What happened to Galaxy?

I still see plenty of beers featuring galaxy. I, as a consumer, experienced a lot of disappointing IPAs hopped with that pencil shaving galaxy and have kind of sworn it off. I don't really seek galaxy beers anymore and I know I'm not alone in that.

With that said, I don't think that the love for galaxy has completely died, although I wonder how much of that is folks yearning for those choice year galaxy beers rather than actually enjoying current day beers.

Shaun's galaxy beers are tremendous btw. S&S #4 is still one of my favorites. Double Galaxy is phenomenal. I think, for him, it's about making a great beer and part of that is having great hops. The better ingredients, the better the pizza the beer. Unfortunately, these Aussie hop producers have created barriers to hop selection, in order to hide "worse" hop crop. I'm sure that he would still be making galaxy beers if he had access to hops he selected or approved of. As a consumer, I'd want those beers.

Galaxy used to be the most expensive hop, selling for over $40/lb. Now, it is still among the most expensive in the mid-$20s (looking at Lupulin Exchange). I don't think that's due to lack of demand so much as the supply and increased acreage moving that equilibrium. Again, goes back to you saying that the hop is commoditized. I just don't know if every brewer cares about making the best beer versus being able to sell the beer they put out. I feel like Shaun is committed to the former and part of that for him is being able to select specific hops.

 

5-6 years ago, if you could get Galaxy, it was rare that you’d find any bad lots of it. Since then, if you find Galaxy, it’s hard to find good lots. It’s been garlicky, diesely, and gives a higher perception of bitterness. Normally all hops have variance from lot to lot with some good and some bad (or some that one brewery will love and another brewery will hate), but these days it seems very hard to find a good lot of Galaxy and it seems to be near unanimous with people in the know. That said, I tasted a lot of bad, garlicky Galaxy beers a couple years ago that customers raved about. It was as if just putting Galaxy in the description or name resulted in customers automatically assuming it would be great and then not thinking critically when they drank it, so it didn’t seem to matter that the hops sucked because customers were still generally happy. Personally, I gave it one last shot over 2 years ago and won’t do it again.

 

Trillium? Do they almost use Galaxy in everything they brew?

 

Still Galaxy around me.
Look at the stars, man, you're in it.

 

Cellarmaker makes a number of Galaxy-only beers on the regular (Moonage Daydream, Galaxy Blaster, Double Moonage). My main issue is that Galaxy used to be my favorite hop back in 2015, bursting with pineapple flavors. But in the last 3 years, I feel like that basil / herbaceous quality is now the dominant note - could be due to the "inferior Galaxy" being mentioned.

 

Some of the more local NEIPA brewers around Dallas-Fort Worth trot it out on occasion but it's definitely not a hop I see often. I think the particularly poor flavor profile of Galaxy if it's even a slightly bad harvest makes it difficult. The all-Australian beer I have in my fridge doesn't even feature it.

 

Actually not sure that is close to the truth. Congress Street is probably the only regular beer they use that ‘features’ galaxy but that hasn’t been available as much as in the past. They always use a blend and their regular IPAs have a base blend and then usually a signature hop include. I actually do not think they have had much lately where Galaxy was the ‘feature’ hop. Very well could be due to these issues.

 

What aboot this list?

https://www.beeradvocate.com/ratebeer/?path=/tag/galaxy/

 

Like many, I see to seek out Galaxy hop beers, mainly because I had HF Double Galaxy ~10 years ago and thought it was the best beer i’d ever had. And original Congress Street was great but then became very inconsistent. I know Trillium even admitted they got a few bad batches of hops when people noted the beer tasted off (this was when they were still downtown). But I haven’t enjoyed a Galaxy beer outside of Hill Farmstead in a while. Jacks Abby Galaxy Brau confirmed my suspicions that the hop had just become mediocre. Had nowhere to hide in a lager and it was just blah. So, drink Galaxy beers when Shaun makes them, avoid otherwise. Citra seems to be fairly consistent despite a massive increase in production.

 

Tired Hands does a great job with Galaxy hopped IPAs. Wish Fulfillment and DDH Wish Fulfillment are two examples that come to mind. Cozy, little log cabin, is another delicious beer from Tired Hands

 

I've heard from some nyc brewers that selecting lots of Galaxy hops, for some unknown reason, is much harder and feels random. I've noticed Tasmanian Galaxy hops in a few IPAs as having a very off-putting earthiness and beers I tend to enjoy are highlighting that their Galaxy is from Victoria, Australia.

 

I think it's Columbus your thinking of

 

I have thought about this the last couple years. Galaxy ipas 3-4 years ago great. Last couple years mediocre and borderline awful. I now avoid galaxy hopped beers. Good to see the palate seems to line up with the hop lots.

 

I'm burned out on Galaxy, too. Honeydew melon/green pepper is all I taste from it anymore and it's not particularly pleasant.

 

I had a discussion with a brewer and he re-enforced what Shaun Hill stated in the article:

“At many large processors, they’re essentially blending multiple lots and just trying to get a homogenous blend, which is like what Galaxy is in Australia; BarthHaas, or Hop Products Australia, doesn’t really allow anyone to do selection, probably because they just want total control over the process because there’s a lot of very inferior hops, especially a lot of inferior Galaxy, being grown,” he said.

So, if you are a brewer that prefers to conduct hop lot selection you are SOL as regards Galaxy hops. You then have two choices:

· Refuse to brew with Galaxy since you do not have lot selection control

· Buy what you get from the ‘hop mob’ and hope for the best

In my homebrewing I have decided to no longer brew with Galaxy since I have no interest in playing ‘Russian Roulette” here since there is sub-par Galaxy hops out there.

Cheers!

 

Was reading the Stan Hieronymous newsletter you mentioned in the OP and it linked to this from HPA:

So they're citing providing a uniform product to assist with consistent beer as their reasoning. There's a podcast with the director of sales and marketing here that is also linked and I might have to listen to later.