Confessions of a Celebrity Hop Variety: How Did I End Up Beer?

The odds of creating a wildly successful new hop variety are one in several million (so we’re saying there’s a chance…), but every once in a while, we hit a home run. This is the story of a hop variety that was developed over a 10-year period to capture a very specific aroma profile, ideal alpha and beta acid characteristics, optimal oil content, disease resistance and storage stability. After investing millions of dollars in the breeding and testing process, we discovered what we knew would be the next big contribution to aroma and flavor in craft beer brewing. The hop was given the name…not so fast! You’ll have to attend the presentation to find out. Unfortunately, getting the word out took a little longer than expected, so early demand was relatively low and this awesome new hop variety was within months of facing an early retirement. Enter homebrewers, craft beer and the explosive growth of American-style pale ales, IPAs and imperial IPAs. A rock star was born.