The Hop Chronicles | McKenzie (2021) Pale Ale

Author: Paul Amico

Released to the public in 2021, McKenzie is the first hop from West Coast Hop Breeding, a company comprised of 6 hop growers who strive for sustainability by developing varieties specifically tailored to Oregon’s growing conditions. Purported to impart beer with desirable notes of stone fruit, tropical fruit, and sweet tart, McKenzie is a variety that’s said to work well in hoppy styles including the various versions of IPA.

Alpha: 9 – 11%
Beta: 8 – 9%
Cohumulone: ​​unknown
Total Oil: 2.0 – 3.0 mL/100g
Myrcene: unknown
Humulene: unknown
Caryophyllene: unknown
Farnesene: unknown
Linalool: unknown
Geraniol: unknown
ß-Pinene: unknown
Parentage: unknown

There are few things I enjoy more in brewing than experimenting with new ingredients, especially hops, and even more when the hop sounds like it’ll work well in modern IPA. After reading the description of McKenzie, I immediately picked some up for The Hop Chronicles and placed it on the top of my to-brew list!

| MAKING THE BEER |

In order to keep the hop character in the spotlight, I went with our standard Hop Chronicles Pale Ale recipe for this batch.

McKenzie Pale Ale

I started my brew day by collecting the full volume of water, which I adjusted to my desired profile.

After flipping the switch on my controller to heat up the water up, I weighed out and milled 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 before preparing 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 used my CFC to chill the wort during transfer to a sanitized FermTank.

A refractometer reading showed the wort was at my target OG.

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

After 4 days of fermenting at 66°F/19°C, I added the dry hop charge then left the veer alone for another week before taking a hydrometer measurement confirming 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 a week 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 46 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 brew a lot of single-hop Pale Ales for this series, and usually I find the beers to be somewhat underwhelming. That was not the case with this McKenzie hopped Pale Ale, which I felt had a nice blend of citrus and tropical fruit notes up front with just enough pine in the background to remind me of some of my favorite beers from over a decade ago. Very good!

| CONCLUSION |

Lying just over 200 miles southwest of the world’s largest hop growing region of Yakima, WA, the Willamette Valley of Oregon is also home to a large number of hop breeders and growers including the relatively new West Coast Hop Breeding (WCHB). After 5 years of development, WCHB released the first variety bred specifically to be grown in Oregon, McKenzie, which is said to possess qualities deemed highly desirable by modern brewers and craft beer drinkers.

Indeed, the most prominent aroma and flavor characteristics noted by blind tasters of a Pale Ale brewed solely with McKenzie were citrus, tropical fruit, and stone fruit, while less desirable notes of onion/garlic and dank/catty were rated lowest. While a  majority of tasters rated the pungency as moderate, some also felt it was mild while others perceived it as being strong. The beer styles most felt McKenzie would work well in were IPA and American Pale Ale, which is unsurprising considering the fruitiness of this variety.

Single-hop beer can tend to be rather one dimensional, leaving much to be desired, though a good number of tasters really seemed to enjoy this McKenzie Pale Ale. Personally, I was quite pleased with how this beer turned out and can’t wait to use it more in the future, not only in conjunction with other varieties in notably hoppy styles, but at lower dosage rates to impart subtle fruity notes styles like Blonde Ale and American Wheat Beer.

McKenzie 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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