Classic British Hops
British hops were once considered the finest hops in the world, but these days are often overlooked as brewers seek new aromatic profiles from the Pacific Northwest and Australia or New Zealand, or classic German hops for lagers. However, in doing so, brewers are missing out on a lot of classic British hops that are still staples in many British styles and fit quite
nicely into a broader range of beers.
There is rich history to British hops that could fill a whole book so I’m going to take you on a truncated tour through that history, which I’ve split into three eras and provided a homebrew recipe to represent that epoch. Hopefully this history will inspire homebrewers to pick up these overlooked varieties and reignite a passion for British hops.
Gruit Era
It feels strange to start writing about my passion for British hops by discussing how much British drinkers rejected hops as a whole for the longest time, but I do like to start a story at the beginning.
Hops are not at all necessary for the brewing of beer. Those familiar with gruit already are familiar with the fact that beer used to be flavored with a mixture of herbs and spices. Although ingredients differed from region-to-region, three ingredients that seem fairly widespread were yarrow, rosemary, and bog myrtle.
German nuns began using hops in their brews in the 9th century. Later, Dutch brewers started brewing with hops and began exporting their hopped beer to Britain in the 1370s. As the market grew, Dutch brewers began setting up breweries in London. Native brewers in Britain did not change their ways to begin using hops and a clear distinction was made between the word “ale,” which was used to describe the older unhopped styles and “beer” to describe the new hopped beverages.
Around at this time where these ales and beers lived uneasily together was a little playwright named William Shakespeare. He wrote of his disdain of hopped beer in his plays. Autolycus in The Winter’s Tale declares “a quart of ale is a dish for a King.” Whereas Prince Hal in Henry IV worries if his drinking of beer looks poorly on him asking, “Doth it not show vilely in me desire small beer?” (Henry IV Part II, Act II, Scene 2).
There seems to be no one tipping point where hopped beer actually took over gruit but instead slowly over time gruit ale brewers began adding hops into their recipes until an account in the early 1700s shows evidence that all ales by this point included at least some small amount of hops.
For my gruit recipe, below, I am omitting bog myrtle — feel free to add a small quantity (no more than 0.04 oz./1 g). Most recipes put in a token amount to be historically accurate but avoid larger quantities that actually affect the flavor because of the highly medicinal flavor it imparts.
The Munich malt is to represent the kind of brown malt gruit ale brewers would have had at the time. Modern brown malt has no diastatic ability and so cannot form 100% of a recipe as it did back in these times, so old brown malt was probably more like modern Munich malt. A little bit of smoked malt is included to reflect the flavors you’d have gotten from the beer being brewed over an open fire.
The Landrace Era
Hops themselves, although not used in beer, did grow in Britain throughout the gruit ale era. Hops grow wild in hedgerows and were grown in monastic gardens as decoration.
Dutch brewers brought over their own hops to grow and so cross-pollination occurred with the wild local hops, creating new varieties not seen in other countries.
Hops reproduce by the male part of one hop pollinating the female part of another, mixing 50% of their genetic code with each other, creating a genetically unique offspring. This creates hop family trees with two hop varieties being the parents of a new variety.
Natural selection then comes into play. Those hops that are hardiest and resistant to disease flourish over those that do not and pass on those traits. This is why these early hops are called landrace hops, a competition amongst the hop varieties; a race for survival. Those hops that emerged from this landrace era were the Darwinian victors.
Almost all brewers will be aware of two of these landrace hops: East Kent Golding and Fuggle.
East Kent Golding
Alpha Acid: 4–7%
Flavor Intensity: 5/10
East Kent Golding is a subtype of Golding and dates back to the late 18th century and was considered a derivative of a hop called Canterbury Whitebine. It was noted for its higher yield and interesting aroma.
Golding quickly became popular with brewers and was grown across the county of Kent — the Golding grown in the East of the country becoming known as East Kent Golding.
It is a dual-purpose hop and if used for bittering it imparts a sweet, honey-like flavor whereas if used late in the boil the beer gains a heady floral hit and notes of spice.
