Adriana Terron is the Technical Brewing Projects Administrative Specialist for the Brewers Association (BA). Prior to this role she was a lab technician at Oskar Blues Brewery, a brewer at LUKI Brewery, and a beertender at Resolute Tap & Cellar. Passionate about all things craft beer, she’s a graduate of the BA’s inaugural Mentorship Program (2021), a Certified Cicerone, and a Certified BJCP Judge. When not judging local homebrew competitions, she enjoys reading, watching movies, travelling, and pairing food and drink with all the above whenever possible.
Who Can Use This? Owners, Head Brewers, Raw Material Purchasers
Hop selection season, happening primarily in the Pacific Northwest region in late summer and early fall, seems to be a time of hope, excitement, and high energy as brewers get to experience the hop harvest firsthand and predict which aromas will make for the most entrancing future brews. However, many brewers can’t fly out to hop country around harvest time to partake in this annual industry ritual due mostly to the costs and time required. Fortunately, another option exists that has its own set of advantages—remote hop selection. This generally entails receiving hop samples in the mail and evaluating them at your brewery.
Be aware…
Not all hop merchants conduct or support remote selection. Communicate with your hop merchant to learn if this is an option for you or to start a conversation about its feasibility.
For brewers who have never done hop selection before or who have decided to abstain, a good question to address first is…
Why Do Selection At All?
Ensure quality. Assessing hops before you buy them can ensure they meet your specific standards.
Maintain consistency of product for flagship brands and repeat recipes.
Support the hop industry by providing merchants with information on the needs of the industry so they can work to meet them.
Strengthen supply chain. Stay connected and informed and foster relationships with merchants and farmers that makes the links in the supply chain stronger and more resilient to change.
Why Sniff from Afar?
It brings more people into the selection process, which gives brewery employees sensory experience and training, as well as boosting morale.
You don‘t need to worry about missing harvest windows, which may happen when doing selection in person.
Save time and money. It’s a practical choice.
If you’re convinced this is a worthwhile endeavor, read on for advice on how to approach remote selection.
Considerations for Choosing Remote Hop Selection
Understand the challenges. Providing a remote offering costs a hop merchant time and money. They have to ship their product and anticipate a lag time between delivery, your evaluation, and your selection results. Being timely in communicating your results makes remote selection viable. Be aware you may not get your number one choice, so be prepared with ranked choices.
Set up time with your merchant to talk through the growing and harvest seasons in order to align on expectations. That meeting can include the nuts and bolts of their remote selection process and their insights on that year’s hop crop. Since hops are an agricultural product, quality varies year to year and they’ll be able to give you a heads up as to what to expect from your samples.
“Some merchants will record video of cone condition, plant health, and even a rubbing by trained staff. Or they may offer live walk-throughs, live virtual rub sessions, or side-by-side comparisons of lots. While not a replacement for smell, this information can help you evaluate visual quality, cone integrity, and handling. Additionally, some merchants may offer small sample vials of essential oil extracts that represent different lots, which are especially helpful for remote blind panel assessments.”
-James “Otto” Ottolini
Schlafly Beer
What are the merchant conditions for supporting remote hop selection? Does your merchant accommodate a brewery your size for selection? Some merchants allow selection for an amount as low as 220 pounds while others set a 1,000-pound minimum. You may consider teaming up with other small breweries to achieve minimum volume requirements. Another way to become informed of the current climate is to read up on the most recent harvest reports, which can be found on the Hop Growers of America website.
A Note on Why to Contract Hops
Contracting hops can stabilize price and availability. If you make an accurate forecast for how many hops you’ll need in the future and then buy the majority of what you’ll need for the year, you have better control over cost and reassurance of their availability. Otherwise, you may deal with significant fluctuations in the spot market.
Make a forecast and communicate your needs. Know the sensory attributes of your beer brands and how aromas of the hops you use translate into your beer. Then generate a plan for what variety you’re after, how much you need, and any other relevant information. Hops for remote selection will come in whole-cone format. One example of a request could be three to five lots of Citra sent as 100–200 grams of whole-cone samples. Samples should come in a vacuum-sealed or nitrogen-flushed package to ensure the highest quality upon receiving.
“Give them your true-to-brand statement (if that’s what you’re looking for) by saying something like, ‘we want hops higher in tropical and citrus characteristics and lower in piney/dank traits.'”
