Dave Hewitt from Barth Haas did a talk recently in Dublin about Hop Trends, Dave looked at experimentation with hops drawing on his experience as a Cockoo brewer for many years prior to joining Barth Haas, he’s great craic and all round decent bloke. We had enjoyed a meal and a few beers the night before the talk and had put the world to rights about hops and the pros and cons of the industry but he did a short presentation and I’d like to share a few of his points
5 Hop Varieties make up for 52.44% of the total acreage of growing
What are those 5 popular hop varieties?
- Amarillo
- Citra
- Centennial
- Mosaic
- Simcoe
Ask yourself why? Why is it that we must all use a certain type of hops for a certain type of beer. I guess that Dave was highlighting here why so many brewers follow the herd.
His point was…. Experimentation with hops is critical
Look at Cascade its 40% cheaper than Citra, look at using a variety in a different way, be creative, hop flavours will develop differently with different yeasts, build layers of hop flavour
His talk was short and sweet, he’s not keen on seminars but his point was well made, get experimenting…Checkout the range of Hops & Advanced Hop Products
It feels like too many brewers are using the same hop varieties for a variety of reasons, hops are used for bitterness flavour and aroma, different hops play well together and its possible to use some of the new advanced hop products or new hop varieties to bring efficiency savings to your brewery.
The lifespan of a hop before it is ready for commercial production is significant so we ask that you trry the scientists and farmers that invest significant time, effort and resources into designing these hops and don’t just turn to the trusted big 5 hitters , we think your experimentation with hops will be rewarded , get in touch if you want access to the best hops in the industry