Harpoon Brewing is releasing a new single hop ESB using a brand new hop, here-to-for unseen, named Delta. Delta is the latest in the line that also includes Teamaster and Nelson Sauvin hops that will be seen and tasted more as they become more widely available.
When I saw this posted on the wonderful BeerNews website, I knew I had to re-iterate something that I think every beer geek should do.
I highly suggest sampling any single hop offering that you can find. Then take notes on the aroma and the flavors you get. Once you have done that. Go online and either Google or Bing your way to a description of the hop you sampled and compare and contrast.
These new varieties stem in part from boundary pushing that American brewers are pursuing as well as from the scare of a hop shortage a few years back. I am continuing my interwebs search for a comprehensive and graphically cool listing of hops that isn’t all agriculture words. No luck yet, but once I do, I will post it here.
This way, you can grow your hop knowledge. (Pun intended)