Greatest Beers of the World

Over the last couple weeks, we’ve taken a brief look at two essential ingredients in beer, water and malt. This week, we take a look at an ingredient that plays a defining role in the flavor of beer: hops.

History

The first documented use of hops in brewing was in the 11^th century. Before then, brewers used a wide variety of other flavoring agents in their beers, including herbs and flowers such as dandelion, burdock root, marigold, horehound, ground ivy, heather and more. Originally, the hops were used in brewing as a preservative. Early brewers came to realize that beers brewed with hops were less prone to spoilage than the herbal/floral combinations that they used. It was later determined that beer made with hops was less prone to spoilage because of the mild antibacterial effects that favors brewing yeasts over less desirable bacteria and microorganisms.

The Plant

Throughout the world Hops are grown in areas with exceptionally moist climates. The plant enjoys the same soils as what would be used to grow potatoes, in the U.S. hops farms can be found in the same regions as potato farms. Interestingly, they are not grown Canada or Ireland due to a lack of boron in the soil, which is essential for hops to flourish. The three largest growing regions in the world are Germany, United States, and China.

Hops are a vine-like plant. When they are planted, they are trained to grow up strings which allow them to get more growth with the same sunlight profile. When they are ready to be harvested, they are usually dried in an oast house before being used in the brewing process. However, a new trend among brewers is to create a wet-hop beer, which is when the beer is brewed utilizing freshly picked hops without drying.

The flavors that hops create in beer come from its resins, which is made up of two main acids; alpha and beta acids. Alpha acids have mild antibacterial effects that favor brewing yeasts and also impart the bitter flavors commonly associated with hops. Beta acids don’t isomerize during the boil of wort and have a negligible effect on beers flavor profile. They do however contribute to the beers aroma.

Flavor & Aroma

Hops can add bitter, tangy, and sometimes floral flavors to a beer depending on the variety, region of growth, and how it’s used in the brewing process. These characteristics can also be found in the “nose” or aroma of the beer as well. For this reason, hops are divided into two major categories, bittering & aroma hops.

Bittering hops have a higher concentration of alpha acids and therefore are largely responsible for the bitter flavor of a beer. They tend to be boiled for a longer period of time, around 60-90 minutes, to maximize the infusion of alpha acids. And this leads to aromas being boiled off.

Aroma hops tend to be added to the wort in the final 30 minutes of brewing to not lose the aroma. Sometimes they are even added during fermentation, after the wort has been cooled. This is known as dry-hopping.

Finally, there are “dual-use” hops which have a high concentration of alpha acids as well aromatic properties. These can be used during the boil or for dry-hopping, both have good results.

There are about 80 different varieties of hops available throughout the world, each of which has unique flavor and aroma profiles. Although the following are just a selection, they are some of the most distinguished and commonly found varieties.

• Saaz – One of the “Noble” varieties of hops, this variety was named after the Czech city of Zatec and therefore is most commonly used in Czech style pilsners. This hop accounts for the majority of hop production in the Czech Republic. The Saaz flavor profile is very mild with earthy characteristics and has low alpha acid levels which means it is not a bitter hop. Some great examples of beers that highlight the use of Saaz hops are Dominion’s Beach House Golden Pilsner and Stella Artois.
• Citra – Released in 2007 by the Hop Breeding Company, this dual-purpose hop has a citrus like aroma and flavor with notes of tropical fruits. It is most typically used as an aroma hop but makes an excellent bittering hop as well. Victory’s Headwaters Pale Ale almost exclusively is flavored with Citra.
• Centennial – Centennial is an aroma type of hop. Sometimes referred to as the “Super Cascade” hop, this hop tends to have a clean bitterness characteristic and can have nice floral notes depending on boil time. Long Trail’s Centennial Red, as the name suggests, utilizes this hop variety amply throughout the brewing process.
• Fuggle – Fuggles are aroma-type hops very common to English-style ales. Fuggles were originally cultivated in England in the late 1800s, nowadays they are also grown in parts of Oregon and Washington. Fuggles impart woody and earthy characteristics, making them excellent in Porters, Milds, and Bitters. Frankenmuth’s American Blonde uses a good amount of Fuggles, which are noticeable in the beer.
• Cascade – Cascade hops were originally developed by the USDA for a breeding program in Oregon. Cascades have a nigh amount of alpha acids compared to most other hops, this makes it an excellent bittering hop. It has floral, spicy, and citrus like characteristics and is used greatly in the production of American Pale Ales. One such example is Anchor’s Liberty Ale which exemplifies the citrusy and floral characteristics found in Cascade hops.
• Hallertau – The original German lager hops, has a mild aroma is slightly spicy and has light characteristics.  It’s additionally used in many Belgian ales and American lagers. Goldencold Lager by Susquehanna is a German-inspired lager which solely uses Bavarian Hallertau Tradition and Hallertau Perle hops to create a crisp and classic flavor and aroma.
• Nelson Sauvin – A New Zealand dual-use hop, has an aroma that gives impressions of Sauvignon Blanc grapes or “crushed gooseberry.” These hops have underlining notes of black pepper, all spice, and mace. They can be used in a variety of styles ranging from lagers to pale ales. MOA Methode, a German style pilsener from New Zealand uses Nelson Sauvin to round out the flavor giving it a dry yet bitter finish.
• Strisselspalt – One of very few varieties from France, Strisselspalt is most commonly sought out for it aromatic qualities. This unique hop has been used in a variety of styles to give definition to French breweries. It is greatly used in wheat styles, Belgian-styles, saisons, and biere de gardes. Kronenbourg 1664 a pale lager from Brasseries Kronenbourg in France uses these hops to give their beer its clean profile.

