Dreamlike
In collaboration with Hopsteiner, we’ve created Dreamlike – a Hazy IPA that could just be the beer of our dreams! Using new to us Alora and Solero hops, expect vibrant tropical notes from mango to aromatic yuzu alongside sweet peach and passionfruit flavours. On the nose, we also found soft, sweet honeydew melon and tasty flavours that made us feel nostalgic for Juicy Fruits chewing gum!
Tantalising, ethereal, yet magically within reach. Available now in cask, keg and 440ml can. Vegan friendly and, as always, gluten free.
Hopsteiner UK celebrated their 50th anniversary last year, although Hopsteiner as a whole has been going since 1845! The UK arm of the business has historically focused on the research side, and just like us, they’ve always been innovative – looking to push boundaries whilst staying true to their roots.
Guy from Hopsteiner joined us for the brewday and has shared his vast wealth of knowledge about these fantastic hops and why they work so well together. Alora is the predominant hop in terms of flavour, and Solero brings the aroma. Both hop varieties were used in the hopback, and were also added at the dry hop stage of the brew, and the combination of the two allows for the best depth of flavour and overall rounded character in the finished beer.
Here comes the science bit!
Alora is a hop which we’ve been very excited to use for some time now. It’s got a real uniqueness on the aroma, a “je ne sais quoi” if you will – which Guy tells us is due to the presence of an oil called Selinene. This is not commonly found in hops, usually only being present in certain exotic fruits such as yuzu. There are a number of as yet unidentified oils in there too which also make it distinctive and special – but that doesn’t mean it makes beers that are weird! Thanks to the work of Hopsteiner’s breeding programme, they’ve been able to meticulously identify a number of genetic markers in hops, enabling them to hybridise different varieties to get the traits they (and of course, us and our fellow brewers) are looking for. Not just in terms of exploring aroma patterns, but also in the somewhat less sexy sounding but incredibly important tolerance to disease. Sustainability and security of supply for years to come is increasingly necessary as we face climate change. The more Hopsteiner have learnt about genetic markers, the more confident they can be in the ability of the new hop plant varieties to survive, balanced alongside them having exemplary characteristics across aroma and flavour potential.
Also on the topic of how growing hops has needed to adapt to a changing world, Solero has come from a breeding programme based in Germany, which was initially focussed on drought tolerance. Predominantly grown by independent growers and supporting independent farming, Solero not only boasts consistent growing traits – very helpful to the famers – but also has OODLES of mango character (think of the ice cream that shares the name!). In common with other German hop varietals, it’s super versatile and can be used in a vast range of beer styles – from lagers, making best use of its noble characteristics, to rounding out pale ales fantastically. It holds a whole host of delicious flavours which aren’t too bold or punchy, but fill in the gaps and gel really well with other hops – especially something so tropical forward as Alora.
We used a hop product called Salvo to add the Solero, an extract with 10% oil which doesn’t contain the alpha pickup. This means you get a true representation of the hop variety, but with no added bitterness. As oils aren’t particularly volatile, they carry through into beer really efficiently, meaning we don’t need to add as much (just 2kg went in, which is the equivalent of 20kg of whole cone hops) but get just as much from them. Hopsteiner can also sell the alpha that’s been extracted as a separate product, reducing waste and meaning the Salvo can be kept more competitive on price – a win for the environment, a win for our business and a win for your pocket!
Guy and many of those who work for Hopsteiner are brewers themselves and so understand the needs of the brewers and what they want from a hop as well as what the growers need, with an emphasis on reliability and consistency. So this beer release can be seen as more than just a collaboration brew – it’s a collaboration across the whole industry. Hop growers respond to the changing conditions of the world and work cohesively. And for us, having some behind the scenes insight of what has gone into the ingredients we use is really valuable. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about them too!
A huge thank you to Guy and Hopsteiner for working with us on this project. As the name suggests, we reckon the beer is just dreamy!