East Kent Golding can be used in any traditional English style of beer and was the hop used in the very first porters and IPAs. It is still popular with breweries producing traditional British styles.
Fuggle
Alpha Acid: 4–6%
Flavor Intensity: 6/10
You can’t talk about British hops without talking about Fuggle. It gives beer that earthy bitterness that was unique when it was first released in the latter half of the 19th century. These qualities led Fuggle to soon comprise the majority of hops grown in Britain and a significant portion of those grown in the U.S. for a time too.
I find it serendipitous that Fuggle was released in the age of Queen Victoria, as she was described as the Grandmother of Europe; many of the kings and queens of Europe being related to her. Fuggle could be considered the Grandmother of modern hops. It became Styrian Golding in Slovenia, it is a parent and grandparent of Cascade. It is a grandparent of Willamette and a great grandparent of Citra®, to name just a few of the hops that owe many of their qualities to Fuggle.
For such a famous hop its origins have been shrouded in mystery. The popular story that was told in 1901 by Professor John Percival was that the hop was discovered in 1861 by a Richard Fuggle of Benchley who had discovered it in the hop-picking basket in the flower garden of a Mr. George Stace. It was propagated and then introduced to the public in 1875.
It took some time to find out exactly which Richard Fuggle this was as it was a common name within the Fuggle family. There have been some suggestions that it may actually have been Richard’s mother, Ann Fuggle, that first discovered the hop, and perhaps Richard’s name was attached to increase its sales.
The most likely Richard Fuggle that could have discovered the hop moved away from the farm only a few years after his hop had been released. This is a bizarre move given its immediate popularity and there exists no interviews with him despite him living for many decades afterwards. Why move away from hop farming when you’ve had such an impact and why was no one interested in talking to such an influential person in the following years?
Fuggle’s own genetic history was also unclear for many years. Its oil content made some believe it had been a wild descendant of Tettnang. However modern genotyping has concluded it is in fact a descendant of Golding, either as its parent or grandparent. So as Fuggle is the grandmother of the hop world, so it is that Golding is the great grandmother.
The homebrew recipe I’m providing to highlight this landrace era, below, is an extra special bitter filled with these two earthy, floral hops — a celebration of these progenitor hops in a traditional English style.
The Wye College Era
The 20th century saw the beginning of hop breeding programs and the end of the landrace era. No longer were brewers relying on random crossing of genetics and discovering new hop varieties at random. Now, we were controlling their evolution.
There are several qualities that breeders might look for in hops that don’t have any advantage from a Darwinian sense. Over time hops will evolve to be more disease-resistant and to produce higher yields, but there is nothing about increased alpha acids or essential oil qualities that increase a hop’s chance of survival, and a pleasant aroma is not much a survival factor. So the Wye College looked to create hops with these qualities.
The Wye College evolved from the College of St. Gregory and St. Martin of Wye, which dates back to 1447. However in 1894 it moved to new premises and the South Eastern Agricultural College was established in the buildings. In 1898 Wye became a school of agriculture within the University of London. It was here the college began a hop breeding program pollinating hops methodically together to test the qualities of their offspring.
The vast majority of these hops never see commercial release or even get a proper name. Initially all new hops are given a string of letters and numbers to codify them rather than a commercial name. If the new hop doesn’t have all of the qualities that make it commercially viable, it is never released but may be bred with another hop to see if its offspring may have the qualities desired. This leads to large hop family trees — sometimes, as I’ve mentioned, hops have notable parents such as Fuggle being a parent of Cascade; however some hops such as Admiral, for example, simply have the parents with the designations 1/73/234 and 32/73/20.
Wye College has led the way in developing new British hops. Some of the key hops of the 20th century came out of the Wye College; too many to fully cover here but I’ve picked out some of the most notable varieties:
Brewers Gold
Alpha Acid: 7–11%
Flavor Intensity: 5/10
Brewers Gold represents the first forays into breeding high-alpha hops. High alphas were desirable because brewers needed less and so they could be sold for a higher price. Released in 1919, compared to the Fuggle and Golding that brewers were using to bitter their beers at the time, Brewers Gold had about twice the alpha acid levels and so it quickly became very popular among brewers.