-Mitch Steele
New Realm Brewing
Preparing for Hop Evaluation Day
Receive all the relevant information, including analytical data, about the hops chosen for evaluation. This would include lot identification number, farm name, alpha acids, total oil content, and, if desired, specific terpene concentrations such as linalool or myrcene.
Don’t be late. Be prepared to accommodate hop merchants’ requests,which often entail a response within 24 hours. Merchants hold lots for brewers, so immediate follow-up is greatly appreciated, so that they can best accommodate all the brewers who are selecting at the same time.
Determine which rubric, grading scale, or scorecard everyone will use during evaluation. Merchants may provide this or even provide an online portal for your panel to use. Also ensure everyone uses the same hop sensory best practices. Be sure to reference Hop Evaluation Guidelines for Brewers for some great tips and guidance on the methods for performing your hop evaluations at your facility. You may request that everyone who will be involved read it beforehand as a primer for the purpose and process of hop evaluation.
Not sure where to start with developing an evaluation rubric for either remote or on-site hop selection? Here are two templates you can use to create a hop evaluation sheet for your selection needs.
Determine how the evaluation will proceed. Best practice is to perform the evaluations blind (not knowing the background information to minimize bias). Everyone should fill out their evaluations silently first, followed by group discussion after.
Set realistic expectations for all participants. A great thing about remote evaluation is that you can incorporate more people into the process that otherwise wouldn’t likely participate, like front-of-house staff, for example. But be sure everyone understands the point of the exercise and shows up to take the process seriously and give honest, productive feedback. Also ensure the group is not so big that focus on the task is difficult to maintain. If time allows, you can even practice on some of your hops in inventory.
Store your hops properly when you receive them. Don’t forget to put them in the cooler upon arrival!
Schedule evaluation at the best time in the right room. Generally, the earlier in the day the better for any sensory assessment. If your facility has food service, perform selections before the kitchen starts up and produces distracting aromas. Aim for a neutral room with no odors from things like coffee brewing or cleaning chemical residue.
A starting supply list for remote selection is easy and simple: a Sharpie for labelling, evaluation sheets/rubrics, pens, mats or trays for easy cleanup, hops, a hand-cleaning setup, paper towels, and a trash can.
Evaluation Day Logistics
Let the hops come to room temperature before you select.
Prepare the evaluation area. Ensure everything is clean. Put down mats for easy cleanup. Arrange hand-washing for use between varieties. Use unscented soaps, a spray bottle with isopropyl alcohol, or hand sanitizer.
Provide feedback on all hops, even the “dogs.” This still provides value to the merchants. Based on feedback and other parameters, they may combine less popular hops with others to create a hop blend.
Make a final decision. Choose a top contender and rank other choices.
Left:Ensure brewer’s cuts come in vacuum-sealed or nitrogen-purged packaging. Right: If using the rub method in lieu of the grind method, ensure hands are properly washed in between samples to avoid aroma carryover.
Post-Evaluation Follow-up
Continue your communication with the hop merchant to settle on a purchased lot and quantity, what you liked, what didn’t work for your brands, and any additional information that might help your hop partners better match you to selections in the future.
Keep detailed notes and Certificates of Analysis (COAs) for use in upcoming selection years. Create a system—ideally digital—to log details from your remote selection, including the year, variety, specific lot information, sensory evaluation notes, and other relevant attributes. Over time, this can lead to more efficient and effective remote selection matches.
In the virtual world we’re living in, there are more opportunities and workarounds for past challenges, including the limited feasibility of small breweries to participate in hop selection and having a say over their raw materials. By exhibiting a willingness to learn, knowing your beers and your needs, and sharing knowledge generously and frequently, any brewer can take control of their raw materials, become excellent partners in the hop supply chain, and elevate their beers’ quality and consistency.
The Supply Chain Subcommittee is concerned with the ingredients and materials that are used to brew and package craft beers. By monitoring hop and barley harvest, interacting with growers and examining packaging supplies, and monitoring glass and can markets, the Supply Chain Subcommittee works to ensure a stable marketplace and provide educational resources to the brewing community on best practices for sourcing and selecting ingredients and packaging materials to suit their beers.
Explore the Brewers Association's most high-value resources and tools in one click. Need some additional guidance? Click here to setup a resource meeting with Graham, the BA's Engagement Coordinator.
Search BrewersAssociation.org
Looks like you haven't bought a membership yet.
Finish setting up your membership at the link below!
Resource Hub