Czech Hop Varieties

M-Fox24 · Aug 22, 2025

From unusual decoction schedules to open fermentation, long lagering, heirloom barleys, and floor malting, the Czechs are infamous for an array of brewing tricks…hop cultivars are among those tricks, despite flying under the radar internationally
Click to expand...

—Evan Rail
--
Overview:

…among those who know Czech beer, those other cultivars can be important players. Because of Saaz’s low alpha acids (typically 2.5 to 4.5 percent) and relatively high price, many Czech brewers reserve it for later aroma additions. Instead, for bittering, they employ the more efficient Saaz-descended cultivars Sládek (5 to 7 percent alpha acids), Premiant (7 to 10 percent), and Agnus (9 to 12 percent). Sometimes, they even skip Saaz entirely
Click to expand...

—Brienne Allan
--

Personally, I don’t really like working with Saaz...They are so dramatically different. It’s hard to get a consistent flavor…Sládek can have its own variations, too. But it has another big plus: It doesn’t taste like everyone else’s idea of a světlý ležák. Sládek is so much more citrusy and unique…I really hate the idea that everyone thinks that a Czech pale lager has to be so rigid
Click to expand...

—Brienne Allan + Lukáš Tomsa [Classifications]
--

Allan used Kazbek to dry hop a collab with Prague’s Dva Kohouti. Both breweries made the bottom-fermented beer for their own markets, and Dva Kohouti labeled theirs as an IPL. Sacred Profane labeled its version as an “IPA” because of its flavor profile
Click to expand...

—Brienne Allan
--

'It was definitely a lager, but it tasted exactly like your favorite West Coast IPA...I wanted to prove that we could use all Czech hops that people have never heard of … and show that you could get that flavor without using your typical American hops
Click to expand...

--
Recap [Evan Rail]

…newer Czech hop varieties—little known outside their country—are an overlooked source of distinctive flavors...Whether punching up lagers or adding interest to IPAs...Saaz, Kazbek, and ... Juno
Click to expand...

--
Sources

Czech Hop Fields Have More to Offer than Saaz | Craft Beer & Brewing

Recipe: Sacred Profane IPA | Craft Beer & Brewing

Czech Hop Varieties

M-Fox24 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,941) Mar 17, 2013 New Jersey
Pooh-Bah Trader

About

Contribute

Fun

Boring

Czech Hop Varieties

M-Fox24 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,941) Mar 17, 2013 New Jersey Pooh-Bah Trader

M-Fox24 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,941) Mar 17, 2013 New Jersey
Pooh-Bah Trader