While not often used for aroma, Brewers Gold has notes of spice, pine, and blackcurrant so it was distinct for its flavor as well.
As the 20th century drew on, hops were developed with higher and higher levels of alpha acids, which slowly rendered Brewers Gold essentially obsolete. It does live on as an important hop as a parent of Nugget, Centennial, and many others.
Bramling Cross
Alpha Acid: 4–6%
Flavor Intensity: 7/10
Bramling Cross was released in 1951 and is a cross between Bramling and a wild hop, hence the name.
Described at the time of release as being American-style because it imparts a wonderful fruity flavor. It is unlikely to get that description today as it is much more muted than modern hops like Mosaic® or Citra®.
When used today it can impart a gentle blackcurrant character to a traditional British-style ale.
Challenger
Alpha Acid: 7–10%
Flavor Intensity: 7/10
Released by the Wye College in 1972, Challenger was an ideal bittering hop as it had the high alpha acid profile of Northern Brewer (one of its parent hops, also developed at Wye College) along with a floral and spicy aroma profile if used late in the boil. A true dual-purpose hop for the decade it was released into.
Challenger quickly became popular because of this versatility and was used across the spectrum of traditional British beer styles, seeing common use in ESBs, porters, stouts, and brown ales.
Still a favorite with homebrewers and pros alike, I particularly get orange marmalade notes that blend beautifully with malt-forward styles.
Phoenix
Alpha Acid: 8–10%
Flavor Intensity: 6/10
Phoenix is one of my absolute favorite British hops. Released in 1996 it has never really gained the kind of popularity it deserves, in this homebrewer’s opinion. It imparts unique chocolate and molasses flavors when used as a late hop. I use it in most of the stouts and porters I brew as I find it perfectly complements roasted malt flavors in a way no other hop does.
The Wye Hopped Summer Ale recipe, below, is an homage to these early forays into hop breeding. It is adapted from the first all-grain beer I ever brewed. You can see the difference immediately in the amount of bittering hops needed versus the landrace ESB and with Bramling Cross as the aroma hop you have a gentle blackcurrant flavor to complement the sweet malt base of this summer ale.
21st century and beyond
Unfortunately, despite leading the world in hop development through the 20th Century, Wye College was merged with Imperial College London in 2000. Due to financial difficulties, activities ceased and Wye College was formally closed in 2009. Hop research continues under Wye Hops Ltd. in Canterbury and other organizations around Britain but the buildings of the old Wye College itself are now split between a substance abuse rehabilitation center and a high school.
The 21st Century has seen other hop breeding programs produce new and exciting hops, and there is good work going on to put new British hops back center stage. Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic on hop farmers, the future is bright for British hops. While we can look forward to the next era of British hops, let’s not forget the amazing varieties that helped make English beer styles the world class beers they are.
Recipes
Gruit Ale
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.045 FG = 1.013
IBU = 0* SRM = 10 ABV = 4.2%
*Although technically with no hops this beer is 0 IBUs, the rosemary and yarrow will impart a pronounced herbal bitterness.
Ingredients
8.8 lbs. (4 kg) Munich malt
0.88 lb. (400 g) smoked malt
40 g dried yarrow leaves (45 min.)
10 g dried rosemary (10 min.)
White Labs WLP013 (London Ale), Wyeast 1028 (London Ale), or SafAle S-04 yeast
½ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Mash grains at 149 °F (65 °C) for 60 minutes. Batch sparge for 15 minutes at 162 °F (72 °C). Collect enough wort to result in 5.5 gallons (21 L) after conducting a standard 60-minute boil. Add yarrow and rosemary at times indicated.
After the boil is complete, cool wort to 65 °F (18 °C) and transfer to fermenter. Add yeast as packet directs. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C) for one week, then package in keg and force carbonate to 1.8 v/v or prime and bottle condition.
