There are hundreds of hop varieties and more being developed every day. Each adds unique aroma and flavor profiles to beers in which they are used, but it can be difficult for the average palate to identify individual hops, particularly when most beers contain several different hop varieties.

To give customers a chance to dive deeper into the distinctions, Smokehouse Brewing Company is launching a Hop Exploration series. Over the next several weeks, as part of their Firkin Friday releases, Smokehouse will tap a firkin of their MacLenny’s Scottish Ale dry-hopped with a rotation selection of single, exotic hops. MacLenny’s Scottish Ale is a fairly low-hopped brew, so the hop characteristics will be easier to identify.

“There are hundreds of styles of beer, with multiple malts and hops in each style,” said Lenny Kolada, owner of Smokehouse Brewing. “It’s hard to keep up.”

Kolada says Smokehouse’s new brewer Sam Hickey came up with the idea to dry-hop a fairly neutral brew with varying hop varieties to showcase the distinctions.

“We identified six hops that aren’t commonly used in our market,” said Kolada. “We’ll dry hop aggressively enough to showcase that hop profile. It’s virtually a beer class for the price of a pint.”

This Friday, February 7, the featured firkin will be MacLenny’s dry-hopped with Equinox. Equinox has a pronounced aroma profile with citrus, tropical fruit, floral and herbal characteristics. Specific descriptions include lemon, lime, papaya, apple and green pepper.

Other hops to be featured include Pacific Jade, Wakatu, Nelson Sauvin and Motueka. The Hop Exploration firkins will not be tapped on successive Fridays, so follow Smokehouse on Facebook for tapping dates.

Full disclosure: Smokehouse Brewing is a client.