The Hop Chronicles | Topaz (2020) Pale Ale

Author: Mike Neville

Originally created in 1985 by Hops Product Australia and later commercialized in 1997, Topaz is a high alpha hop with strong bittering potential that is also known to impart beer with desirable lychee, tropical fruit, and resinous characteristics.

Alpha: 13 – 18%
Beta: 6 – 7%
Cohumulone: ​​47 – 53% of alpha acids
Total Oil: 1.7 – 2.2 mL/100g
Myrcene: 42 – 52%
Humulene: 8.9 – 16.6%
Caryophyllene: 7.7 – 10.7%
Farnesene: 0.0 – 0.9%
Linalool: 0.5 – 0.6%
Geraniol: 0.2%
ß-Pinene: unknown
Parentage: cross pollination between a high alpha Australian variety and a UK male sourced from Wye College.

I’ve brewed with a number of Australian hop varieties over the years and have tended to enjoy the fruitiness they impart, though Topaz was new to me. Curious to learn more about this variety, I recently picked some up to use in a single-hop Pale Ale that I served to blind tasters.

| MAKING THE BEER |

I went with our standard Hop Chronicles Pale Ale recipe for this batch, making small adjustments to the kettle hop additions to keep the bitterness in check.

Topaz Pale Ale

I started off my brew day by flipping the switch on my controller to heat up the water I’d previously adjusted to my desired profile before weighing out and milling the grain.

When the water was properly heated, I incorporated the grains and set the controller to maintain my desired mash temperature of 152°F/67°C.

While waiting on the mash, I prepared the kettle hop additions.

Once the 60 minute mash rest was complete, I removed the grains and proceeded to boil for 60 minutes, adding hops at the times stated in the recipe.

When the boil was complete, I chilled the wort and took a refractometer reading showing it was at my target OG.

Next, I direct pitched a single pouch of Imperial Yeast A07 Flagship into the wort.

The beer was left to ferment at 68°F/20°C for 4 days before I added the dry hop addition, after which it was left alone for another 4 days. A hydrometer measurement taken at this point confirmed FG was reached.

With fermentation complete, I transferred the beer to a CO2 purged keg.

The filled keg was placed in my keezer and burst carbonated overnight before I reduced the gas to serving pressure. After 2 weeks of conditioning, I began serving it to blind tasters.

| 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 9 rating 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 21 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:

Next, participants were asked to rate the pungency/strength of the hop.

Tasters were then instructed to identify beer styles they thought the hop would work well in.

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

My Impressions: I perceived this beer as possessing pleasant tropical fruit and fresh melon characteristics, though the intensity seemed to be a bit restrained. I also picked up a touch of lemon zest and a slight resinous note on the palate as the beer warmed.

| CONCLUSION |

While initially intended to be used as a bittering hop due to its high alpha acid level, Australian Topaz has come to be viewed as a dual-purpose variety known to contribute a desirable combination of fruit and resinous pine when used later in the brewing process. Indeed, blind tasters of a Pale Ale made entirely with Topaz rated citrus, tropical fruit, resinous, and pine as the most notable aroma and flavor characteristics, while onion/garlic, spicy/herbal, and dank/catty were rated lowest.

Given the aforementioned data along with its moderate to strong pungency, it’s unsurprising that the majority of tasters felt Topaz would work well in hoppy styles like American Pale Ale and IPA, though some also listed more delicate styles including Amber Ale, Kölsch, and pale lager.

Overall, it seemed this single-hop Topaz Pale Ale was relatively well received by tasters, as a majority rated it a 7 or higher on a 10 point scale, which aligns nicely with my personal perspective. While I found the hop character in this beer to be very pleasant, it wasn’t terribly exciting, which is my typical feeling about single-hop beers. However, based on both the blind tasters results and my own experience, I look forward to using Topaz alongside other hop varieties to get a more layered profile.

Topaz hops are available now at Yakima Valley Hops, get some while you can! If you have any thoughts on this variety, please feel free to share them in the comments section below.

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