Genesee 12 Horse Ale is back!

Good point. In the 1936 article I referenced above there is made note of

More closely approaching, so not the same in flavor, but I imagine there was enough of a difference there between it and the Cluster hops to warrant its growing also into the post war period (I think it was Al Haunold who made note of how Anheuser Busch favored the Fuggle hop at one time). On hopslist it is noted for the US Fuggle.

I took note of this Drewrys beer ad advertising their use of Fuggle hops which I thought was interesting in promoting its use in their beer:

So yeah, not the same hop anymore.

 

Yeah, that Drewry's campaign (only lasted a few years in the mid-1960s, IIRC) was unusual for a US brewer - not many mentioned specific hop varieties except for some more well-known exceptions - Saazer for pre-Pro Budweiser, Brewer's Gold for Ballantine, etc.

Doing my "post-Repeal dry-hopping" research, I was surprised at the number of US ales that were hopped with what today are thought of as "Continental lager" hops, Saaz in Silver Top Ale, Hallertaus in McSorley's and, more generally, "Bavarian" (Black Bass Ale, Sterling Ale) hops.

Funny thing is Drewrys (originally a Canadian brand) had a well-distributed Stock Ale in the US in 1930-40s, but I don't think they ever mentioned the hop varieties used for that beer.

 

Genesee? Like Bear Whiz, it's in the water. That's why it's yellow.

 

I guess there weren't a whole lot of different hops that were being used, compared with today. As per the booklet Hop Production from 1961 in 1959 the Cluster varieties, early and late, made up around 88% of the acreage, Fuggles around 10% and Bullion and Brewers Gold about 2%. Add to that imported "Bavarian" hops, Hallertauer or Spalter, Saazer and some other imported hops, the latter of which I would imagine would have made up a tiny fraction of the total hops used. And if brewers were typically using a blend of hops rather than a single hop (as Russell noted in his 1964 article on US brewing), then the odds are that alot of breweries were using the same hop varieties (among the American ones) though perhaps in different ratios etc. Perhaps Cluster hops grown in different states had different oil contents and so could be distinguished by the brewers and used to distinguish their beers from others using the same varietal grown elsewhere? I haven't come across information to that effect but I wouldn't be surprised to find it either.

I guess it makes sense that both Fuggles and Brewer's Gold hops were marketed by brewers as distinctive hops used for their beer since they were less common than the Cluster hops. If something is less common it must be more special or better, in the eyes of marketing people at least.

With the reputation that Bavarian and Bohemian hops had in the US brewing industry among the lager beer breweries it makes sense that they were used for dry hopping ales as well, being seen as quality hops, and going by Ron Pattinson's writing it seems such hops were also sometimes used in England for that purpose. But I agree that it is interesting.

 

Yeah, don't have a specific "scientific" source with hop analytics off hand to cite (J. D. Harlan's reports on his post-Repeal NYS research has such info), but given the comments in brewers' advertising and other promotional info, brewing industry sources as well as hop growers' materials, it was somewhat common for US hops to be described by a geographical term rather than the actual variety, which, given the total production stats, can be assumed to be Early or Late Clusters when not specifically stated, e.g., "Sacramento Valley hops", "Oregon Clusters", "Yakima Valley hops", "(New York) State Hops" "Sonomas", "British Columbians", "Mendocinos" "Pacific Northwest Hops", etc.

The USDA booklet confirms what I've always just assumed, that when US hops are referred to as "English hops", they've simply combined Brewer's Gold with Bullions.

 

JK, do you happen to know how much hops were imported circa 1960? How does this amount compare to US hop production?

Cheers!

@Crusader

 

1960:
45.9 million pounds of US hops were harvested.
18.4 million pounds of US hops were exported.

4.8 million pounds of hops were imported into the US (mostly from Yugoslavia [53%] and Germany [43%]).

 

I found this booklet, Foreign Agriculture Circular, from 1964 to be quite interesting (now that Barth Haas have removed their yearly reports from their website I have to find alternative sources). The table below was enlightening along with jesskidden's post above. I had no idea Yugoslavia had become so important as an origin for imported hops. Also interesting was the mention of how Czechoslovakian hops had made up almost half of imports from the end of WW2 until september 1951, when an increase in the import duty on Czechoslovakian hops essentially eliminated their importation. Since then Yugoslavian hops went from supplying around 10% to around half of the imported hops to the US along with West Germany.

 

Yeah, WTF!

 

I guess they're not in business to provide information free of charge, but still, what a bummer.

 

For comparison this 1950 edition of the same publication has numbers for late 1947-1950 where one can see how different the situation was as it pertained Czechoslovakian hops.

 

Well, my problem is deleting info that they've previously posted and made available to all. The US BEER INSTITUTE (the former United States Brewers Association) did the same thing - they used to post 47 pages of EXCEL files of their annual BREWERS ALMANAC (which were once hardcover publications and found in many good libraries) but now only put up some limited info, and make it hard to find on their website.

 

Can someone explain why Saranac Pale Ale is being brought into this conversation? Is Genessee 12 Horse brewed by Matt FX and the same beer as SPA?

 

Forum topics drift - in that case, not too far. (In fact, it drifts a lot further than from Genesee in Rochester to F X Matt in Utica as the thread continues...)

OP has made multiple posts looking for lower ABV/IBU ales from old-line, pre-craft breweries.

 

Not quite. Both breweries are in the same general region and aimed their beers at the same consumers (although Genny was considered more “working class”) so they are very similar.

Genny Cream & 12 Horse were my FIL's beers, and, up til the mid-90's, one or both were on tap at every neighborhood bar around here.

 

Yeah, seems to have been the result of a Cold War era event, when Truman ended "Tariff Concessions" for many communist countries in the summer of 1951 - specifically Czechoslovakia. Truman had earlier in the summer announced a ban on US citizens traveling to Czechoslovakia after an AP reporter, William Oatis, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for being a US spy. By October it was announced that "virtually" all trade with the country would end Nov. 1 (hops were usually listed as the biggest Czech export to the US). Big news for some reason in the Oct. 3rd ed. of this Texas paper.

 

Thanks for the info. Both brands are widely distributed in lower NY. I still buy Saranac products, in particular their Haus Lager (though haven't seen it in months)

 

If Beerwego=Owego, Weis carries the Haus Lager 12 packs

 

Genesee and FX Matt are separate, but same region, entities.

I actually brought it up because I had the Saranac 15 pack of 3 varieties not long ago and I looked at other reviews and 12 Horse tasting notes and my old Saranac Pale ale and IPA reviews and thought "That sounds similar, maybe I should get those and compare side-by-side to see how they stack up or compare to each other". Nothing more than a hunch, but @officerbill makes a good point about similar region/target consumers.

 

+ Sam The Beer Man, & (IIRC) Vestal Beverage & Redemption Center.