also known as Wye Challenger, is an English hop that was developed by Dr Ray Neve at Wye College and was commercially released in 1972. See wye college. It was the result of a cross between a female hop showing high resistance to downy mildew and a male seedling of Northern Brewer. See northern brewer (hop). The development of this hop was funded by the (British) Hops Marketing Board and the Brewers Society for the purpose of creating a hop with disease resistance for growers coupled with a relatively high alpha acid content for brewers. The Wye Challenger was deemed to have met both challenges and thus its name. It ripens in the latter part of the growing season and matures to an alpha acid level of 6.5% to 8.5%. This hop became popular with the former Burton-on-Trent brewery Bass, as well as with many English craft brewers. English regional breweries, too, such as Kent’s Shepherd Neame in Kent and Suffolk’s Greene King, use it in their beers. Wye Challenger is considered an excellent dual-purpose hop, providing both a full-rounded bitterness and an elegant spiciness with a fruity, earthy character. This makes it well suited for a variety of beer styles including English bitter, extra special bitter, and stout. It is mainly grown in the English counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, Kent and Sussex. Small patches of Challenger are also grown in Belgium.
