The hop formerly known as HQG2015034-023 gets closer to earning a name.
Cloudburst Brewing used HQG-4, the first hop variety to emerge from the Hop Quality Group’s breeding program, to craft its newest IPA. Here’s Your Future IPA is available at the brewery’s taprooms (draft and cans) and at those places around Seattle where you usually find Cloudburst’s beers. It’s a beer that should pique the interest of discerning hopheads. Here’s why.
Cloudburst Brewing is part of a collection of 50-plus breweries that make up the Hop Quality Group (HQG). Beer science, nerdy stuff. The HQG came together about 15 years ago to foster a discussion on hop quality, as the name might suggest. Among other things, it operates a hop breeding program: HQG helps develop new hop varieties, like HQG-4, from the ground up.
“It’s kind of tropical with high levels of thiol precursors,” said Steve Luke of Cloudburst Brewing, slipping seamlessly into geek speak. Basically, the only thing you need to know is that because of those thiol precursors, it is comparable to hops like Nelson Sauvin, a more familiar hop that hails from New Zealand. “In Here’s Your Future IPA, we used about 70 percent HQG-4 and the rest was Citra and Mosaic.”
This past year was the first time a significant amount of HQG-4 was grown, though the supply is still very limited. Steve says that he knows Russian River Brewing and Ninkasi Brewing plan to release beers brewed with it, but beyond that, he’s not sure if other Hop Quality Group brewers are using it.
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HQG-4 is an experimental, public variety. Public? Many hop varieties are owned by someone (a farm or breeder) who holds an agricultural patent on the genetic material. Those hops are grown and used under licensing. With a public hop, the genetic material is freely available to all growers and brewers, with no intellectual property restrictions. For instance, Mosaic and Citra are not public, while Cascade and Centennial are public.
There are several implications based on whether a hop variety is public or private, but perhaps the one that matters the most involves the cost. Licensed, private hops come with a cost and other requirements, so it’s less expensive for farmers to plant and cultivate public varieties. The cost or saving is ultimately passed on to the brewers.
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In the near future, HQG-4 will get a catchy, sexy name. Hop breeding is a slow process, requiring a lot of patience and a willingness to see 90 percent of your work end up in the garbage can. When a hop gets to the point that it earns a name, it is something to celebrate.
Steve Luke says that Cloudburst Brewing is thrilled to brew it and introduce beer lovers to HQG-4. “We’ve championed it since 2019, though it’s been in the pipeline as a baby since 2015 when it was known as HQG2015034-023,” he said.
By the way, here in the Northwest, Hop Quality Group member breweries include Cloudburst Brewing, Stoup Brewing, Single Hill Brewing, Narrows Brewing, Breakside Brewing, Von Ebert Brewing, Ninkasi Brewing, and Gigantic Brewing. See the complete list of member breweries here.
To learn about other recent beer releases, visit our New Beer Releases page.
