“Salmon-Safe Certified” read the cardboard box that had just arrived at now-closed Brick Brewery in south-east London, dropped unceremoniously by a courier. Neither I nor the Brick team could fathom what that meant—I’d later learn that it’s a certification that agricultural products in the Pacific Northwest are grown to standards that help protect wild Pacific salmon—but we knew there was something exciting inside.

This was July 2019, and I was brewing a collaboration with Brick as one of the first brews in my nascent brewing project, Queer Brewing. The salmon-safe box on the floor of the brewery contained the UK’s first shipment of new US hop Strata that had been shipped straight from Oregon, ready to be added to the whirlpool later that day. I’d heard little of Strata (commercially released in America in 2018), though what I did know was that it was an exciting new variety, bursting with passionfruit and peach.

Strata has become much more of a household name in comparison to its early breakout star status. Though what are the most famous American hops? Of those released on or before the turn of the 21st Century, we’re looking at Cascade, Centennial, and Simcoe; for those pre-2010 it’s Amarillo, Citra, and Mosaic—with the latter two arguably taking the top spots. But what of hops released after 2010?

“Since Citra and Mosaic, from that period of time on, I feel Strata’s the one hop that is the most iconic,” says Siren Craft Brew founder Darron Anley. “I think the impact of the hop itself has stayed very, very constant. It's its uniqueness, too, I think, and that same punchy flavour has stayed utterly reliable. Whereas I don't think that's always been the case for some of the other hops that have come out since.”

But where did this young powerhouse of a hop come from? Well, Oregon, via hop merchant Indie Hops.

“Jim [Solberg, founder of Indie Hops] hooked us up with X331, which was its experimental name, about six months before we released our 3-Way IPA with Great Notion and Reubens Brews, which was the first release of Strata,” says Michal Frankowicz, head brewer at Fort George Brewery in Astoria, Oregon. “We didn’t know that they were trialling new hops, but Jim let us know, like ‘Hey, this one's coming down the line, it seems pretty interesting, and we're actually really, really excited,’ and they tossed us a 44lb, or 20kg, box. We were just blown away and how in-depth this one hop could be.”

This experimental batch on Fort George’s 10hL brewpub kit was named No Pulp for its incredible resemblance to fresh orange juice. “It just had every orange fruit character you could ever think of,” continues Michal. “Sweet, sweet orange; a little bit of bitter peel; a little bit of the pith; candied orange. It was just fantastic.”

A few months later, Fort George released 2017’s 3-Way IPA—every year this annual release is a collaboration with two different breweries, using different hops—heavily showcasing Strata. Although there was only enough of that year’s crop for two other local breweries to brew with. One year later, Strata was everywhere.

“Once they grew enough to make it everywhere, it was hitting every can or bottle,” Michal says. “You were just seeing every beer starting to come out with it, and beers using it time and time and time again. Now, it is just like an old standby these days. People see it on a beer board, they trust the beer is going to be good, because it has Strata, no different than Citra or Mosaic.”

““We were just blown away and how in-depth this one hop could be.””

— Michal Frankowicz, Fort George Brewery

“It's so full of flavour that you just know you're not going to be disappointed—it's one of those hops that you see and you go ‘Fuck it, I'm going to get that beer.’ Why wouldn't I, it's going to be fucking good’”, says Jethro Duarte-Holman, Southern UK sales manager for Loughran Brewers Select, who import Strata and other Indie Hops products into the UK. “I can't think of another hop that has had the same level of excitement, and the same level of aroma and flavour.”

Strata’s popularity is, in part, due to its incredible tropical, citrus, and berry characteristics. Beloved for its passionfruit and peach notes, it can also present dank weed, diesel, grape, orange, or the freshest strawberry. Strata can also be an excellent tool to showcase the effect of terroir on the flavour of a beer—the hop’s grown at a few farms in the Willamette and Yakima valleys in Oregon and Washington, respectively: Goschie Farms (where Fort George buys huge volumes of fresh Strata,) Crosby Hops, Coleman Agriculture, F&B Farms, Fobert Farms, BC Hop Farms, B&D Farms, and Sodbuster Farms, all in Oregon, and Roy Farms in Washington.

“I think the fun thing is knowing where your Strata is coming from, because by region, it's going to be a completely different hop,” Michal tells me. “Currently we're getting our fresh Strata from Goschie Farms, which is usually known for having more strawberry character and a little bit of a peach. Whereas Crosby can be a little more of the marijuana/diesel character. Coleman is kind of toeing the lines of that candied citrus with a little bit of strawberry behind it; usually Roy Farms will get a little sharper Strata, more pine resin. Knowing what you're getting—it's not just Strata, no matter who grows it.”

For Jethro, this variation from farm to farm can be both a blessing and a curse. “I sometimes see people being like ‘oh fuck, 2022 Strata was my favorite Strata!’” he says. “Whereas in my head, it's probably the case that they had ‘22 Strata from this farm and now they’ve got ‘24 Strata from that farm, and both years were good.”

