Author: Marshall Schott

The first hop released by Idaho’s Jackson Farm, 007 Golden Hop, formerly known as Idaho 7, created quite the buzz among brewers when it hit the scene in 2015. With its solid oil content and high alpha acid along with descriptors such as orange, tangerine, black tea, and pine, 007 Golden Hop offered brewers a unique blend of characteristics that was sure to pique the interest of many.

Alpha: 12.2 – 15.4%

Beta: 4.2 – 5.5%

Cohumulone: unknown

Total Oil: 1 – 1.6 mL/100g

Myrcene: unknown

Humulene: unknown

Caryophyllene: unknown

Farnesene: unknown

Linalool: unknown

Geraniol: unknown

ß-Pinene: unknown

Parentage: unknown

I recall first hearing about 007 Golden Hop, or Idaho 7 as it was called then, sometime late in 2015 and was excited try it out for myself. However, by the time I went to buy some, it was sold out. Since that time, I’ve tried various beers made using this novel variety, often in combination with other hops though occasionally on its own. My experience being generally positive, I was curious to see what others would think of a beer made solely with 007 Golden Hop!

| MAKING THE BEER |

I went with my standard simple Pale Ale recipe in order to keep the hop character at center stage.

007 Golden Hop Pale Ale

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 5.5 gal 30 min 33.0 IBUs 5.7 SRM 1.052 1.013 5.1 % Actuals 1.052 1.011 5.4 % Fermentables Name Amount % Pale Ale Malt (Muntons) 10 lbs 90.91 Munich Malt (Muntons) 1 lbs 9.09 Hops Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha % Idaho #7 8 g 30 min First Wort Pellet 12.3 Idaho #7 28 g 15 min Boil Pellet 12.3 Idaho #7 56 g 1 min Boil Pellet 12.3 Idaho #7 90 g 0 min Dry Hop Pellet 12.3 Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Temperature Flagship (A07) Imperial Yeast 75% 60°F - 72°F Notes Water Profile: Ca 87 | Mg 1 | Na 10 | SO4 125 | Cl 62 Download Download this recipe's BeerXML file

I made a starter of Imperial A07 Flagship Yeast a couple days ahead of time.

The next night, I collected the brewing liquor then weighed out and milled the grains.

Having set my heat stick timer to turn on a couple hours before I started brewing, I woke up the following morning to perfectly heated strike water.

I proceeded to mash in with the help of my cute brewing assistant.

After stirring gently for a couple minutes, I checked to make sure I’d hit my target mash temperature.

A pH reading 15 minutes into the mash step showed it was right on target.

Once the 60 minute mash was complete, I collected the sweet wort.

After transferring the wort to my kettle, I began heating it up, during which I weighed out the hops.

The wort was boiled for 30 minutes with hops added as stated in the recipe.

With the boil complete, I quickly chilled the wort to a few degrees warmer than my groundwater temperature.

A refractometer measurement at this point revealed I’d hit the my planned OG.

I racked 5.5 gallons/21 liters of chilled wort to a Brew Bucket that I placed in a chamber controlled to my desired fermentation temperature.

I returned to pitch the yeast 2 hours later when the temperature had stabilized at 66°F/19°C. Fermentation took off quickly and I noticed slowed activity 5 days later, at which point I tossed in the dry hop addition then raised the temperature to 72˚F/23˚C to encourage complete attenuation. A hydrometer measurement 5 days later indicated FG had been reached.

I proceeded to cold crash overnight, fine with gelatin, then rack the beer to a keg.

The filled keg was placed in my cold keezer where it was burst carbonated for 15 hours before I reduced the gas to serving pressure and allowed the beer to condition for another few days before serving it to participants.

| 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 asked to write-in the perceived strength of that particular characteristic on a 0-9 scale where a rating of 0 meant they did not perceive the character at all and a rating of 9 meant the character was extremely strong. Once the data was collected, the average rating of each aroma and flavor descriptor was compiled and analyzed.

| RESULTS |

A total of 15 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 Floral Stone Fruit Pine

The 3 characteristics endorsed as being least prominent by participants:

Aroma Flavor Onion/Garlic Onion/Garlic Grassy Berry Earthy/Woody Melon

Participants were then asked to rate the pungency of the overall hop character.

Next, they were instructed to identify beer styles they thought the hop would work well in.

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

My Impressions: I began developing my impressions of 007 Golden Hop when I opened the bag on brew day, it had a remarkably pungent fruity aroma that I found very pleasant. I was again hit with this when dry hopping, making me all the more excited for the finished beer. Upon bringing the first carbonated sample to my face, I immediately caught a whiff of the expected aroma– citrus and ripe tropical fruit. Then I took a sip and was taken aback by how different it tasted compared to the way it smelled. The characteristics I detected in the aroma were slightly muted while piney, floral, and even minty notes seemed to be amplified. It was an odd though not at all unpleasant experience, I actually ended up liking the beer quite a bit!

| CONCLUSION |

In my time as a craft beer drinker and homebrewer, I’ve had the opportunity to try beers made with a bunch of different hop varieties, nearly all of which I experienced as imparting a flavor that’s mostly similar to the aroma. Interestingly, based on the evaluations of blind tasters as well as my own experience, the aromatic characteristics imparted by 007 Golden Hop are surprisingly different than the flavor. While tasters experienced citrus and tropical fruit as being prominent in both, a look at the average aroma and flavor ratings reveals tasters perceived strong pine, resinous, and floral flavors from 007 Golden Hop while the aroma was marked by a stronger fruity presence. Definitely not a unidimensional variety.

My presumption after initial samples of this single hop beer was that tasters might be put off by the curious juxtaposition of aroma and flavor, yet the data shows a majority of participants rather enjoyed the characteristics imparted by 007 Golden Hop. One person did report, following completion of the survey, his rather strong dislike of the hop character in the beer, but for the most part, tasters requested refills, a promising sign for a new hop variety.

Overall, I think 007 Golden Hop has a lot of potential in today’s brewing world, particularly for those looking to craft a pungent and unique hoppy Pale or IPA. However, while the aroma was delectably fruity, the pine and mint I detected in the flavor reminded me of Northern Brewer hops, making me curious to see how 007 Golden Hop might play in California Common inspired beer. Something I certainly plan to try in the future!

007 Golden Hop is available now in various package sizes at Yakima Valley Hops, get them while you can! If you have any thoughts on 007 Golden Hop, please feel free to share them in the comments section below.

Support for The Hop Chronicles comes from Yakima Valley Hops, suppliers of over 40 varieties of hops ranging from classics like Saaz and Cascade to yet-to-be-named experimental options fresh from the source. Offering great prices with reasonable shipping, consider Yakima Valley Hops for your next hop purchase.

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