Hop Breeding Company Launches Terra Alpha Hops Series
It’s always a big day when an experimental hop gets a name. Well, today is the big day for two hops: HBC 1325 and HBC 682
Today, Hop Breeding Company (HBC) announced the launch of Terra Alpha Hops. This new series was built specifically for high-alpha performance — that is, performance in both the field and in the brewhouse. The Terra Alpha series currently includes two hop varieties: HBC 1325 and HBC 682 (TerraSurge™ and TerraFlux™).
Hop Breeding Company is a joint venture created by the nation’s two largest hop suppliers: John I. Haas, Inc. and Yakima Chief Ranches (YCR). In short, the mission at HBC is to develop and introduce new hop varieties that address the needs and desires of the brewing industry, as well as the agricultural realities faced by the growers.
If you know Hop Breeding Company at all, you probably know them for gifting the world with flavor-forward, aromatic hop bombs like Citra® (HBC 394), Mosaic® (HBC 369), and Krush® (HBC 586). But bittering hops have always been part of the program too, and now that side of the portfolio is getting its own identity: Terra Alpha Hops. The new series kicks off with two varieties: TerraSurge and TerraFlux.
TerraSurge is the new kid on the block — a high-yield variety bred to provide resistance to powdery mildew and also offer a late harvest window. That combo gives growers more flexibility and points toward more efficient, sustainable production down the road.
Michael Ferguson, Director of Hop Breeding at John I. Haas, isn’t shy about calling it a milestone. “TerraSurge encompasses every innovation we’ve developed over the last seven years. It’s a breakthrough. That’s what we want a hop to look like.”
Dean Moshing, Chief Sales Officer at Yakima Chief Hops, sees it as an answer to something brewers have been asking for: alpha varieties that perform consistently, season after season. “The future of alpha depends on varieties that consistently perform in the field as well as the brewhouse. Terra Surge was bred for exactly that: a vigorous, high-yielding cultivar grown in the Pacific Northwest and designed to deliver dependable performance year after year. As brewers look to diversify their alpha sourcing and build resilience into their hop supply chain, TerraSurge gives them a foundation they can rely on.”
TerraFlux, meanwhile, isn’t a brand-new hop. It’s an official name applied to an existing, experimental variety, HBC 682, which has been commercially grown since 2018. Since its introduction, HBC 682 racked up more than 36 million pounds grown to date.
The Terra Alpha Series combines an established workhorse, TerraFlux, with a fresh-faced, innovative breakthrough, TerraSurge. Both TerraFlux and TerraSurge are now available through Yakima Chief Ranches and John I. Haas.
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