Hop Notes 13: American Public Hops Want You!
Expert analysis to help you make better hop decisions.
Public hops impact all of us in the craft beer industry.
The American public hop breeding program has a storied history introducing the flavors that defined the American craft beer revolution. We get to enjoy Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Bell’s Two Hearted because of it. It is primarily a scientific breeding endeavor - which I cover that process in depth in Hop Notes 03. I highly recommend you read or listen to issue 03 as a companion piece to this one, it answers “The What” of public hops.
Hop Notes 13 is all about “The Why”. Why you should support American public hops. Whether you are a brewer, a farmer, a merchant, a breeder or just generally someone interested in the hop market at large - public hops benefit you!
Brewers
Choices can be powerful, but they require the ability to correctly pick and choose. Public hops are available from any supplier, any farmer, anywhere. This creates almost limitless variations and expressions which means they can pose a challenge to brewers without experience using them*. Brewers have perhaps an overwhelming amount of options in the free and open public hop marketplace.
Brewers can shop and compare; pricing, availability, and purchase terms from any hop farm or merchant. This diversity of supply also opens up the opportunity for you to explore distinctions in aroma and flavor profiles across farms, picking windows, geographies and more. Terroir anyone? Study up and impress and delight your audience by expertly wielding the varied expressions from a diversity of public hops in your next beer!
And while you are on your way to becoming a level 99 hop wizard - save money! Due to the open and competitive marketplace, public hops can often be found at great prices. Cost savings are especially important as craft beer faces headwinds in the market. Smart brewers shave down their COGS by mixing public hops into hop bills.
One final benefit to call out here: competition. Imagine for a minute there’s only one hop seller. They’d be able to charge substantially high prices to brewers being the only player in the market. A strong public hop market checks that hypothetical anti-competitive monopolistic marketplace by being freely tradable.
Public hops might not be “easy button” hops, but the rewards are worth it; more creative and unique hop expressions, a closer connection to your supplier, and even some tidy cost savings. These are some of the reasons why many of the most respected breweries in the country are deeply engaged with American public hops through groups like the Hop Research Council and the Hop Quality Group. You can join these organizations or participate in trials of experimental public hops to support their efforts!
Farmers
When it comes to public hops farmers can choose. Any farmer, anywhere, without any sort of licensing agreement or approvals can plant public hops. Farmers can choose to sell public hops to whomever they want at a freely negotiated price. Farmers can choose how to grow, when to harvest, and how to process public hops.
This cascade (hah) of choices represents independence for hop farmers. With public hops farmers are striking it out on their own, selling their prowess in growing and quality of final product in a relatively free and open marketplace.
The hop market is in a downturn and American hop farmers in WA, OR, and ID are facing huge cuts in supply contracts from proprietary hop owners. Public hops can be a life raft. Lost 30% of acreage? Perhaps there is an opportunity to pivot into some public varieties to help keep the bills paid. The strength of this life raft is reliant upon the strength of demand for public varieties.
While a life raft and source of independence for PNW growers, public hops are virtually the only varieties available for non-PNW growers. Most proprietary hop owners do not make them available to growers in MN or NY for example. New public releases, such as Vista, are critical for regional and small growers across America. Smaller growers who collectively introduce resiliency by creating local supply chains and terroir discoveries through a diverse geography of growing - contributions that are often overlooked by the larger market. Small growers rely on public hops.
I’m a die-hard farmer advocate. Supporting independence for hop farmers, providing a stronger life raft for farmers in tough times, and making opportunity for growers across the country are my biggest motivating factors in advocating for public hops.
Merchants
Stop me if you’ve heard this before - public hops give merchants choice! Any merchant can purchase and sell these hops, from any farmer for any negotiated price. No licensing or distribution agreements required.
With public hops merchants operate independently, testing their knowledge of market conditions, skill in assessing quality, and ability to manage supply agreements to compete in the hop market. This level of autonomy can lead to opportunity for a larger number of merchants to participate in the hop market, more competition, ultimately making for a more healthy marketplace for everyone.
Breeders
The public hop breeding program’s job is not just to release new public varieties, equally important is the program’s role in developing better hop genetics. The program generates plant material which increases the number of genetic options (again, with the choices) available to all breeders.
Besides whole new varieties the program is also breeding for stand outs in disease or pest resistance, yield, alpha levels, oil compositions, harvest windows, cone size or shape, training habit, heat or drought resiliency, and more!
Public hop stock is often used by private breeding programs to advance their breeding efforts. Some of the most successful private varieties have public parentage. The knowledge that the public breeding program creates benefits all hop varieties.
The Market
Back in the B.C. (Before Citra®️) times when the US hop market was almost entirely public hop varieties, supply and demand cycled roughly every 7 years in a relatively predictable pattern. In that public dominated market competitiveness was high. As demonstrated above, when the various actors in the marketplace are all free to exercise a great amount of choice a more competitive overall marketplace can exist. This benefits brewers, farmers, marketers, and all of us participating in the hop and beer industries.
Are you ready to make some choices? Here are a few opportunities for you to choose to support American Public Hops:
Buy public hops*
Trial Experimental Public Hops
Join and support the Hop Research Council
Join and support the Hop Quality Group
Connect to local hop growers’ organizations in your State or region
Going to CBC 2024? Attend "The Next Great Hop”
*If the challenge of public hops has you shook - feel free to reach out to me, nothing I love more than helping public hops find good homes.
More hop content:
Farewell Medusa: Claire from CLS Farms blogs on HopTalk.Live about the story of Medusa hops coming to a close.
Charles Faram Podcast Returns: Spreading Hoppiness is back, episode 17 features interviews with UK hop farmer Richie Phillips.
New Carbon-Efficient Alpha King: Helios™️ was named and released by Hopsteiner - with this nice Instagram-blog post about the history of leading up to this new top alpha, low input hop.
See you at CBC 2024: I’m literally floored to be sharing the stage at “The Next Great Hop” session with Dr. Altendorf and Dr. Henning, our USDA breeders, Alicia Adler of HRC and Daniel Sharp of HQG. Come hang out and sniff some experimental hops.
Thanks for reading Hop Notes 13. 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.