The Hop Chronicles | Vic Secret (2017) Pale Ale

Author: Marshall Schott

Hailing from the southern Australian state of Victoria, the aptly named Vic Secret was originally developed in 2000 with the first commercial harvest occurring in 2013. Similar to other Australian varieties, Vic Secret developed a reputation for its high alpha acid and an oil composition that imparts beer with pungent tropical fruit and pineapple notes as well as some spice and pine.

Alpha: 14 – 17%
Beta: 6.1 – 7.8%
Cohumulone: 51 – 56%
Total Oil: 2.2 – 2.8 mL/100g
Myrcene: 38 – 41%
Humulene: 12 – 21%
Caryophyllene: 11 – 15%
Farnesene: 0 – 1%
Linalool: 0.2 – 0.6%
Geraniol: unknown
ß-Pinene: unknown
Parentage: Australian high alpha acid female and English male developed at Wye College

Since its release, I’d heard some good things about Vic Secret, though for one reason or another I never picked any up, despite the fact some were comparing it to its Australian mate, Galaxy. It wasn’t until a recent trip to Yakima during hop harvest that my interest in this relatively novel variety was piqued. Jeff Perkins from Yakima Valley Hops had plenty of good to say about it and hooked me up with some to see what blind tasters would think of beer hopped only with Vic Secret!

| MAKING THE BEER |

In order to keep the hop character the main focus, I went with a very simple Pale Ale recipe.

Vic Secret Pale Ale

I threw together a starter of Imperial A07 Flagship Yeast a couple days before brewing.

The following evening, I filtered the full volume of water then proceeded to weigh out and mill the simple grain bill.

I woke up the following morning to strike water that was perfectly heated due to having my heat stick set to turn on a couple hours earlier.

My daughter, Olive, helped me incorporate the grains into the brewing liquor.

Thanks to BeerSmith’s accurate calcuations, I easily hit my target mash temperature.

At 15 minutes in, I checked my mash pH.

When the 60 minute mash was complete, I collected the sweet wort in my trusty graduated bucket.

I poured the wort into my kettle and began heating it up, weighing out the hops while I waited for it to reach a boil.

I let the wort boil for 30 minutes and added hops at the times listed in the recipe.

When the abbreviated boil was complete, I quickly chilled the wort to slightly warmer than my groundwater temperature.

A refractometer measurement confirmed the wort was right at my target OG.

After transferring 5.5 gallons/21 liters of wort to a Brew Bucket, I placed it in my chamber to finish chilling to my desired fermentation temperature.

With the temperature stabilized at 66°F/19°C a couple hours later, I pitched the yeast. Fermentation took off within 8 hours and was active for the following 4 days. Noticing reduced activity 5 days post-pitch, I added the dry hop charge and raised the temperature to 72˚F/23˚C to encourage complete attenuation. After another 5 days, I took a hydrometer measurement indicating FG had been reached.

The beer was then cold crashed overnight, fined with gelatin, then racked to a keg.

The keg was placed in my cool keezer where it was burst carbonated for 15 hours before I reduced the gas to serving pressure. Following a few days of additional cold conditioning, the beer was ready to serve to participants.

| METHOD |

Participants were instructed to focus only on the aromatic qualities of the beer before evaluating the flavor. For each aroma and flavor descriptor, tasters were asked to write-in the perceived strength of that particular characteristic on a 0-9 scale where a rating of 0 meant they did not perceive the character at all and a rating of 9 meant the character was extremely strong. Once the data was collected, the average rating of each aroma and flavor descriptor was compiled and analyzed.

| RESULTS |

A total of 19 people participated in the evaluation of this beer, all blind to the hop variety used until after they completed the survey. The average aroma and flavor ratings for each descriptor were plotted on a radar graph.

Average Ratings of Aroma and Flavor Perceptions

The 3 characteristics endorsed as being most prominent by participants:

The 3 characteristics endorsed as being least prominent by participants:

Participants were then asked to rate the pungency of the overall hop character.

Next, they were instructed to identify beer styles they thought the hop would work well in.

Finally, tasters were asked to rate how much they enjoyed the hop character on a 1 to 10 scale.

My Impressions: I had a hunch when measuring out kettle additions on brew day that I was going to enjoy Vic Secret in a simple Pale Ale, and I was not wrong, this beer was delicious! I experienced the aroma as being very tropical, like the smell I get when walking up to a fruit stand in Hawaii to grab a cup of fresh ripe papaya, mango, and pineapple. Unlike some hops, the flavor was largely similar, very little spice to my palate, just a clean fruitiness that made for a very pleasant drinking experience.

| CONCLUSION |

Does the fact a relatively new hop from Down Under is chock full of pungent tropical fruit goodness surprise anyone? With the popularity of varieties like Galaxy and New Zealand’s Nelson Sauvin, I’ve personally come to expect as much from the hop developers in these regions.

Based on the data from blind participants and my own personal experience with Vic Secret, I’m a bit surprised it hasn’t received more attention, as it really does seem to hit so many marks– high alpha acid levels for solid bitterness along with pungent tropical fruit and citrus aromas that follow through in the flavor. And it costs quite a bit less than other similar varieties, to boot.

Vic Secret is a great hop that would likely do as well in a light Blonde Ale as it would a big Double IPA, contributing a beautifully balanced blend of fruit characteristics. The secret is out– Vic Secret is a great hop that I’m excited to have discovered and look forward to using  much more of in the future!

Vic Secret is available now in various package sizes at Yakima Valley Hops, get them while you can! If you have any thoughts on this variety, please feel free to share them in the comments section below.

Support for The Hop Chronicles comes from Yakima Valley Hops, suppliers of over 40 varieties of hops ranging from classics like Saaz and Cascade to yet-to-be-named experimental options fresh from the source. Offering great prices with reasonable shipping, consider Yakima Valley Hops for your next hop purchase.

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