In the first article in our Deep Dive series, we discussed how we screen new hops for brewing and market potential. In this article, we delve into some fundamental questions we’ll be discussing in our upcoming webinar:
- How do the three brewery panelists joining us for this series—Patrick Raasch of Sunriver Brewing, Sam Richardson of Other Half Brewing, and Brendan McGivney of Odell Brewing—sort through the countless hop options available to them and find that special something to keep their beers interesting?
- How do these three successful breweries of different sizes, structures, and markets keep pace with the shifting tides of consumer preferences and incorporate new hop varieties into their portfolios to continuously deliver beers that broadly appeal to both long-time customers and newer generations of craft-beer drinkers?
As we mentioned in the first article, now that we are said to be in a “mature market,” we strongly believe that unique hop varieties that help breweries evolve their beer and resonate with a broader spectrum of consumer palates are more important now than ever before. And while it’s exciting to see all kinds of new advanced hop products become available to brewers, these products tend to deliver a concentrated “pop” of specific attributes from existing varieties. These advanced products can be useful tools, but they are simply refinements of varieties we know all too well. New hop varieties with unique flavor and aroma characteristics will ultimately diversify the flavors being offered to consumers and move the needle in the right direction.
But we’re not here to wax poetic about our own hop philosophies. We want to hear and learn from actual brewers who have a demonstrated track record of navigating the high seas of hops to try to understand from their perspectives how best to ride the roaring breakers of today’s craft-beer industry. With their shared insights, we hope that others might catch wind in their sails to propel them toward calmer waters and the bright future that craft beer still has on the horizon.
Agostino Arioli, a pioneer in the Italian craft-beer scene enjoys a Che Figata at the Pils Pride festival in Lurago Marinone, a municipality located about 20 miles northwest of Milan. Courtesy Sunriver Brewing
Sunriver Brewing Company
Since 2014, the team at Sunriver Brewing in Sunriver, Oregon, led by brewers Brett Thomas and Patrick Raasch, has championed strong ties to their community and a constant commitment to brewing the highest quality award-winning beers. Sunriver Brewing has twice earned Brewing Company and Brewer of the Year honors at the Great American Beer Festival and multiple Brewery of the Year titles across Oregon. Every pint poured reflects their passion for quality and the spirit of the Pacific Northwest, maintaining a great love and respect for the mountains, forest, rivers, lakes, and the amazing staff that make it all possible.
Never resting on their laurels, they continue to pursue excellence across all categories, and innovation is a key part of that pursuit. “Sometimes innovation is driven by supply issues,” Patrick says. “For example, we’ve found traditional European lager hops have been more variable as drought and extreme heat put pressure on those growing regions, leading us to look harder at U.S.-developed and U.S.-grown varieties. We’ve found hops like Lórien and Mt. Hood are excellent options, whether in a crushable light lager (Coolwater Lager) or a more hop-forward lager like Che Figata (Italian pils) where Lórien plays a lead role.” In 2024 Sunriver won Silver at GABF for Che Figata and followed that with a Gold in 2025 at the Oregon Beer Awards, and they share the recipe here.
Domestic Hops That Shine in Lager
It’s important to us that we support the evolving lager-focused segments of the craft market that broaden interest in craft beer as a whole, and hops such as Lórien and Mt. Hood carry the unique “architecture” that supports classic lager beer—low-alpha, no harsh resin character to interfere with malt and fermentation flavors, pleasant nonaggressive aroma, and a classy hop finish that is catchy and dry but doesn’t take over the beer. Oregon excels as a hop-growing region in its unique ability to produce the kind of low-alpha, low-oil hops that exhibit that special “architecture.” If the Hallertau is Germany’s darling lager hop–growing region, then certainly Oregon is the United States’. While imported hops are still an excellent and viable option for traditional lager brewing, there is an incredible group of domestic hop varieties that are extremely well-suited for brewing distinct lagers with a uniquely American craft-beer sensibility. Why not quench the thirsts of diverse palates of lager lovers—those who know and love the classic Czech and German styles and those who want a crisp, clean, balanced lager with more modern hop flavors?
Other Half Brewing Company
In 2014, Other Half Brewing was founded in Brooklyn, New York, by Sam Richardson, Matt Monahan, and Andrew Burman with a simple mission: to create beer that they wanted to drink from a company that they wanted to be a part of. Their vision was to push the boundaries of beer and the culture that surrounds it by representing the “other half” of the industry. Since opening their first taproom in 2014, they've been dedicated to the evolution of the local brewery. They’ve built a loyal following, exciting their customer base with big IPAs and pastry stouts and expanding to eight locations across New York, as well as a location in Washington, D.C., and in Philadelphia. Each location is rooted in the local community and offers unique beers, merchandise, and experiences. Their taprooms create spaces for real-world relationships to grow and always leave room for innovation to take them in new directions.
