Author: Jake Huolihan

The Pacific Northwest has dominated when it comes to the development of new hop varieties, introducing the world to hops such as Citra, Amarillo, Mosaic, and a host of others sought by brewers of hop-forward beers. Most popular for their Noble varieties, hop breeders in Germany have been doing some of their own experimenting in hopes of developing new fruity hops to assist in fulfilling the ever growing demand of IPA lovers, one of which I recently had the opportunity to play with.

Alpha: 6.9 – 7.5%

Beta: 7.3 – 7.9%

Cohumulone: 25 – 30% of alpha acids

Total Oil: 0.7 – 0.9 mL/100g

Myrcene: 35 – 37%

Humulene: 10 – 20%

Caryophyllene: 5 – 10%

Farnesene: <1.0%

Linalool: <1.0%

Geraniol: <1.0%

ß-Pinene: unknown

Parentage: Bred at the Hop Research Institute of Hüll, parentage unknown

Noted for imparting mild notes of melon and strawberry, Huell Melon sounded to me like it might work well in a juicy NEPA. However, after reading a few reviews suggesting the character was typically pretty mild, I decided to first try it out on a simple beer and have it evaluated by blind tasters for The Hop Chronicles!





| MAKING THE BEER |

The recipe I designed had a simple grist in order to let the Huell Melon character shine.

Huell Melon Pale Ale

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 5.5 gal 60 min 29.4 IBUs 5.6 SRM 1.054 1.012 5.6 % Actuals 1.054 1.008 6.0 % Fermentables Name Amount % Briess Pale Ale Malt 11.25 lbs 95.74 Weyermann Vienna 8 oz 4.26 Hops Name Amount Time Use Form Alpha % Huell Melon 26 g 60 min Boil Pellet 4.5 Huell Melon 31 g 30 min Boil Pellet 4.5 Huell Melon 31 g 5 min Boil Pellet 4.5 Huell Melon 31 g 0 min Boil Pellet 4.5 Huell Melon 30 g 5 days Dry Hop Pellet 4.5 Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Temperature California Ale (WLP001) White Labs 77% 68°F - 73°F Notes Water Profile: Ca 64 | Mg 0 | Na 8 | SO4 75 | Cl 61 | pH 5.4

I prepared a starter of the clean fermenting WLP001 California Ale Yeast a couple days ahead of time that would eventually be split between this and another batch for a future xBmt.

I readied the ingredients and dialed in my preferred water profile the night prior to brewing. Upon waking the next day, I immediately lit the flame under my kettle full of strike water.

As the water was coming to temperature, I milled the grains that I’d previously weighed out.

Once the water was ready, I mashed in to hit my target mash temperature.

I went with the no sparge method for this batch, which meant that following a 60 minute rest, the full volume of sweet wort was collected in my kettle.

As the wort was heating to a boil, I measured out all of the kettle hop additions.

Hops were added at the times listed in the recipe during a 60 minute boil, after which I quickly chilled the wort to my desired fermentation temperature of 66°F/19°C.

A hydrometer measurement at this point showed the wort hit the intended OG.

The cool wort was racked to a fermentor that was placed in my basement fermentation chamber before I pitched the yeast starter. Signs of activity were observed within 12 hours and the beer continued to ferment vigorously for the following couple of days. Once things appeared to have settled down, I added the dry hop charge and let it sit another few days before taking a hydrometer reading confirming the beer had reached the expected FG.

I proceeded with kegging the beer at this point.

The filled keg was placed in my cool keezer to cold crash overnight before fining with gelatin. After a brief period of burst carbonation, I dialed the CO2 down to serving pressure and let it sit a few days before serving it to tasters for evaluation.

| 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 Tropical Fruit Melon Melon & Stone Fruit (tie)

The 3 characteristics endorsed as being least prominent by participants:

Aroma Flavor Onion/Garlic Onion/Garlic Earthy/Woody Earthy/Woody Grassy Spicy/Herbal

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

Tasters were then instructed to identify beer styles they thought the hop would work well in.

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

My Impressions: Having no baseline to judge this hop from, I’m pretty sure my opinion of it was largely influenced by my awareness of the existing descriptors. From the first pour to the last, I perceived the beer as possessing a very pleasant mix of cantaloupe melon and strawberries, while other notes typical of American hops were notably absent. And that wasn’t a bad thing, as this was the most enjoyable single hop beer I’ve had in a long time. I’m now even more excited to combine this tasty variety with others in my next NEPA and can say with certainty that I plan to use it regularly in everything from Pilsner to IPA!

| CONCLUSION |

Based on data from the blind participants and my own personal experience, Huell Melon seems an appropriate moniker for this relatively new variety. Not typically what I think of when I imagine beer, I was pleasantly surprised with how great the melon character imparted by Huell Melon worked in this beer! Similar to other new varieties in its fruity, juicy, and full flavor, Huell Melon distinguishes itself by being notably less pungent with none of the piney or dank characters many have come to expect from new hops. What’s cool is that despite this uniqueness, or perhaps because of it, participants really seemed to enjoy the beer made with this variety, a sentiment I fully share. Overall, my experience with Huell Melon was very positive, not only because it introduced me to a new variety I look forward using often, but it made me excited for all the novel hops we’ll like see in the future. For those looking to add a unique and refreshingly juicy hop flavor to their beer, give Huell Melon a shot!

If you have any thoughts on Huell Melon hops, please feel free to share them in the comments section below!

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