Hop Breeding Company Announces New 2019 Hops

New hops breeds have arrived from the Hop Breeding Company, a joint venture between John I. Haas and Yakima Chief Ranches. This partnership has spent the past 15+ year developing new hops that push the envelope in brewing.

The Hop Breeding Company, (HBC) is the company that created some of the most buzz worthy new hops on the market today, including Mosaic®, Citra®, Ekuanot®, and Loral®. Then last year HBC launched the newly-branded varieties of Sabro™ (HBC 438) and Pahto™ (HBC 682).

To create these new hops, breeders will conduct a lot of trials. By this we mean well over 10,000 seedlings to come up with the few new hops that make it to market. The plants that succeed will then be grown for several years to test its resistance to both disease and pests.

Then after five to six years, less than 1% of those hop crosses survive and graduate into the HBC “advanced selection” process, where they are evaluated on their aroma and flavor, as well as agronomic characteristics—and can be considered for trial brewing or commercial production.

Here are some of the elite varieties of HBC 353, HBC 472, HBC 586, and HBC 692 that the Hop Breeding Company are currently exploring.

HBC 353 is a dual-purpose hop for bittering and aroma additions. It delivers a clean, low- to medium-hop flavor that is well suited for hot side additions in lager-like beers. It’s similar to Willamette hops, with notes of herbal, floral, woody, green tea, and grassy, and it works nicely in American Lager, Helles, Pilsner, Kolsch, Cream Ale, and Golden Ale styles.

HBC 472 is an aroma hop for whirlpool and dry hopping additions. HBC 472 has a special hop aroma that synergizes well with both hop and malt flavors. Its flavor has been described as woody, oak-barrel, whiskey, vanilla, cream, coconut, orange, and dill. It is well suited for Cream Ale, Amber Ale, Brown Ale, Porter, Stout, Pale Ale, India Pale Lager, India Pale Ale, Session IPA, New England IPA, and Imperial IPA styles.

HBC 586 is an aroma hop for whirlpool and dry hopping additions. It features intense notes of tropical fruit, mango, guava, citrus, herbal, and sulfur that are well suited for IPAs and hop-forward beers, including Wheat Ale, Golden Ale, American Lager, Pale Ales, India Pale Lager, India Pale Ale, Session IPA, New England IPA, and Imperial IPA styles.

HBC 692 is an aroma hop for whirlpool and dry hopping additions as well, and it delivers a high intensity of hop aroma well suited for IPAs and hop-forward beers. HBC 692 exhibits grapefruit, floral, stone fruit, potpourri, woody, cream, pine, and resinous notes that are great for lots of beer styles: Wheat Ale, Golden Ale, American Lager, Pale Ales, India Pale Lager, India Pale Ale, Session IPA, New England IPA, and Imperial IPA.