Hop to It: Unlocking the World of Hops in Your Beer

WORDS: Krista Hall - Certified Cicerone PHOTOGRAPHY Jan Piatkowski @unsplash.com

From the Fields to Your Glass – Explore the Aromas, Flavours, and Science Behind the Humble Hop.

Why do rabbits like IPA? Because they are hoppy. I used this joke at a beer lunch a few months ago and couldn’t resist using it again. Hops are one of the four main ingredients in beer, and we are coming into their harvest season. If you get the opportunity to visit a hop farm, particularly during harvest, go! It’s an amazing experience filled with sensory overload.

Hops are actually flowers that come from the plant Humulus lupulus, a vine that grows up to five metres in length. They are trained up a trellis and start producing hop flowers that can be used after a couple of years—unlike grapes, which can take decades to produce fruit ideal for winemaking. Hops thrive in regions similar to those that grow wine grapes, favouring well-drained, humus-rich, sandy soils. In Australia, they are cultivated in Tasmania, Victoria, and parts of New South Wales. Varieties you might recognise include: Galaxy, Vic Secret, Eclipse, Ella, Enigma, and Topaz.

Hops are added to beer for various reasons: to provide bitterness, balance the sweetness of malts, contribute aroma, and most importantly, to act as a preservative. This is why beers don’t need additional preservatives, as hops naturally preserve them. Before hops were discovered, brewers used a mixture of spices and herbs called gruit to balance the beer’s flavour and aroma.

Hop flowers have small yellow pods called lupulin, which contain the resin and essential oils essential for brewing. This is what’s needed to impart bitterness and aroma into beer. To put it into perspective, think of it as needing only the pollen from a flower to make beer. The green petals of the hop cone protect the lupulin pods, like a little cocoon. These pods contain the resin and essential oils that create the bitterness and aromas. If you get the chance to rub a hop cone in your hands, you’ll be left with a yellow, resin-sticky residue that smells like you just lathered your hands in essential oils at a health food store.

Just like wine, hops have distinct flavour profiles. Ever heard someone say a wine tastes like passionfruit, peach, or smells like fresh grass? These aromas come from the grapes themselves, not the fruit they’re named after. The same goes for hops. Each hop varietal has its own unique aroma and flavour, and they vary by region and country. As you begin to train your nose and palate, you’ll start to recognise characteristics that define different beer styles and their origins.

American hops often bring out pine, mint, and citrus, with occasional stone fruit notes, like grapefruit, mandarin, lemon, and pine resin. Aussie hops, on the other hand, really showcase stone fruit, with passionfruit shining through. Galaxy hops, in particular, capture the essence of Australian terroir in a glass. New Zealand hops have similar characteristics to their grape varietals, offering flavours of gooseberry, melon, and lychee. The Nelson Sauvin hop is a perfect example.

German hops like Hallertauer, Europe’s most famous hop, present a gentle floral aroma with woodsy or peppery spiciness. Czech hops, such as Saaz (or Zatec), are known for their earthy spice. A great beer to try this hop in is Pilsner Urquell. English hops often feature grassy, woodsy, tea-like, and minty profiles. The list goes on and on, and as you can see, the aromas and flavour profiles differ greatly from hop to hop and country to country.

When discussing beer styles, this is where the choice of hops becomes essential. The aromas, flavours, and bitterness of specific hops help define the style and country of origin. An IPA, for instance, will often showcase bold bitterness and bold aromas, while lagers and pilsners will have subtler bitterness and aromas, often more for balance than dominance.

Your homework: taste and smell one of your favourite beers and see if you can identify any of the aromas or characteristics mentioned here. It’s fascinating to dissect a beer and realise the complexity involved.

Happy swirling!