Unique Opportunity to Brew with a New Public Hop Variety and Compete for a Great American Beer Festival® Medal

The 2025 Great American Beer Festival competition will include a unique, one-time-only category for brewers to enter. In recognition of the latest hop developed at the United States Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service (USDA/ARS) public hop breeding program in Prosser, Wash., a special category featuring beers brewed with “Vera” (formerly known as W1108-333 or HRC-003) will be judged in the 2025 competition.

The hop is named for Vera Katherine Charles, one of three female mycologists employed by the USDA in the early decades of the twentieth century, as a tribute to the important contributions these women made to the long-term sustainability of the hop industry. Vera has a tropical, stone fruit, and citrus aroma profile and is pest and disease resistant with high yield potential.

The USDA/ARS operates public hop breeding programs in Prosser and Corvallis, Oregon. These programs focus on developing new hop varieties with improved disease resistance, superior agronomic characteristics, unique aromas, and suitable brewing attributes. Public varieties are released without intellectual property protection to benefit the entire hop and brewing industries.

This new variety represents a significant milestone for the breeding program in Prosser and research geneticist Dr. Kayla Altendorf. Dr. Altendorf’s program was established in 2017 with the help of a Trust Agreement supported by the Brewers Association (BA). Vera is the most recent hop developed at the breeding station to be approved for variety registration by USDA/ARS. The BA has continued to support the public breeding effort, with BA staff serving on the Public Hop Breeding Advisory Committee, advocating for research funding, and providing crowd-sourced sensory evaluation of experimental hop varieties through the Hopsource program and other activities. By participating in these activities, brewers can provide their input in the development and selection of new hop varieties.

Brewers can enter any beer style in the category provided the hop aroma and flavor from the Vera hop variety plays a leading role. The category description will allow brewers flexibility in determining how they will feature the aroma and character of Vera.

Vera is available for purchase from the Hop Research Council through the Lupulin Exchange. Note: The hop is still listed as 2024 US HRC-003 on the Lupulin Exchange website.

Vera Hopped Beer Judging Description

• Color: Varies with underlying style
• Clarity: Chill haze is acceptable at low temperatures. Hop haze is allowable at any temperature
• Perceived Malt Aroma & Flavor: Varies with underlying style
• Perceived Hop Aroma & Flavor: Hop aroma and flavor from the Vera hop variety is evident exhibiting tropical, stone fruit and citrus character
• Perceived Bitterness: Varies with underlying style
• Fermentation Characteristics: Fermentation characteristics may present at levels consistent with the underlying beer style featuring Vera hops
• Body: Varies with underlying style

Additional Notes: These ales or lagers are brewed with the recently released Vera public hop variety, developed at the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service station in Prosser, Wash. While not required to be brewed as “single hop” beers, these beers should highlight the distinctive character of the Vera hop which has been described as tropical, stone fruit, and citrus character, reminiscent of a pineapple flavored Life-Savers® candy.