Be sure to check out some of these beers and see how the aroma and flavor of the beers demonstrate how the hops are being used. If you’re struggling, it’s always a great exercise to google the beer. You’ll often find that brewer websites list the hops being used to give you a better idea of what you’re tasting and enjoying in the brew.

Last week, we introduced you to a new series in our newsletter focusing on a different key type of beer ingredient every week. For our first installment, we went with the most fundamentally required ingredient—water—which without, beer wouldn’t be possible.

This week, we take a look at malts. Malts provide the fermentable sugars that are required to make beer. During the brewing process, malting is when insoluble starch is converted to soluble starch which is essentially a reduction in complex proteins. This creates nutrients for yeast development as well as enzymes.

These malted grains are then mashed, which is when they’re mixed with hot water and steeped. Think of it as almost making a tea. Through a slow heating process, those nutrients and enzymes are converted from starch into sugars. Once all of the necessary malty goodness is extracted from the grains, they’re removed, leaving you with liquid wort. And this is the base of the beer. Once created, hops and other flavoring components may be added but this liquid, the marriage of water and malt, is what gives you the foundation of beer.

And the foundation has a wide range of purpose. The type and amount of malt in a brew can determine the color of the beer, sweetness, body, and overall flavor profile.

Here is a brief and general guide for some of the malts most commonly found in the brewing process and how they affect your drinking experience.

• Light Roast, Pilsner, or Pale Malts – These malts provide a very clean and crisp flavor to a beer. Often, there can be hints of bread and biscuit. The overall color usually will be a pale yellow which is common to pale ales. A great example is the local Susquehanna Goldencold Lager which is a German inspired Pilsner.
• Toasted or Munich Malts – When you’re looking for a more robust flavor, like what you’d find in a Bock or Oktoberfest, Munich or Toasted malts provide a great range of flavor which are full bodied and well-balanced without producing too dark of a beer. A great example is Evolution’s Secret Spot Winter Ale, which has a dark, gold color although an altbier is reminiscent of a doppelbock. Additionally, these types of malts can also create nutty profiles as well, which you may recognize when drinking a Brown Ale or “Nut Brown Ale.” Boxcar, a local brewer creates their own Brown Ale which uses layers of malts to create a profile including walnuts, cedar, cocoa, and even dried cherries.
• Caramel – Caramel malt is made from green malt that is produced by dying and wet germinated barley which causes the sugars to caramelize. Ultimately though, the biggest factor to the impact of this type of malt is the roasting process which can determine the darkness of color and richness of caramel. Caramel malts can produce light to dark amber colors. A great example of this is Irish Red Ales like the Frankenmuth Red Sky Ale, which use a combination of caramel and lighter malts to obtain a red color with caramel characteristics in the flavor profile.
• Chocolate – Chocolate malts are another form of roasted malt but are roasted for a longer period of time. Even though it can get quite dark, it retains a great deal of the aromatics found in the malt, as well as the sweetness. This makes it a great candidate to create rich porters and stouts. One such stout that is an especially good example is Rogue Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout from Oregon. And even though there is no real chocolate in the beer, you can clearly see how the use of chocolate malts produces a full body flavor of dark chocolate.
• Unmalted Barley – Unmalted barley gives a rich and smooth earthy flavor to the beer you drink. It helps greatly with the retention of head. Due to its natural makeup, this type of barley isn’t used in most pale ales or lighter beers because it can produce a cloudy-like effect which is undesirable. This makes it a wonderful ingredient when producing stouts and other dark beers to help round out the flavors of intense darker malts. When roasted, unmalted barley achieves a dark brown color, very different than the near black of chocolate or black malts. Roasted barley produces a very dry flavor. O’Hara’s Irish Stout, a classic dry Irish Stout, is a wonderful example of how roasted barley can create a dry beer.
• Wheat – Wheat malts create wheat beers. It is the essential ingredient in the production of this beloved summertime style. It creates a light-colored beer with a great medium-bodied mouthfeel which makes it refreshing without being too “light.” In many cases, aside from the bright yellow color, you also find a light haze to the beer, should it be unfiltered. Widmer Hefeweizen, a German inspired (but not traditional) wheat beer provides a great clean flavor where the wheat really shines through.
• Rye – Similar to wheat, rye can provide a light body and somewhat dry finish. However, Rye tends to be very spicy and earthy which creates a really interesting flavor profile when added to any beer. A new release from Magic Hat—Ticket to Rye—demonstrates some exceptional spicy notes which are reminiscent of traditional Roggenbiers from Germany.

These seven types of malts are a great start to really appreciating the beer in-hand. In addition, there are some adjuncts and other fundamental types of malts, but these will be what give you the greatest range. So the next time you’re sitting at a bar, try a few different taps so that you can try to figure out what malts created the beer. Who knows, you may even find a new style as your regular go-to!