In the Adnams Brewery – Smelling the new hops from the 2009 harvest

“We’ve got samples of this years hop crop if you fancy a rub” read the intriguing email I was sent by Fergus Fitzgerald, our Head brewer. It sounded like a more vigorous process than merely putting nose to hop.

Every year, local hop growers send Fergus neatly wrapped parcels of their hop varieties, from which the brewing team select the batches and varieties they will be using over the coming year. Each harvest is different, and each grower has hops with different characteristics – some are picked green, some are allowed to ripen further – like any crop, quality and character differs from batch to batch.

A little bit about hops

Hops are the female flower cones of Humulus lupulus – a climbing herbaceous perennial that you’ll see growing in the historic hop gardens of Kent over the summer months. These flower cones are full of resins and essential oils that give beer its distinctive bitterness and aromas. Hops are added to beer in small quantities and at different stages of the brewing process – just like the addition of spice in cooking – and have a huge impact on aromas and flavours.

Fresh hop packets with Southwold's lighthouse in the background

Like grape varieties, there are many different hop varieties, and brewers use single varieties or blends of varieties to produce the desired flavour and aroma profile. Hops are added early in the boil for bitterness, and late in the boil for a distinctive citrus and spicy aroma. Fergus and the team choose the most vibrant batches for late hopping, where compressed hop flowers are added into the beer-filled cask.

There are two distinct sets of flavouring compounds found in hops – alpha acids and hop oils. The Alpha acids are extracted during boiling and give rise to bitterness. The hop oils- ‘terpenes’ – produce aromatic and flavour compounds which are also found in pine resin, citrus fruit, celery, Muscat grapes and many other fruits, vegetables and herbs. They are responsible for all the wonderful citrussy, spicy and fruity aromas in beer.

Not only are hops wonderful aroma and flavouring agents, they also act as a natural antiseptic, protecting the beer against spoilage organisms. The bitter compounds help stabilise the beer foam – which is why you get those lovely foamy rings stuck to the side of your pint glass.

A slice of hops. Samples are taken out of the huge hop bails like a cheese taster would remove a core of cheese.

A vigorous rub

Fergus had a set of hops wrapped in blue paper in a box, from which he placed six or so on the table for Sean* and I to have a look at. We were told to grab a handful of hops (the hops have been broken up from their cones into a mass of petals, pollen and a few twiggy bits) and rub them hard between our hands to release the aromas and oils. The fresh hops were so rich in oils and pollen that we soon ended up with sticky, yellow palms.

We sampled Fuggles (herbal, lemon, coriander, orange rind, limes, grass and pine aromas), First Gold (pure grapefruit, citrussy, marmalade – full of oil), Boadicea (greener aromas, pine needles) and a riper batch of Boadicea that had much broader aromas with a lemon character. The hops were from Whitehouse farm, John Andrews, Claston and Newnham Farms.

The best hops have been selected for our brews over the year, and we can look forward to some fabulous flavours thanks to the good 2009 English hop harvest. We’ll be sourcing our hops from these farms:

Boadicea and First Gold from Whitehouse Farm, Sibton, Suffolk

Boadicea from John Andrews from Bosbury, Herefordshire
Boadicea from Claston, Dormington, Herefordshire
Boadicea from Cyster & Sons, Gate Court farm, East Sussex

Goldings from Wheeler and Sons, Parsonage Farm, Sussex
Goldings from P. Highwood, Tonbridge, Kent
Goldings from Hoads farm, Sandhurst, Kent

Fuggles from Newnham Farms, Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire

And we’ll add a few more later on in the year.