“The main difference in terroir is that in Washington you’re up a drier mountain and in Oregon you’re in a wetter valley,” Michal adds.

A year after Fort George released the first commercial recipe to include Strata, Indie Hops began broadening grower relationships to increase the hop’s acreage. They brought F&B on board that year, followed by Fobert a year later, and in 2021 BC, B&D, and Sodbuster planted rows of Strata in their hop fields.

“I think the reason Strata took off originally is that agronomically it's one of the best there is,” Jethro explains. “The picking window is so early that it's the first thing to come out, so it doesn't clash with a lot of the others, which is really great. It also means you need less pesticide, less effort, less water, less irrigation. Agronomically, it's the absolute bomb.”

This eagerness from farmers is driven by and reflected in a growing demand from breweries. Jethro explains how this hop contracting year, the contracting rate itself has increased significantly as the hop’s made the shift from an exciting new variety to a reliably characterful and impactful part of their arsenal.

“In terms of general brewing uses, it's part of brewers’ full process now. It's not just an exciting new thing, which I think is nice to settle into,” he says.

Despite being a relatively high alpha acid hop, part of its popularity is due to its versatility. “It's a really good companion hop, but also stands on its own two feet if need be,” says Michal. “And that allows it to be used in the hot side, whether it's boil additions or whirlpool additions, or different stages of dry hop at the start of fermentation.”

“With all the different variations and lots you can use it for a lot of different styles of beer,” he says, “from a lager to a dry-hopped mixed culture beer. We can get a lot of Strata that tastes like [popular sweets] Peach O’s, so you could really boost the peach character if you're using peach puree by using Strata. It's very, very versatile.”

““Since Citra and Mosaic, from that period of time on, I feel Strata’s the one hop that is the most iconic.””

— Darron Anley, Siren Craft Brew

One key focus at Fort George has been in experimenting with how various applications and tweaks to recipes will bring out different characteristics—particularly with the pH balance at different parts of the brewing process.

“I think it started clicking when all the hazy IPAs really started coming out,” he explains. “The yeast strains used for these ferment at a pretty low pH compared to US05, Cali ale, or any ESB strain—they're usually finishing fermentation around 4.1pH. When I was drinking these hazy IPAs, you could notice how soft the hop profile was.”

Michal and his team started experimenting with other different yeast strains, but soon realised the yeast wasn’t the only part of the process to affect the hop character. “We noted that if we were hitting a certain pH when hopping, then we were getting a different flavour profile out of it. The hops can do that, no doubt about it, but I think hitting the right pH can also create another tropical environment where it's not pulling as much as astringency through.”

During Fort George’s collaboration with Siren for this year’s Time Hops project, pH became a main focus of the recipe, with Siren introducing quite significant tweaks to the acidification, along with a different malt bill, lighter colour, and boil time—all to bring about a softer, juicier, and brighter hop presentation.

“We always measure pH through the process and monitor it, but we have tried some new adjustments in this beer to try to help with the softer mouthfeel and not extract any astringent character from the hops,” says Siren’s head brewer Sean Knight. “We didn't add any hops to the kettle until the pH was at 5.1pH. After the dry hop (which is pretty huge over 3 additions) we should end at 4.55.”

“What we're going for is that darker tropical fruit with some resin carrying through,” adds Darron. “Some people talk about strawberry, and I have had some Strata beers where you maybe get a little bit of that, but that's not necessarily what we're aiming for. We're going for more of that big dark fruit, with tropical fruit, resin, and cannabis character really coming through and balancing it all out.”

From an outside perspective, it’s often easy to feel that creativity in brewing has petered out to some degree—after all, there can’t be many more new beer styles left to be developed, and those that do, such as the short-lived Brut UPA, don’t always stick around—and long may the ouroboros continue to question whether brewers are too hung up on New England-style IPA or if it’s the market’s unending obsession with soft and juicy hazebois that crowds taplists and overwhelms palates.

But one particularly fascinating field of development is lined with tall rows of hop bines, with new breeds, products, and their applications across a range of beer styles: with changing climates hop breeding programmes are working on more future-proofed varieties; hop merchants and scientists are developing more economical and high-yielding hop products; and apparent wonder hops like Strata are being released that shake up the monolith that is Citra and Mosaic’s stronghold across the craft brewing sector.

“I think Strata excites me from a place of it being a point of difference in a really ubiquitous world of beer that has existed for quite a bit,” Jethro says. “I think it feels like a moment where people are going ‘Fuck yeah, you can let your core range have other shit in it!’ I don't think two years ago we would be having conversations like this.”

“In music, it's just nice to have a band around that’s just different. And I think Strata has been quite a bit of a kick to get things rolling and moving, and to just give a bit of variety and spice. I think that's what's really cool about it. It makes life nice.”

***

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