. It has a low co-humulone content as well measuring at 20.0%-25.0%. All oils are moderate with the exception of farnesene oil which barely registers. The aroma is described as having a mild pleasant hoppy bouquet....perfect for a good brew. 

Strisselspalt is used around the world by breweries, and is sought after for its aromatic qualities. Strisselspalt has helped to shape many of the varying style beers from the French breweries. Its a low yielding plant of medium size cones which are moderately compact. Despite the susceptibility to disease and fungus, Strisselspalt lives on due to the demand of this industry shaping hops variety." - Beer Legends

Source: Deck and Donohue

"Tardif de Bourgogne Hops is a natural variety from France. The USDA received their first sample in 1977, from the Institute of Hop Research, Pulawy, Poland. Tardif de Bourgogne Hops is grown on limited acreage around the Alsace region. It is an aroma type associated with European Ales and Lagers. Tardif de Bourgogne Hops is difficult to find on the market, and in commercial beers. If you do come across some, try it out." - Beer Legends

Largest Hop-Producing Countries

Source: Here

Hoppy Aroma and Flavor - Daniel C. Sharp - Oregon State University

Source: Here

Hops in 3D - Justin Angevaare

"The dataset consist of 58 different hop varieties from the 2014 harvest year. For each hop there are alpha and beta acid measurements, total oil, and then the composition of that oil by percentage of beta-pinene, myrcene, linalool, caryophyllene, farnesene, humulene, geraniol, and other. I didn’t feel as the “other” oil category could be used to indicate hop similarity, so it was excluded. I also felt that I could make better hop comparisons by instead looking at the total amounts of the various oils rather than their percent composition, so those quantities were calculated. Alpha and beta acids were also excluded in this analysis." - Justin Angevaare

Source: Here

Growing Hops in the Home Garden - The Oregon State Extension Service

Source: Here

Hop Aroma Compounds

Source: Here

Hop Aroma Compounds

Aroma-active compounds in 'Centennial', 'Citra' and 'Nelson Sauvin' hop varieties and their aroma contribution to dry-hopped beer
Author: Feng, Shi

"The objectives of this study were to:

1. Measure and compare the compositional differences of essential oil among three hop cultivars ('Centennial’, 'Citra' and 'Nelson Sauvin'), 
2. Identify the odor-active aroma compounds in three varieties of hops and 
3. Investigate the behavior of hop-derived aroma compounds in beers prepared by dry-hopping approach with three hop varieties.

The major compositions of essential oil of three hop varieties ('Centennial', 'Citra' and 'Nelson Sauvin') were determined."

Hops Genetic Tree

Source: Here

Quantitative trait loci in hop (Humulus lupulusL.) reveal complex genetic architecture underlying variation in sex, yield and cone chemistry

Erin L McAdam (Email author), Jules S Freeman, Simon P Whittock, Emily J Buck, Jernej Jakse, Andreja Cerenak, Branka Javornik, Andrzej Kilian, Cai-Hong Wang, Dave Andersen, René E Vaillancourt, Jason Carling, Ron Beatson, Lawrence Graham, Donna Graham, Peter Darby and Anthony Koutoulis

BMC Genomics 2013 14:360

Source: Here

Hop Oil Composition Reference Chart

This chart uses a heat map approach for comparing Hop oil composition.  All the columns add up to 100%.  Green represents the highest from the column average and red represents the lowest from the column average.  This approach hopefully makes it easier to spot similarities or differences between Hop varieties.  - Jim (PharmBrewer)

Download alpha sorted high resolution printable PDF: Here

Download columns and rows sorted by similarity high resolution printable PDF: Here
See Scott Janish's great work and database: Here

Hop Varieties

The Juniper Mystery

When I started looking at farmhouse ale back in 2010, one of the first things that struck me was that nearly everyone seemed to be using juniper. That was unexpected, since the beer literature generally has very little to say about juniper. Now, six years later, I'm beginning to realize that the international beer community has somehow managed to miss a huge story here.

For example, the Oxford Companion to Beer says juniper is used in the Nordic countries, and particularly in sahti. And that it's used in gin. That's pretty much it. The most comprehensive overview of additives in traditional brewing, Karl-Ernst Behre's 1999 paper[15], mentions that juniper has been used in Estonia. Again, that's it. Nils von Hofsten's jaw-droppingly erudite book on herbs in beer from 1960 briefly mentions juniper use in Sweden, but that's it[18]. And so on.

Rest of the article: Here

New Hop - Strata

"Strata is the first hop creation to emerge from the OSU-IH aroma hop breeding program. It has superior disease resistance, the promise of substantial yields, and boasts a tropical and herbal flavor profile along with a dual purpose alpha acid level that render Strata a potential stand-alone, one-stop hop."

Source: Here

"Strata, formerly known as X-331, has been an ongoing collaboration between Indie Hops and Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. Strata is an open-pollinated Perle that expresses many of the oils associated with mango, oranges, and other fruits and herbs."

Source: Here

In Search of America's Best Hops

"In a discreet office trailer tucked between two imposing warehouses, Chuck Silva’s hands are coated with an earthy green powder, his palms and fingers sticky with resin. He hovers over a purple table now covered in broken bricks of hops. The then-Green Flash brewmaster is lost deep in evaluation, his red beard sprinkled with flakes of Centennial hops. Silva’s olfactory senses are heightened, hard at work taking deep whiffs of a sample he’s crushed rigorously between his palms. Cupping his hands, he inhales and takes in the bouquet. His eyes dart from one brick to the next, pen hitting paper as he scribbles notes on color and aroma. He uses words like “verdant,”“grassy” and “fruit jam” to describe his perceptions."  See great article here.

Your Hops Cheat Sheet

Natural Alternative to Hops

"What they brew up is one of Hunt’s one-of-a-kind hopless beers called 'Working for Tips.'
 Hunt shares his brewing passion and innovation, as he explains how he uses redwood tips instead of hops."

Citra Hops Discovery Story

Exotic New Hop Discovery