Author: Matt Waldron

With descriptors like lemon, lime, and papaya, it’s not surprising Ekuanot was quickly embraced by brewers the world over when it hit the market in 2014. Since its release, it’s been used by many to produce some highly praised beers such as Lagunitas Brewing’s Equinox Ale and Brooklyn Brewing’s Scorcher #366.

Ekuanot

Alpha: 13.0 – 15.5%

Beta: 4.0 – 5.0 %

CoH: 31 – 36% of alpha acids

Oil: 2.5 – 4.0 ml/100g

Myrcene: 30 – 45%

Humulene: 12 – 20%

Caryophyllene: 8 – 12%

Farnesene: < 1.0%

Linalool: 0.2 – 0.5%

Geraniol: 0.2%

B-Pinene: 0.4 – 0.8%

Parentage: Warrior, wild hop varietal

According to Scott Janish’s very convenient hop replacement calculator, Ekuanot most strongly resembles Chinook based on oil composition, followed closely by a classic American hop, Cluster. I’ve used Chinook plenty of times and was very interested to discover how it might compare to Ekuanot!

| MAKING THE BEER |

Wanting to ensure the hop character remained fully in focus, I designed a very simple American Pale Ale recipe using Ekuanot as the sole hop and fermenting it with a clean ale strain.

Ekuanot Pale Ale

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 5.5 gal 60 min 69.9 IBUs 4.1 SRM 1.052 1.017 4.5 % Actuals 1.052 1.011 5.4 % Fermentables Name Amount % Pale Malt (2 Row) US 5 lbs 47.62 Pale Malt, Maris Otter 5 lbs 47.62 Carapils (Briess) 8 oz 4.76 Hops Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha % Equinox 28 g 60 min Boil Pellet 13.4 Equinox 14 g 10 min Boil Pellet 13.4 Equinox 14 g 5 min Boil Pellet 13.4 Equinox 14 g 15 min Aroma Pellet 13.4 Equinox 57 g 4 days Dry Hop Pellet 13.4 Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Temperature BRY-97 American West Coast (BRY-97) Lallemand 72% 64°F - 69°F

Since I’d be using dry yeast, there was no need to make a start ahead of time. I went with my standard BIAB method for this 5 gallon batch and started off my brew day by heating the full volume of strike water in my keggle. Once to the temperature recommended by BeerSmith, I dropped the bag full of grains into the water, gave it a good stir, and set my timer for 60 minutes. Given the simple grain bill and my desire to keep this beer sessionable, I mashed slightly higher than I typically do for a Pale Ale.

After the 1 hour mash rest was completed, I removed the bag of grains, giving it a gentle squeeze until I’d collected the proper volume of wort, then began heating the wort to a boil. which my electric setup accomplished in no time. I performed a 60 minute boil, adding hops at all of the times listed in the recipe.

With the boil finished, I did a 15 minute hop stand before quickly chilling the wort to a few degrees above my groundwater temperature. A hydrometer measurement at this point showed I’d hit a respectable APA OG.

I filled a carboy and placed it in my chamber to continue chilling to my target fermentation temperature, it took a few hours, after which I returned to pitch the yeast. Fermentation happened as usual, no noted issues, and roughly two weeks later, I took a hydrometer reading confirming FG had been reached.

I proceeded to keg the beer and put it on gas in my keezer.

The following weekend, it was ready for tasters!

| METHOD |

Participants were instructed to focus only on the aromatic qualities of the beer before evaluating the flavor. For each aroma and flavor descriptor, tasters were first asked whether or not they perceived the characteristic with “yes” selections taking them to a page instructing them to write-in the perceived strength of that particular characteristic on a 1-9 scale (weak to strong); endorsing “no” resulted in the taster skipping over the rating of that descriptor directly to the next descriptor. Once the data was collected, the average rating of each aroma and flavor descriptor was compiled with all “no” responses being assigned a score of zero.

| RESULTS |

A total of 17 people participated in the evaluation of this beer, all blind to the hop variety used until after they completed the survey. The average aroma and flavor ratings for each descriptor were plotted on a radar graph.

Average Ratings of Aroma and Flavor Perceptions

The 3 characteristics endorsed as being most prominent by participants:

Aroma Flavor Citrus Citrus Tropical Fruit Resinous Resinous Tropical Fruit

The 3 characteristics endorsed as being least prominent by participants:

Aroma Flavor Onion/Garlic Berry Stone Fruit Apple/Pear Berry Melon

When asked to rate the pungency/strength of the hop, the majority of tasters perceived it as being quite strong.

Tasters were then instructed to identify beer styles they thought the hop would work well in. Unsurprisingly, Pale/IPA was the most common selection.

Finally, participants were asked to rate how much they enjoyed the hop character on a 1 to 10 scale.

My Impressions: I always enjoy playing around with new ingredients, especially hops, but it comes with certain risks, namely the possibility that particular ingredient isn’t going to be very good. In this case, the risk was worth it, as the beer was enjoyable and I felt I learned something. Inline with the tasting results, I experienced Ekuanot as being quite fruit forward, mostly tropical fruite with obvious citrus in the background, though I also picked up a fairly strong melon note. All of this was balanced with a familiar earthy character that reminded me of Fuggles, contributing to an interesting two-sided element to this hop. While I’m unlikely to use Ekuanot, or whatever they end up calling it, as the sole hop in any future beers, I’d happily use it in combination with other hops in the future!

| CONCLUSION |

Based on the results of this blind survey, the feedback from tasters following completion of the survey, and my own experience with the Ekuanot beer, I’d have to say Hop Breeding Company pretty much hit the mark they likely had in mind when developing this variety, particularly that it would work well in hoppy styles known for their citrus, tropical fruit, and resinous attributes. However, in contrast to other popular American hops out there, tasters noted perhaps a bit more earthy character contributed by Ekuanot, which may not tickle the fancies of every brewer out there and is something to keep in mind when using this hop in a recipe. Overall, I think Ekuanot is a noteworthy hop brewers can add to their arsenals and look forward to using it in tandem with other varieties.

If you’ve used Ekuanot, we’d love to hear from you, please share your thoughts and experience in the comments section below!

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