However, innovation can be challenging in these times. As Sam says, “The market has definitely evolved and been challenging for a while now. Consumers who aggressively sought out and consumed IPAs seem to have continued to evolve, opening up the possibility for more style diversity again, allowing us a little more room to experiment. IPA still generates the most consumer interest for Other Half, but from a hop standpoint, we’re more interested in varieties that contribute a unique set of flavors in a way that helps us create new beers that we love. For example, Luminosa contributes a desirable fruitiness without a sharp resinous component, so we can combine Luminosa with more resinous hops and keep the resin character in check.”
Unique Attributes Bring Versatility
When we launched Luminosa in 2022, there were already plenty of citrusy/tropical hop varieties available, but many were in the overripe-fruit zone and carried more resinous or diesel-type characteristics. The bright, fresh-fruit attributes of Luminosa were special and provided a unique set of flavors that brewers quickly latched onto; and unlike most “punchy” hops, Luminosa was almost completely devoid of the resinous/piney character that usually comes along for the ride—adding to the versatility of this hop and giving us the confidence to commercialize it. Being a moderate alpha hop (9–12 percent), Luminosa is versatile enough to wade in the waters of many different beer styles, not just those of hazy or West Coast IPA. We’ve watched in amazement as brewers have even used Luminosa in more easy-drinking styles such as Kölsch, hefeweizen/wheat ale, blonde/golden ale, pale ale, and even ciders.
Perhaps our most versatile hop to date, Audacia is an offspring of Strata that averages around 6–8 percent alpha and delivers bold flavor and aroma in IPA—even when paired with high-alpha hops. We took to calling this hop a “sassy noble” because of its low-alpha Hersbrucker Pure heritage, but don’t let the “noble” part fool you—the sassy Strata comes through loud and clear! While it’s often helpful to categorize, pigeon-holing a hop based on its alpha percentage and aroma characteristics on the rub alone may cause one to overlook an impactful hop. Avoiding this natural tendency is a key aspect of innovation by continually challenging the status quo; so in a landscape that has been dominated by high-alpha and more concentrated flavor, perhaps bigger isn’t always better.
Odell Brewing Company
Founded in 1989, Odell Brewing was started by Doug Odell, his wife Wynne, and his sister Corkie. More than 30 years later, the culture of family and collaboration still thrives, fostering a brewery full of beer-centric people. It is this passion for beer that inspires Odell Brewing to continuously create quality, hand-crafted, innovative brews at their flagship brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado, and their two small-batch brewhouses in Denver. Odell Brewing is employee-owned and committed to its independence for generations to come, with experimentation and innovation at the heart of their brewing philosophy.
That thirst for innovation led to them to pilot brewing with Strata in its early stages of development. “I was absolutely blown away by the overall hop-aroma intensity of Strata the first time we brewed with it on our pilot system,” says COO Brendan McGivney. “I was immediately struck by the intense fruit-forward profile, and it had just the right amount of cannabis-like funk. I was very excited when Strata graduated to commercial production so we could feature it in our seasonal Wolf Picker series, and ultimately, in our year round Mountain Standard IPA.”
For a brewery that’s been around as long as Odell, innovation requires a delicate balancing of different consumer preferences from multiple generations of craft-beer drinkers. Fortunately for Odell, they’ve become quite adept at striking that balance, and as Brendan says, “Staying focused on our home state of Colorado has been hugely important. Building the Denver Five Points brewhouse in 2017 and then Sloan’s Lake in 2020 helps keep our finger on the pulse and supports our culture of experimentation and ongoing efforts to improve.”
Charting a Course beyond the “Holy Trinity”
With IPA still driving the bulk of consumer interest in craft beer, varieties such as our flagship hop, Strata, and our newest release, Audacia, can provide brewers and consumers alike with the opportunity to explore novel sets of tasting profiles that fall outside the realm of the fantastic, but familiar, characteristics of the “holy trinity” hop blend of Citra, Mosaic, and Simcoe. Replacing any one of those three varieties (or even creating completely new hop blends) with either Strata, Audacia, or another exciting new variety can open up incredible depths of enticing flavor and aroma qualities that feel fresh for consumers and broaden the reach of craft beer to bring new folks into the fold.
We encourage all of you to raise anchor and chart a course for the future of craft beer. As the old adage goes, “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” And wherever the winds may take you, never forget… Life is short. Let’s make it flavorful.