Thanks to changing tastes and quality local brewers, hops are now embraced, and IBU is no longer a dirty word
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There was a time when “hoppy” beers were frowned upon, at least by a significant contingent of beer drinkers.
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In fact, in the ’90s, there was an entire ad campaign built around the dreadful “Bitter Beer Face.” Drink a hoppy — a.k.a. bitter — beer and your face would unattractively contort.
Of course, this was conditioning from major beer companies pushing their milquetoast macro-lagers.
Thanks to changing tastes and quality local brewers, hops are now embraced, and IBU is no longer a dirty word.
Indeed, hops have even become fashionable, as highlighted by this week’s sudsy sips:
Small Gods x Superflux Colour Scheme Leavenworth Lager, Sidney ($17.29 for 4-473mL cans, #300330)
Billed as a collaboration between “Two lager-loving breweries with a shared passion for pushing hop boundaries,” Colour Scheme unites East Van’s Superflux Beer Co. with Sidney’s Small Gods Brewing Co. A German-inspired lager, here the hop focus is on Hopsteiner’s experimental Contessa T45 hops (while the brew bill finds a blend of Field Five and Weyermann Pilsner malts). The Contessa hop — a cross of Fuggle and Cascade hops — brings floral and herbal aromas. And, indeed, there’s an earthy mid-palate melding to a smooth overall style before a snappy, crisp finish. Or as the breweries say, it’s “like an Alpine breeze rolling through the Cascades.”
Bottom line: A- Pair with poutine.
Slow Hand Beer Co. Nelson Bliss, east Vancouver ($4.99 for 473mL can, available at select private liquor stores)
It’s not just the type of hops that are getting fashionable, attention has also turned to how the hops are harvested. For example, check out recently released Nelson Bliss from East Van’s Slow Hand Beer Co. New Zealand’s Nelson Sauvin hops are already one of the cooler kids on the hop block but a new “Bliss Process” aims to time the hop harvest to capture both the gregarious hop’s tropical notes (typically found later harvest) and bright citrus and white wine nuances (usually obtained from an earlier harvest). Which is a lot of beer geekiness to simply say this is a very fun, fruity and aromatic Pilsner!
Bottom line: B+ Bring on the tacos.
Change Colours Brewing Project Life Won’t Wait, Port Coquitlam ($21.18 for 4-473mL cans, available at select private liquor stores)
Of course, the hop trail most often leads back to IPA. After all, this was the beer style getting everyone all hop-and-bothered back in the day, with double and triple IPAs pushing the IBU outer bounds. And while that trend has cooled, the hazy IPA canon now seems to be the proving ground for newfangled, supersized hop influence. Relative newcomer Change Colours Brewing Project knows the drill, hop-wise their Life Won’t Wait hazy features Simcoe Cryo (concentrated pelletized hops), Nelson Sauvin, Sabro, and Simcoe Hyperboost (hop oil extract). But again, you don’t have to care about all that to enjoy this bold and juicy, outsized aromatic and overall smooth IPA.
Bottom line: B+ Works with all the appies.