Hop Day – MJF and Haas

I am all for hop blends with a purpose and with hop seller, Haas teaming up with the Michael James Jackson Foundation on “a new hop blend in support of the MJF’s mission to fund scholarship awards for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in brewing and distilling….” is a great idea because the money raised is going to create the future of craft beer makers.

Per the press release, “MJF board members evaluated 16 hop varieties and created several blends for consideration. The winning blend includes Elani®, El Dorado®, Citra® and Citra LupoMAX®. After sensory analysis and test brews at the Haas Innovations Brewery, the final hop blend was processed and is now available for purchase. The new MJF blend is perfect for hop-forward styles like pale ales and IPAs.”

Here’s hoping that we will all see some great IPAs with this blend.

Hops and Hops and Hops

With fresh hop season just about done, hops are back even more front and center than usual. And fresh hops are but one of the many variants that come from this one plant.

Which made me grateful for this post from The Crafty Pint which breaks down the different modes of lupulin transport into beer along with notes from brewers as well.  It is a helpful list that I will keep for future reference.

Hop Art

Maybe you were not as good as you could have been this year and if you feel like Santa is going to miss out on smartly decorating your beer drinking area because you are on the naughty list then maybe you will need to fix the situation yourself with some super snazzy hop art prints for your wall, click HERE to check them out.

I would have posted an image but I could not decide which I liked the most.

Tempo Stack

Russian River Brewing and hops go together like peanut butter and jelly.  You may have seen their posts on social media from the hop fields and timed to that are two hoppy options that others may have seen but are brand new to me.  Mosaic Stack and the metronomed Tempo Change.

Modern (hop) Art

Hop cones have been the subject of many pieces of art not just on labels but as art, art as well.  Need proof? Well then look right HERE.

I am not going to add an image to force you to click the link.

Review – 26th Anniversary Imperial IPA from Stone Brewing

Stone released their first anniversary beer under Sapporo and surprise, it is an Imperial IPA.

This triple dry hopped imperial IPA pours a surprising dark orange color. It is a shade under 10% ABV so it is quite a big beer with a very creamy malty mouthfeel to it. The hops coat the mouth with each sip. To start I get berry notes but that moves to a more lemon lime flavor as it warms up. Stone has a few hop tricks for what some might think is just another big IPA.

HCU

The more farm information on labels the better in my mind.  And better yet to put it on the front with logos instead of tucked into small font wording on the back.  

Radiant Beer Co.  gives the shout out to Loftus Ranches as well as Yakima Chief for Every Hero Needs an Origin Story.  

Starting with Idaho 7 and “supporting hops of Citra, Loral, and Simcoe make this a tremendously rich flavored experiment in hops. It’s crystal clear, with prominent aromatics of fresh pineapple juice, ripe cantaloupe, tangerine, papaya, and citrus zest, also showcased in its flavor as ripe tropical fruit, kaffir lime, and a wisp of pine. The finished bee is a zesty one, that’s dry, balanced, and easy to drink, with medium bitterness and bright carbonation.”