Saw this in the latest Hop Queries from Mr Hieronymous. Helios is a new Hop from the Hopsteiner brewing program that is high yielding, high in alpha acids, and resistant to the common fungal pressures. https://www.hopsteiner.com/variety-data-sheets/Helios/ not a sexy new aroma variety, but an agronimically solid bittering variety that should help secure the supply of properly bittered beer.. I also saw HERE where it is supposed to be low in CoH, which is supposed to be a "better" bitterness I guess? Any brewers familiar with this metric? Any other thoughts on the promise of this new hop?
Just new breeds of plant. Ya know, made with seeds. Like Citra or Mosaic. His same newsletter did have news about me strains of genetically modified yeast designed to enhance hop flavor. Apparently that's just run of the mill now. Made it sound like we should expect most hazies to be made with gmo yeast
Brewers should be required to list every damned ingredient that goes into beers and where they are sourced/origins whether it be in the wild or in a lab
There was a thought among some brewers that hops which are high in cohumulone would provide a 'harsh' bitterness. This is a myth. For the interested student there is further reading on this topic in the Nov/Dec 2021 issue of Zymurgy magazine. Cheers!
If you only allow "wild" yeasts for your beer, I hope you really like sour beers, 'cause that's all you're gonna get.
I read Stan's article. My take away was that Helios is a competitor to Yakima Chief's Pahto, another high alpha hop. High Alpha hops are attractive to brewers as they can use less hops to hit their bittering target. These new high alpha hops are attractive to growers in that they are disease resistant and give high yield per acre. Pahto went from introduction to to a top ten hop in terms of acres grown in just a few years. The high cohumulone=bad is something that I don't believe in anymore.
Are brewers still using Magnum hops for bittering anymore? At one point I feel like many were. Also, do any brewers that make NEIPAs “recycle” hops. As in, using whirlpool hops in another batch in the boil for bittering?
I can't comment as regards commercial brewers but I can report that I use German Magnum hops a lot for bittering. It is not super high in Alpha Acids at around 10 - 15 % (my last two purchases of this hop) but it gets the job done for me. Cheers!
