Hop Quality

The HopRocketTM is an in-line hopping device intended for use with whole cone hops. These types of brewing tools can be used between the kettle and wort cooler for aroma additions, similar to how commercial breweries use hop backs, used for dry hopping after fermentation like Sierra Nevada’s hop Torpedo using a recirculation pump, and can also be used in-line between keg and tap like Dogfish Head’s Randall. Cool tools definitely allow certain things to be done in the brewery that are otherwise not possible, but cool tools alone don’t always solve a problem. In the case of your HopRocketTM the other part of the equation is good hops.

This is a touchy subject, especially when the hops in question are homegrown. The fact is that not all hops are created equally. The same hop variety grown in the same valley can have different properties based on microclimate differences, or the terroir, and time of harvest. Climatic differences covers variables such as soil type, sun exposure, rainfall, temperature, humidity, and elevation within a valley. Add age and storage temperature, and the result is a wide range of aromas from the same variety, grown in the same region and harvested in the same year. When the same hop variety is grown in different parts of the world the result is often so different from one region to the next that the hops may as well be different varieties.

Homegrown hops can be a challenge because high quality hop cones are much harder to produce than hop plants are to grow. I remember listening to a talk given by Val Peacock a few years back at a Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego. Val is one of the most knowledgeable people in the hop world and was the hop guru at Anheuser-Busch for many years. A question from the audience suggested that local hops from San Diego were better than hops from the Yakima and Willamette Valleys simply because they were local. I think I saw hackles begin to stand on the back of Val’s neck when he remarked on the knowledge and skill the hop growing families in the US, some with 5 generations of experience, have with coaxing the best out of this unusual plant. I may be totally incorrect and out of line here, but your homegrown Centennials may not have been up-to-snuff with Centennial hops grown in Washington State. Your locality is not a bad place to be growing hops and you may have ended up with a grassy aroma because of the way the hops were dried and stored after harvest.

You then used your HopRocketTM with Azacca® hops and again the result was less than spectacular. These two experiences are not great news, but they are the type of disappointment that can have a positive spin. The spin I am going to put on it is that you probably will never look at a bag of hops the same again. You were expecting massive citrus and piney from your Centennials and tropical fruit with lots of mango, papaya, and citrus from the Azacca®, but both varieties only contributed grassiness. This really sounds like a hop quality problem.

The truth is that aroma hop varieties are in really huge demand these days and sometimes what can be bought is not always the best hops. Why? Because commercial brewers who participate in hop harvest selection usually buy the cream of the crop and leave the rest for what is known as the “spot market.” There are lots of great hops available on the spot market, but there is also a fair amount of ho-hum out there. Observing hop color, smelling the aroma in the bag and rubbing a small sample to release aromas will help you evaluate hops. Hop evaluation requires certain skills and these skills are developed by doing. The best way to start learning how to evaluate hops is simply to begin observing, smelling, rubbing, and brewing, and then noting what works. Don’t give up on using your HopRocketTM, but the next time you are ready to load this bad boy up with hops, give your hops a good evaluation before using. If you don’t like what you have, don’t use them. Bad aroma hops can definitely ruin an otherwise excellent brew.

Response by Ashton Lewis.