Hop Varieties

It’s rough out there—even for young, freshly developed hop cultivars. Yet while many brewers are buying fewer hops these days, the Help Wanted sign is still out for new ones.

Hop growers face a tough decision every year: What do we plant? Claire Desmarais, sales and marketing manager for CLS Farms in Washington, explains how growers navigate the tricky supply and demand driven by brewers and drinkers.

After years of research, brewer-led efforts to develop more exotic, expressive hop varieties that anyone can plant are beginning to sprout.

There are “cheater” hops and there are “cheaper” hops, but the latter can also offer the big exotic aromas and flavors that are popular today. Stan Hieronymus has specific suggestions for varieties and how they might be employed in the brewhouse.

What began as an online shop run from a garage joins the world's largest hops supplier.