Hop Notes 12: The 88 Questions.
Expert analysis to help you make better hop decisions.
Is 88 too many? Maybe 30 would have been more reasonable. But, 1. hops aren’t reasonable and, 2. if I were a brewer I would ask all of these questions of my suppliers. 88 Questions for your Hop Suppliers it is.
Few of these questions are “yes/no”. Many of these questions do not have “correct” answers, each answer is an opportunity to learn and ask more. As a customer, you deserve a response to all these questions. What you do with the answers is up to you.
My goal is that these questions can help you and your brewery get better hops, better prices, better understand what it is you are getting, and overall make better hop decisions.
My hope is that this content is a resource you can save and return to as needed. To that end, the 88 questions of this issue are also available as a free downloadable, printable PDF at this link. (Enter your email and you’ll get the PDF, I haven’t built any sort of newsletter list for Sannerud Hop Consulting so I thought I would trade this content for your email, if you don’t think that is a fair trade, let me know and I’ll email you the PDF anyways.) Download it, print it out, laminate it, save it, study it, cherish it…etc…
88 Questions for your Hop Suppliers.
(Maybe don’t ask them all in the same email.)
General
How do you determine which lot I get when I place a spot order?
What lot of this variety is your favorite?
Can I control which lot I receive?
How many pounds of a single variety, or in total, do I need to purchase to be able to select hops with you?
How many growers do you source this variety from?
Is this product a blend of multiple lots of the same hop or just one single lot?
When during the harvest window were these hops harvested?
What was the dry matter in this lot at time of harvest?
Can I see the spray records for this lot?
What percent moisture was this lot in the bale?
Was that bale kept in a cooler or a freezer?
How hot did these pellets get during pelleting?
Who pelleted and packaged this lot?
What was the pellet density on this run of pellets?
How long did this lot sit in a bale before pelleting?
What’s the HSI on this lot?
How many pounds per shipment gets me shipping savings?
Do you pack in 11, 22, or 44lb bags?
What is your return/replacement policy?
Can I request an updated COA on this lot annually?
What do the UPC numbers mean on your packaging?
Where can I find the farm number on your labeling?
How can I find out which farm this lot came from?
Who owns this variety of hops?
How many other sellers sell this variety of hops?
How many acres of this variety of hops were grown last growing season?
What do you expect the acreage of this variety to do moving forward?
How did this variety grow this year?
How does this year’s crop compare to previous year’s crops?
How many pounds of this variety are available from past crop years?
New Varieties
How many acres of this new variety are in the ground?
How many acres are projected to be grown of this variety next year?
How are you supporting this new variety into the future?
Does your company or family of companies have an ownership interest in this new hop variety?
Are there other sellers of this new variety?
Enriched Hop Pellets
What is the ratio of lupulin to bract material in this enriched pellet?
What is your recommended rate for replacing traditional t90 pellets with this enriched pellet?
Is there a guideline on how much of my overall hop bill this enriched hop pellet can make up?
Where would I see the most yield gains when using this product, hot side or cold side?
Who grew the hops in this enriched pellet?
What crop year were the hops used from?
Is this product a blend of multiple lots of the same hop or just one single lot?
Who processed this enriched pellet?
What size packages are available for this product?
Hop Extracts
Besides hops, what else is in this product? Any Emulsifying aids, alcohol, stabilizers, natural flavors?
Can you provide a third party certificate of analysis for this product?
Was this product extracted from fresh, whole cone, or pellet hops?
How much Myrcene is in this product?
How many pounds of traditional t90 pellets does this product replace in my brew day?
What is the relative amount of hop extract to non-hop extract in this product?
What crop year were the hops from that went into this product?
Who grew the hops used in this product?
Is there more than 1 hop variety in this product? If so, can you list them all for me?
Is this product a blend of multiple lots of the same hop or just one single lot?
Does this product contain alphas? If so, how much?
What solvent was used to extract this product?
Will this product contribute haze to my finished product?
How have other brewers used this on the hot side?
How have other brewers used this on the cold side?
How much yield improvement can I expect when using this product?
Do you think this product will make my finished product taste better?
Do you have any case studies from other brewers that I could read and follow up with about their experience with this product?
What food safety and good manufacturing processes were followed in the creation of this product?
Who processed this product?
When was this product processed?
Is this product flowable at room temperature?
Will this product require additional cleaning of my vessels?
Is there any PPE required for safe handling of this product?
Can I recycle the container this product comes in?
What package sizes is this product available in?
Can this product be resealed and saved for later use?
How long is the shelf life for this product; opened and unopened?
Should I store this product in my cooler or is ambient temperature ok?
Business Operations
Who owns your company?
How large is your company?
How much of my dollar goes back to the farmers who grew the hops?
How many acres of hop production in America do you contract for?
How many hops that you sell do you grow yourself vs contract for?
How stable and secure is your company?
What happens to our contracted hops if your company closes tomorrow?
Am I allowed to re-sell my hops I have contracted with you on secondary markets?
What is your company’s plan to improve sustainability of operations and reduce your carbon footprint?
What is your company doing to combat racism, sexism, and transphobia in your workplace and communities you do work in?
How does your company treat the laborers that package my orders, process my hops, clean the offices…etc?
Sustainability
What is this hop’s yield?
How many pounds of C02 are emitted to grow and process 1 pound of this hop?
How many gallons of water does it take to grow 1 pound of this hop?
What, if any, efforts were made on the farm to reduce the use of chemical inputs, improve soil health, etc?
Remember, if you want a PDF of The 88 Questions go here.
More hop content:
The Bad Kind of Dry Hops: It’s been a dry growing season in New Zealand for Mac Hops where harvest has just gotten underway. It’s also been a dry winter season for the Yakima valley, CLS Farms reports.
Stats for Your Thoughts: The 2023 Statistical Report is now available from the Hop Growers of America. This report includes interpreted data from the 2023 USDA report and is a more thorough picture of where the hop market is at. (It’s oversupplied).
The Importance of Language: Word is out that a second round of hop acreage cuts are coming this crop year from major hop merchants. Probably 10,000 (18% of total), maybe 20,000 acres of aroma are being removed. Some of the coverage on this implies that hop farmers are directly responsible for the overage. A farmer can’t grow Eric’s Hop Company’s XYZ-123 hop without an agreement with Eric’s Hop Company, the power of ownership of a variety comes with the responsibility to manage supply of that variety. At the end of the day we all share a little of the blame for how the industry wound up in this long position, but please, when you are reading about the cuts, take a moment to consider the impact they have on our hop farmers. No farmers, no beer.
A Sign of What is to Come? Hop seller Willamette Valley Hops filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Notable in the documents, Willamette Valley Hops states that they expect to sell $6.5M of “hops, spices, and other products to earn about $200,000 in profit.” They probably won’t be the last hop industry player needing to restructure in the coming years.
Lupulin Exchange Fee Change: The Lupulin Exchange announced a new monthly fee for seller accounts that have a below 90% profile score - read more here. There are probably a buncha folks flocking to the secondary market as the effects of the hop oversupply become more widely known, how this impacts new sellers and others who have been selling on LEX will be interesting to watch.
Thanks for reading Hop Notes 12. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please consider subscribing or forwarding it to a friend.
That’s all for now. If you have topics you’d like to read about in Hop Notes my inbox is open 24/7: ericrsannerud@gmail.com.