Introducing the Monocacy Hop

I've got an article about a Baltimore brewmaster who grew hops on his farm in Maryland in the 1940s and IIRC at harvest time the brewery's employees made a day of it picking hops out in the country. Maybe these are volunteers from those hops?

Unfortunately, won't be home for a few days and the file's on the house PC.

(Gee, that's almost as annoying as this sort of thread:

Has anyone tried the new XYZ IPA?
Hey, saw a sixpack on the shelf and bought it last Monday!
How was it?
Haven't opened one yet. )
.

 

I saw that article today and was really interested in it. I presume it'll be a fairly long while before there;s enough to make a commercial beer - I probably won't see it for homebrewing before I give it up (not that i;m planning on doing that.) but it sounds like it would go very nicely in my house pale ale.

 

Carl R. Kreitler, master brewer and VP of the National Brewing Co., grew ~4 acres of hops (from 1000 NY State grown roots of pre-Pro European hops otherwise unidentified) on his 274 acre farm in Harford County, MD between 1940 and 1946. So, different region of the state than the above.

Of Kreitler's first "commercial" crop in '44 he believed them "superior to (those) grown in New York, California and Washington, as well as those formerly procured in European markets..."

 

Here is an interesting video about Monocacy Hops. There is specific mention that the hop is genetically unique.



Cheers!

 

Yeah, probably. As I noted, I only could remember the unusual aspect of the National brewmaster's attempt at commercial hop farming in, coincidentally, Maryland but had to refresh my memory with the 1940s articles to find the reference to New York State roots of imported hops. Thought the current hop might have been volunteer descents and/or the result of open pollination, etc.

When I lived on a farm in the Finger Lakes in the '80s I bought some rhizomes from a commercial gardening supply house (not a hop merchant) but they never did anything. A few years later, my friend found some wild hops on the same farm (possibly descendants from the commercial NYS hop growing era, which was not too far away?). I planted some root cuttings and they used to cover the side of my garage nearest my garden at my previous house*.

Purely ornamental - I'd stopped homebrewing years earlier.

* I assume the new owners just weed-wack them every spring.
"What the @#$% are these %$#@ things that pop up every year!"

 

@unlikelyspiderperson, thanks for starting this thread. I know Tom Barse quite well, talked to him many times. He’s a great guy and a great brewer as well. I live just a couple miles from Milkhouse Brewery so I’ll have to swing by soon and report back…looking at their taplist their Vienna Lager, American Lager and Green Farmer Pale Ale uses this Monocacy hop.

http://www.milkhousebrewery.com/beer/

 

That is a really interesting piece. Thanks!

 

I look forward to reading what flavors you perceive from this 'new' hop variety and whether you think this hop has a future in further craft brews.

Cheers!

 

So I stopped out after work this evening to Milkhouse with my wingman beer nerd. He tried the Green Farmer Pale Ale and I tried the Vienna Lager (both showcased the Monocacy Hop). So we both came with the same "earthy" flavor profile. Its difficult to point that it is specifically from the hop, as Tom/Milkhouse has a certain flavor profile that spans across many of their portfolio of beers (lean more bitter/grainy vs. sweet/juicy). I'm sure I'm not giving the best report on this, but there certainly wasn't anything negative of note with this hop.

Talking to the lady working behind the bar, it sounds like these hops are still very limited in supply, so I don't expect to see them widespread amongst many brewers for a while anyway. If so, I'm guessing it will slowly expand to a few other local brewers in MD, unless some rhizomes are spread out to other area growers perhaps.

 

@unlikelyspiderperson shared this link to the interview podcast on Allaboutbeer.com in his OP. I just gave it a listen and it’s very interesting. Definitely worth checking out. Reposting again below.

https://allaboutbeer.com/introducing-the-monocacy-hop/

 

I just think it’s so cool that a native undiscovered hop variety has now been discovered in the modern world in a fairly highly populated region. Fredrick county, MD is certainly not the Amazon.

 

Interesting. I'd like to see that introduced in new beer!

 

This will be the subject of research as to the origin of these hops. Someone will do a breeding program with them.


There are the NeoMexicanous hops in the mountain west that have robust flavor and aroma. Those have been crossed with other hops to give ones like Sabbro.

 

Flying Dog made their Field Notes Pale Ale with all MD hops (developed at the UofMD). Here's a link:

https://newschoolbeer.com/home/2020/10/flying-dog-wants-to-resurrect-the-maryland-hop-industry

 

Thanks for sharing. Yes that Flying Dog/ U of Md collaboration beer was a very well made pale ale. I’ve bought that beer several times over last couple of years since they started selling it.