The Hop Chronicles | Delta (2014) Pale Ale

Author: Marshall Schott

Following the last edition of The Hop Chronicles looking at Eureka hops, I was contacted by Bill Elkins from Hopsteiner who said he had a relatively new variety he thought homebrewers would enjoy called Delta and asked if we’d be interested in putting it to the test.

Alpha: 5.5 – 7.0%
Beta: 5.5 – 7.0 %
Cohumulone: 22 – 24% of alpha acids
Total Oil: 0.5 – 1.1% vol/wt
Myrcene: 25 – 40%
Humulene: 30 – 40%
Caryophyllene: 9 – 5%
Farnesene: < 1%
Linalool: 0.8 – 1.2%
Parentage: cross between Cascade and Fuggles

I’d never actually heard of this hop before, which made using it all the more exciting. Delta is a cross between 2 of the world’s most beloved classic hops, Cascade and Fuggles. Described as imparting a mild spicy character and a hint of citrus, it certainly sounded like a hop homebrewers would love!

| MAKING THE BEER |

The hops arrived at my house on a Friday and, wanting them to be as fresh as possible, I decide to brew with them the next day. I got a somewhat later start than usual as my wife needed the right lighting to take photos for a rad project she was working on. I mashed in and hit the target temp of 151°F for our THC Pale Ale recipe.

After a 60 minute rest that included a couple swift stirs of the mash, I collected the sweet wort in my kettle where it met a mound of first wort Delta hops.

Since this was an unplanned brew day, I did not make a yeast starter beforehand, but rather used the vitality starter method to ensure a healthy fermentation.

Once the boil was complete, it was time to chill the wort to the target hop stand temperature of 170°F, at which point I cut the flow of water to my IC and added the generous portion Delta hops, allowing them to steep for 20 minutes.

The aroma while steeping certainly was unique, not nearly as in-your-face as other hops I’ve used, but pleasant nonetheless, making me all the more curious how this hop would end up coming through in the finished beer. Following the hop stand rest, I chilled the wort as cool as my warm groundwater would take it, which was 85°F.

The wort was racked to a 6 gallon PET carboy and placed in a cool chamber to finish chilling to my target fermentaiton temp of 66°F. This took approximately 3 hours, which meant the vitality starter I’d previously made had been spinning almost exactly 4 hours and was ready to pitch. Signs of activity were noticed within a few hours of pitching the yeast and fermentation went off without a hitch, reaching target FG in 5 days. I added the dry hop charge and let it sit 48 hours before crashing overnight, fining with gelatin, and kegging the beer. After 18 hours at 40 psi in my keezer, I purged and reduce the pressure to 13 psi. The beer was beautifully carbonated and nearly bright when I began presenting it to participants a few days later.

| METHOD |

Learning from the first experience, some small changes to the data collection method were made for this iteration of The Hop Chronicles. Rather than having tasters rank different aroma and flavor characteristics on a Likert scale, they were first asked whether or not they perceived the characteristic; when a taster endorsed “yes,” they were taken to a page instructing them to write-in the perceived strength of that characteristic on a scale of 1-9 (weak to strong), while “no” selections skipped over the ranking page altogether and moved to the next characteristic. The main reason behind this change is we wanted to reduce the chances of participants assigning an erroneous rank on the Likert scale merely because the option existed, despite not really perceiving the characteristic in the beer. Once the data was collected, the average ranking of each aroma and flavor descriptor was compiled, with all “no” responses being assigned a rank of 0.

| RESULTS |

In total, 19 people evaluated this beer including BJCP judges, experienced homebrewers, and committed craft beer drinkers. All participants were informed of the general purpose of The Hop Chronicles and instructed to take their time first evaluating the aroma then flavor characteristics of the beer. They remained blind to the hop variety used throughout the evaluation. The average rankings 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:

Tasters were also asked about the pungency/strength of the hop. Of the 19 participants, 9 (47%) endorsed moderate, 6 (32%) perceived it as being strong, and 4 (21%) felt it was mildly pungent.

The last question asked tasters to indicate the beer styles they thought this hop would work best for. The majority mentioned styles not necessarily known for being hop bombs such as Blonde Ale, Cream Ale, pale lager styles, and even Brown Ale. However, the single most popular beer style participants thought this hop would work well in was American Pale Ale, noted by 7 tasters, 9 if we include the 2 who mentioned Session IPA.

My Impressions: I evaluated this beer prior to data collection so as to avoid being biased by the responses of the participants. My first thought upon initially tasting this beer is that it didn’t much resemble either of the the hops it was derived from, both of which I thoroughly enjoy. Rather than the rather easily identifiable floral/grapefruit I get from Cascade or the earthy/mushroom goodness from Fuggles that makes Tiny Bottom Pale Ale so tasty, what I perceived most from Delta was a honeydew melon character. People talk about the impression of sweetness hops can impart, this beer had it in heaps, though it was drastically different than what I get from other “sweet” hops like Mosaic and even EKG. Underneath the melon was a pleasant ripe tropical fruit note with a subtle hint of citrus zest in the finish. Personally, I experienced this hop as being mild to moderate in terms of pungency, particularly given the amount used and how much of the malt character came through in the finished beer. For my tastes, I’d likely not use this hop alone again, though I think it’d be fantastic in lighter styles such as American Wheat, Blonde Ale, and even Kölsch, as well as complimenting more pungently fruity hops in hoppier styles.

It should be noted that my impressions are slightly biased as I am not the biggest fan of honeydew melon.

| CONCLUSION |

While Delta is a hop noted as imparting mild spice, the results of this evaluation seem to indicate otherwise, with tasters perceiving tropical fruit as being the strongest aroma and flavor characteristic and spicy/herbal falling fairly low on the list. Citrus was endorsed often as well. The generally moderate pungency of this hop may make it perfect for applications in lighter ales and lagers, though it would likely mesh well with other more potent varieties in hop forward styles, providing a soft touch of ripe fruit and melon. Overall, Delta is a unique hop variety certainly deserving of more attention!

If you’ve used this hop before, please share your experiences with it in the comments section below! If you’re interested in trying Delta hops for yourself, you can purchase them online from MoreBeer and Yakima Valley Hops.

Support for this edition of The Hop Chronicles comes from Hopsteiner, a leading grower,
trader, and processor of high quality beer hops since 1845.

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