Partial mash option:
Decrease the Munich malt to 1 lb. (0.45 kg) and replace with 4 lbs. (1.8 kg) Munich dried malt extract (DME). Place the crushed malts in a muslin bag and submerge in 4 qts. (3.8 L) of 160 °F (71 °C) water to stabilize temperature at 149 °F (65 °C). Remove the grains, place in a colander, and wash with 1 gallon (4 L) hot water. Top up kettle to 4 gallons (15 L) then add the DME, stirring until dissolved. Boil 60 minutes.
Follow the remainder of the all-grain recipe, topping up fermenter to 5.5 gallons (21 L) after chilling.
Landrace ESB
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.046 FG = 1.010
IBU = 50 SRM = 13 ABV = 4.7%
Ingredients
8.8 lbs. (4 kg) Maris Otter pale ale malt
8.8 oz. (250 g) crystal malt (60 °L)
3.5 oz. (100 g) chocolate malt
4.5 AAU Fuggle hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
4.5 AAU East Kent Golding hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 4.5% alpha acids)
2.5 oz. (71 g) Fuggle hops (5 min.)
2.5 oz. (71 g) East Kent Golding hops (5 min.)
White Labs WLP039 (East Midlands Ale), Omega Yeast OYL006 (British Ale I), or LalBrew Nottingham Ale yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Mash grains at 149 °F (65 °C) for 60 minutes. Batch sparge for 15 minutes at 162 °F (72 °C). Collect enough wort to result in 5.5 gallons (21 L) after conducting a standard 60-minute boil. Add hops as indicated. After the boil is complete, cool wort to 65 °F (18 °C) and transfer to fermenter. Add yeast as packet directs. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C) for one week, then package in keg and force carbonate to 2.2 v/v or prime and bottle.
Extract with grains option:
Replace the pale ale malt with 6 lbs. (2.7 kg) Maris Otter liquid malt extract. Place the crushed malts in a muslin bag and steep in 4 gallons (15 L) of water as it heats up to 170 °F (77 °C). Turn off the heat, remove the grains then stir in the liquid malt extract. Once fully dissolved bring wort to a boil for 60 minutes.
Follow the remainder of the all-grain recipe, topping up fermenter to 5.5 gallons (21 L) after chilling.
Wye Hopped Summer Ale
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.043 FG = 1.011
IBU = 37 SRM = 6 ABV = 4.1%
Ingredients
6.6 lbs. (3 kg) Maris Otter pale ale malt
1.1 lbs. (500 g) Munich malt
8.8 oz. (250 g) crystal malt (20 °L)
8.8 oz. (250 g) wheat malt
5.6 AAU Brewers Gold hops (60 min.) (0.7 oz./20 g at 8% alpha acids)
3 oz. (90 g) Bramling Cross hops (5 min.)
White Labs WLP039 (East Midlands Ale), Omega Yeast OYL006 (British Ale I), or LalBrew Nottingham Ale yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Mash grains at 149 °F (65 °C) for 60 minutes. Batch sparge for 15 minutes at 162 °F (72 °C). Collect enough wort to result in 5.5 gallons (21 L) after a 60-minute boil. Add hops as indicated. After the boil is complete, cool wort down to 65 °F (18 °C) and transfer to fermentation vessel. Add yeast as packet directs. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C) for one week, then package in keg and force carbonate to 2.4 v/v or prime and bottle.
Extract with grains option:
Replace the pale ale, Munich, and wheat malts with 3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg) Maris Otter liquid malt extract, 1 lb. (0.45 kg) Munich DME, and 1 lb. (0.45 kg) wheat DME. Place the crushed crystal malts in a muslin bag and steep in 4 gallons (15 L) of water as it heats up to 170 °F (77 °C). Turn off heat, remove grains, then stir in malt extracts until dissolved. Boil for 60 minutes.
Follow remainder of all-grain recipe, topping up fermenter to 5.5 gallons (21 L) after chilling.
