Coopers Botanic Ale was designed to appeal to the crossover of craft beer and gin drinkers. Coopers Botanic Ale was designed to appeal to the crossover of craft beer and gin drinkers. fruity
Coopers Botanic Ale was designed to appeal to the crossover of craft beer and gin drinkers. Bière de garde is a malty style of beer that is undiscovered to many. Translated to "beer for keeping," the style was traditionally brewed in Northern France and is known for its malt-focused, toasty taste, and slight sweetness.
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This week I take a look at the hops from New Zealand and Australia which have become some of the most desirable IPA hops in the world over the last few years. Hop Varieties from Australia and New Zealand As the US craft beer industry has grown, many of the varieties from Australia and New […] 
This week I examine a group of US hops from the Pacific Northwest. These American hops form the heart of the US Craft Beer revolution and are widely used in American Pale Ale, and the wide array of India Pale Ales (IPAs) that now dominate Craft Beer production in the US. The Pacific Northwest Hops […] 
Adam Mills joins me this week to discuss the use of Thiol boosting yeast, mash hopping and other techniques to enhance the tropical/fruity flavors in IPAs and New England IPAs. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version or Spotify or Google Play Download the MP3 File– Right Click and Save As to download […] 
This week I take a look at the English hop group and what makes these hops unique for English ales. English Hop Growing The British hops group consists of hop varieties grown in Great Britain. These hops were first grown in the South-East counties of Suffolk, Kent, Surrey and Sussex. A short time later the […] 
SafAle™ K-97 is a German ale brewer’s yeast producing subtle fermentation character. Depending on the conditions this yeast tends to present floral and balanced fruity character. Ideal for delicate beers […]
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Back Home Beer brings to life Iranian and Middle Eastern ingredients and flavors, and celebrates the communal joy of brewing and bonding with one another over beer.
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This week I welcome back Stan Hieronymus to discuss New Zealand hops, new hop varieties and their application in India Pale Ales. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version or Spotify or Google Play Download the MP3 File– Right Click and Save As to download this mp3 file. Your browser does not support […] 
Scott Janish from Sapwood Cellars and Simon Carlsen from CHR Hansen join me this week to discuss using innovative yeasts to create low alcohol and non-alcoholic beers. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version or Spotify or Google Play Download the MP3 File– Right Click and Save As to download this mp3 file. […] Cocktail-inspired beers allow brewers to get more creative while providing craft beer lovers with even more variety and diversity.
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This week Chris Graham and Vito Delucchi from MoreBeer join me to discuss how to free the thiols in your hops to create fruity IPAs and New England IPAs. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version or Spotify or Google Play Download the MP3 File– Right Click and Save As to download this […] 
Mitch Steele joins me this week to discuss Craft Beer supply chain issues, non-alcoholic beer, new yeast strains and more. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version or Spotify or Google Play Download the MP3 File– Right Click and Save As to download this mp3 file. Your browser does not support the audio […] Our batch analysis/QC at Sapwood Cellars is pretty basic. Mostly it's me finding time each weekend to taste a recent release (ideally side-by-side a comparable example from another brewery). I write up tasting notes, include feedback I've gotten from other people, and recipe/process tweaks for next batch.
Part of my routine is to scroll through Untappd to see if I can spot any common threads to the compliments or complaints... but I don't put a huge amount of stock in the average score (see this post). Blind rating by a skilled tasting panel is the gold standard... but having a large/diverse group of beer drinkers give you feedback has value as well! With four years of Untappd scores for our IPAs at my disposal, I thought it would be interesting to see which hops "the beer drinking public" preferred in Sapwood Cellars IPAs and DIPAs!
All IPAs and DIPAs
Pairing Hops
Part of my routine is to scroll through Untappd to see if I can spot any common threads to the compliments or complaints... but I don't put a huge amount of stock in the average score (see this post). Blind rating by a skilled tasting panel is the gold standard... but having a large/diverse group of beer drinkers give you feedback has value as well! With four years of Untappd scores for our IPAs at my disposal, I thought it would be interesting to see which hops "the beer drinking public" preferred in Sapwood Cellars IPAs and DIPAs!
Cheater Hops IPAs
We started this series of IPAs when we opened to showcase our favorite hop varieties. We recently released #22 (Citra-Motueka). All of the batches were 6.5-7.5% ABV, with similar malt bills (American pale barley, chit, wheat, and oats), fermented with an English-leaning yeast, and dry-hopped post-crash at 3-4 lbs/bbl. The table below is the average Untappd score of all batches dry hopped with the variety listed.
The table below include all 65 "big batch" IPAs and DIPAs we've released that don't contain adjuncts (although I did include Phantasm beers). These are diverse in terms of recipe construction, alcohol strength, and dry hopping rate. As a result, the scores are a bit more prone to bias compared to the Cheater Hops data set.
For some batches you'd expect to see a high rating due to pairing two great hops together (e.g., Nelson/Galaxy or Mosaic/Citra). Both varieties score well across all our beers, so no surprise combing them results in a well-rated IPA. More interesting is sorting by the average standard deviation for the hops included. This shows which combinations rated higher than expected given the average scores for those hops across all beers. Snip Snap (Citra/Galaxy), Cheater Hops #22 (Citra/Motueka), Shard Blade (Mosaic/Galaxy), Cheater Hops #13 (Mosaic/Simcoe), and The Dragon (Nelson Sauvin/Mosaic/Hallertau Blanc) were all in the top-10 "overachievers." These hop blends follow different approaches either "leaning into" a particular flavor (fruity, or winey) or balancing fruity with a danker variety.
