Hops & Beer & Hops & Beer
Each hop variety offers nuanced flavor profiles for brewers to play with, including bitter, citrusy, woodsy, spicy, and floral notes.
It's the hoppiest time of year! In the Yakima Valley and other hop-growing areas in Washington, these crops reach maturity in the late summer and early fall and are harvested for brewers worldwide. During harvest season, the smell of hops fills the air, and hop season is widely celebrated with festivals and events, including the Yakima Valley's Fresh Hop Ale Festival in October.
Each hop variety offers nuanced flavor profiles for brewers to play with, including bitter, citrusy, woodsy, spicy, and floral notes. Because Washington is a worldwide hub of hop growing — we produce nearly 75% of the country's hops — we have plenty of options to tantalize our palates.
Hops are the green, cone-shaped flowers that grow on the climbing vines — called bines — of the perennial Humulus lupulus plant. After they are harvested, they are most often dried and compressed into bales, which are sold to brewers around the world. Fresh hops can also be brewed into beers within about 24 hours of harvest, creating delightful fresh-hop brews.
Hops have been used to make beer since the ninth century, and they give beer unique flavors and aromas, counter the sweetness of other ingredients like malted barley, and also help the brews stay fresher longer. Hops are generally divided into three categories — bittering, aroma, and dual — and are added at different times in the brewing process depending on their function. Bittering hops have high levels of alpha acids, which give the beer its pleasantly bitter taste, and they are generally added earlier in the brewing process. Beta acids and essential oils contribute more to the beer's aroma without adding bitterness; those hops are usually added later in the brewing process. Dual hops include both alpha and beta acids and can be added at any point, depending on the desired effect.
In Washington, the top five varieties of hops that were grown last year were CTZ (Columbus/ Tomahawk/Zeus), Citra, Mosaic, Cascade, and Simcoe, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Here's a bit about each of these popular Washington hops, what makes them so interesting, and which Washington beers are made using them:
THE MOST POPULAR HOPS VARIETIES IN WASHINGTON
CTZ (Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus)
These hops are often grouped together but are given different names depending on who grows them. These are considered super high-alpha varieties, and according to Hop Growers of America, CTZ hops have notes of fennel, citrus, aniseed, and nettle and are commonly used in American pales and IPAs, as well as to add bitterness to American stouts and lagers. No-Li's Born and Raised IPA is an example of a Washington beer brewed with CTZ hops.
Citra
Citra is — you guessed it — known for its citrusy flavor and aroma, along with its floral and fruity notes. According to Yakima Valley Hops, it is "the current superstar of the hop world," and it is a dual-purpose hop that can be added at any time in the brewing process. Fremont Brewing Company's Lush IPA is an example of a Washington beer brewed using Citra hops.
Mosaic
Mosaic hops are an aroma variety that Yakima Valley Hops describes as "floral, tropical, fruity, and earthy," with aromas of "tangerine, lime, peach, passion fruit, and blueberry." These hops are often added at the end of brewing to give a beer a fruity flavor and smell. Bale Breaker Brewing Company's Topcutter IPA is an example of a Washington beer brewed with Mosaic hops.
Cascade
Cascade is another aroma hop that has been around since the early 1970s. According to Hop Growers of America, it is the most popular hop in the U.S. craft brewing industry and the most widely grown nationwide, with "citrus, grapefruit, floral, and spicy notes, along with well-balanced bittering potential." Elysian Brewing's Superfuzz Blood Orange Pale Ale is an example of a Washington beer brewed with Cascade hops.
Simcoe
Simcoe is a dual-purpose hop with high alpha acids, so it's great to use early in brewing to add bitterness, but it can also be added later to give a beer some fruity notes. "Alongside its fruity and slightly earthy aromas," writes beer review website Beer Maverick, "specific descriptors of the Simcoe hop include grapefruit, passion fruit, pine and berry characteristics." Stillwater Artisanal Shoegaze Pale Ale is an example of a Washington beer brewed with Simcoe hops.
