Hop Saturation

Whether it’s selecting very different lots of Nelson Sauvin or trialing new hop products to see what they can contribute, North Park founder and head brewer Kelsey McNair says he’s always looking for ways to squeeze in more hop flavor—but without leaving the realm of the familiar.

To brew a beer that’s bursting with great hop aroma and flavor, it’s critical to choose and use the very best you can get. North Park founder and head brewer Kelsey McNair explains their own discriminating approach.

Oxygen is the enemy of hop-saturated flavor. In this clip from his video course, North Park founder and head brewer Kelsey McNair explains how his team halved oxygen in the package by slowing down their canning line.

You don’t want your water to get in the way of hop-saturated flavors. Here, North Park founder and head brewer Kelsey McNair sketches out a few different water profiles that depend on style—and why he might adjust those profiles, depending on choices made elsewhere.

North Park founder and head brewer Kelsey McNair shares his approach and various techniques for achieving fully saturated hop flavor in IPA, West Coast pilsner, or any hop-forward style.

Brewers are experimenting with a variety of ways, old and new, to squeeze even more aroma and flavor from their hops and cram it into their beers. But how much hop saturation is too much for drinkers?