Rounding out the top-10 are two all-Simcoe (Cheater Hops #12 and Drenched in Green), two all-Mosaic (Fundle Bundle and TDH Trial #1), and an all-Nelson beer (3S4MP). Certainly a sign that these hops can shine alone compared to Citra and Motueka which are highly rated in blends, but haven't exceled in single-hop beers (despite our best efforts). Of course you need a great lot of hops for this to work; the bottom-10 also includes single-hop beers featuring: Simcoe (Cheater Hops #9), Nelson Sauvin (Cheater Hops #11), and Mosaic (Fumble Bumble)!
Two beers with Galaxy and Nelson (Cheater X and X2) each had a standard deviation close to 0. They still rate well, but no better or worse than expected across all beers with Nelson or Galaxy.
Surprisingly three of the bottom four included three varieties Cheater Hops #7 (Simcoe, Citra, Mosaic) Cheater Hops #6 (Motueka, Mosaic, Simcoe) False Peak (Idaho 7, Sultana, Citra). Blending hops can create a generic "hoppiness." These beers may have been missing a distinct "wow" aroma for people to grab onto.
Take Aways
The high/low scores for different batches brewed with the same single hop variety really drives home how unreliable this data likely is. Without multiple batches hopped with the same hop combination, it is impossible to say with certainty if a beer scored well because of aromatic synergy or a delicious lot of hops. Luckily several of the top-rated combinations are beers we have brewed multiple times.
The data does suggest to me that using one or two varieties for the dry hop is the best bet for making the most appealing IPA unless you have something very specific in mind. Often when breweries use a large number of hop varieties in a beer it is to promote consistency (batch-to-batch and year-to-year). It would be interesting to expand the data set to include beers from other breweries. That would produce data that is less specific to our particular brewing approach, hop sourcing, and customers' palates.
Help Provide Data
This week I take a close look at malts, the four major malt groups and how malts are best used in beer brewing. This is a summary article which incorporates links to more detailed articles on each malt group. The Four Major Malt Groups All of the barley malts used in brewing can be effectively […] 
This week I take a look at the kilned malt group, and explain when and why you would want to use kilned malts in your beer brewing recipes. The Kilned Malt Group As I explained in my earlier article on malting and malt groups, kilned malts are made using the same basic malting process as […] 
This week I look at the malting process, how we commonly group malts and the impacts for beer brewing. The Malting Process The malting process starts with raw barley grain, harvested from the field. The grain is dry when brought into the malt house, but the first step is to immerse the grain into water […] 
Stan Hieronymus joins me this week to discuss new hop varieties, hop products including Cryo hops, and further discussion on thiols, thiol-freeing yeast and hop survivability for IPAs. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version or Spotify or Google Play Download the MP3 File– Right Click and Save As to download this mp3 […] 
This week I take a look at the key components of a brewing yeast data sheet and how to apply them when brewing beer. Yeast Data Sheets With the explosion of information available to home brewers, many yeast labs are now providing detailed data on the performance of their yeast strains. Virtually all yeast labs […] 
In part 2 of this series I will cover the traditional method for making sour beers. Last week in part 1, I covered Kettle Souring which is a relatively quick way to make many sour beer styles. Last week I covered the “Kettle Sour” method where you add the bacteria to your wort up front, […] 
(ORANGE COUNTY, CA) – Offshoot Beer Co. Brings Back Favorite Seasonal Double Dry-Hopped Hazy IPA! If single dry-hopping is good, then double dry-hopping is even better, and Offshoot Beer Co. is coming back with its favorite seasonal: Visions, a double dry-hopped hazy IPA. Loaded with fresh, fruity, hop-forward flavors, Visions joins Offshoot’s four core beers […]
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This week I take a look at some of the recent research into dry hopping during active fermentation to create tropical and fruity flavors in beer. Fruity IPAs and New England IPAs There has been an explosion of recent research into hop utilization to maximize fruity and tropical flavors that are characteristic of popular fruity […] Tis’ the season for some craft-beer delight and gathering ‘round a table full of holiday cheer as celebrations begin with family and friends from far and near. Ooof. OK. Let’s pause here for a minute on the Hallmark movies, whole nut displays no one ever eats, and fruit cake. Let’s talk beer. And let’s make […]
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This week I take a look at how well hop oils survive the brewing process to make it into the finished beer. Some oils and hop varieties do much better depending upon when they are added when brewing. What is Aroma Oil Survivability? Aroma oil survivability is simply a measure of how well an aroma […] From a stout to a Saison with a twist, these are our top Spring beers.
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New beer designed to pair with the restaurant group’s contemporary Chinese dishes.
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Jamil Zainasheff, founder of Heretic Brewing joins me this week for a beer brewing question and answer session. I apologize for the audio quality – we had some echo coming through from Jamil’s audio feed. Subscribe on iTunes to Audio version or Video version or Spotify or Google Play Download the MP3 File– Right Click […] Hops get all the attention—all the fame, puns and glory while yeast does almost all the work. Hops dominate label space, and varieties like Cascade, Strata and Citra are practically house-hold names, thanks to the seemingly unquenchable demand for every category of IPA. Yet basic beer ale yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is abstract to most people, […]
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We look at all four of the Into the ‘Wood 2020 releases.
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Bright revamp their Mash Club – one of the country’s oldest subscription models.
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