A fresh crop just landed in our cool store, so let’s talk about why you should shop with HPA to bag the best US hops in Australia and New Zealand. From experience, you know the flavour profile of US hops can differ from year-to-year and lot-by-lot. This is the reality when a large number of independent growers, spread across diverse geography, contribute to the yield of a single variety. Only a few Australian and New Zealand breweries are eligible for US hop selections, with the bulk of our market either contracting modest volumes or preferring to purchase on the spot market. Fortunately, the combined strength of HPA’s hop contracts and spot volumes means that we qualify for selections on behalf of all our brewing customers, big and small.
As regional representative of the global BarthHaas group, HPA’s seat at the John I. Haas selections table is also relatively early compared to our buying size. We’re not right at the front of the line, but we’re pretty close, which gives us the opportunity to select from high-quality lots that very few brewers get to see.
Haas have been growing hops in the Pacific Northwest for four generations. We currently supply a range of 26 different US hops, including 7 commercial releases and 3 experimental varieties from the Hop Breeding Company (HBC). HBC is a joint venture of Haas’, which means HPA have access to the best Citra®, Mosaic®, Sabro®, Ekuanot®, Talus™ and Krush™, supported by significant quantities. We also have access to the best El Dorado® because of Haas’ close relationship with CLS Farms.
Haas have been growing Citra® since 1990, when it was first crossed by their Head Breeder Gene Probasco. Haas bestowed the Citra® cultivar to HBC in 2005 when there was emerging brewer interest in a citrus variety. Haas Farm Manager Mark Sechser says there’s no one better positioned to grow a high-quality Citra® crop, “Our practice of propagation through vegetal cuttings ensures virus-free material and true-to-typeness from the time of deployment. You could say we’re growing customer confidence from the ground up.” Haas is anticipating their new farm Longmire Ranch, located in the nearby Wenas Valley, will yield some particularly high-quality hops. Sechser explains “It’s pristine ground that has never been planted with hops, and it’s isolated from the traditional Yakima growing region, so we’re excited about the aroma potential.”
Haas equips HPA with one of the most powerful supply chains in the Yakima Valley. In addition to their internal farms, agronomists and sensory experts, Haas has a team of hop buyers who are intimately connected with growers in the Pacific Northwest. Haas Vice President of Supply Chain Management and Purchasing Pete Mahony says “The close relationships we hold with our growers ensure we receive an accurate insight into quality outcomes as the crop comes into bale receival.” From there, Haas’ panel of 30 sensory experts profile every lot of hops processed over the course of harvest. “This prepares us to run a very disciplined and systematic selections process, where we use the specific aroma profiles we have developed for many of our customers to determine which lots we show them on arrival. When crop outcomes are great, this process is easy. On the flipside, when crop outcomes are sub-optimal for whatever reason, we get to flex our sensory muscles in search of the lot that makes their eyes light up. We have purposefully built relationships with a large cross-section of growers so we always have access to a great range of aromas regardless of whether it’s been a ‘good’ year or a ‘tough’ year in terms of crop outcomes.” says Mahony.
Each year, HPA invite a small group of valued customers to the Haas Innovation Centre in Yakima, Washington to help us source the very best US hops on behalf of Australia and New Zealand. Young Henrys Head Brewer Jesse Searls was part of this group in 2024, saying “It’s a privilege to be in Yakima selecting hops, but to be part of a group that is responsible for securing the very best material for hundreds of brewers back home is very humbling. The fact that HPA actively involve their customers in this process shows how much they value our preferences and opinions. Of course, having hop sensory rockstars, such as Chris Swersey, on our side of the table certainly doesn’t hurt either.”
HPA International Business Development Manager Chris Swersey explains “The selections process involves Haas presenting 5 to 7 bale core samples for each variety based on certain specifications and contract requirements.” According to Searls “Haas take selections really seriously, which instils confidence from the get-go. You can feel the focus in the room once lots start coming out for evaluation.”
At the beginning of selections, we review the lot data and flag anything that could be cause for concern. This includes any statistically high or low results across the key parameters of HSI, alpha content, oil content, and moisture content. Once we have a feel for the material on the table, the process is very similar to how a brewer would assess a beer. Initially, we focus on fault finding. This is a visual assessment where we look for irregularities like lots of leaf and stem or abnormal colouring, as well as a sensory assessment where we look for undesirable qualities such as cheesy, musty, or intense onion and garlic aromas. This process typically allows us to exclude around half the lots on the table.
Once we have the remaining 2 to 3 lovely, bright lots in front of us, the winners are determined based on whether they are true-to-type and overall preference. “These two components are incredibly important for HPA, as we are selecting for hundreds of brewing customers who each have certain expectations of their favourite US hops. Consistently meeting these expectations is mission critical to supporting our brewing customers’ success.” says Swersey. HPA then selects a sufficient quantity of the highest ranked lots to meet total demand in Australia and New Zealand. Often one lot is big enough to fulfil demand, sometimes we need 2 to 3 lots to fulfil demand. Other times we’ll blend two lots to create a more complex mix of sensory attributes we know brewers and drinkers value.
Selections began at a time when there were relatively few hop varieties, as a tool for large brewers to hold US suppliers accountable to a certain level of quality. Today, this level of quality should be expected from any supplier, and US selections have evolved into an industry-wide event that provides valuable feedback to suppliers and growers about which sensory characteristics are important to brewers, as well as helping educate brewers about the complexities of hop growing, processing, analysis and supply. This shared understanding has helped to build stronger relationships between brewers, suppliers and growers.
Searls says “My favourite thing about US hop selections is the ‘watering hole’ moment – that unique sense of community, safety and nourishment you feel when you’re sharing a beer with a bunch of like-minded people from around the world. It makes you realise that beer is a universal language, with a rich history that is intrinsically linked with who we are a species today. It’s just so cool!”
The Haas Innovation Centre is our home away from home during selections. It becomes a hive of activity with heaps of Haas employees happy to share their extensive knowledge over top-notch beers in their beautiful beer garden. Searls attended the Haas Hops Academy on the first day, saying it was “a nice balance of super technical elements and hands-on hop rubbing and blending. They actually held a competition where we were put into teams and tasked with creating the best beer and seltzer blends using Haas’ new liquid hop products. Controversially, my team was robbed of both titles thanks to some passionate lobbying of the voters by one Owen Johnston.” Searls says “Being in Yakima for selections feels like an intravenous injection of knowledge from so many smart people all working in the beer industry. The experience is invaluable. Of course, the social aspect is incredible too.”
HPA is confident that our ‘selected by brewers for brewers’ approach to curating our US portfolio yields the highest quality hops for our brewing customers in Australia and New Zealand, big and small.
Reach out to your HPA sales rep if you’d like to discuss US hops, the selection process, or forward contracting in more detail.
