The Hop Chronicles | Styrian Wolf (2021) Pale Ale

Author: Alex Shanks-Abel

Developed and bred by the Slovenian Institute of Hop Research and Brewing, Styrian Wolf is known for being quite versatile given its alpha acid content as well as its high oil content. Purported to impart pungent mango, lemon, and floral notes, Styrian Wolf is commonly used in modern hoppy IPA.

Alpha: 10 – 15%
Beta: 5 – 6%
Cohumulone: 22 – 23% of alpha acids
Total Oil: 3 – 4.5 mL/100g
Myrcene: 60 – 70%
Humulene: 5 – 10%
Caryophyllene: 2 – 3%
Farnesene: 4.5 – 6.5%
Linalool: 0.8 – 1.3%
Geraniol: unknown
ß-Pinene: unknown
Parentage: cross between European and American hop lineages

My first introduction to Styrian Wolf hops came when looking for new varieties to put through The Hop Chronicles during my last order from Yakima Valley Hops. Given the description, I was excited to see how it would work in a hoppy Pale Ale!

| 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.

Styrian Wolf Pale Ale

After collecting the full volume of water and adjusting it to my desired profile, I weighed out and milled the grain.

When the water was properly heated, I incorporated the grains then checked to ensure the mash was at my desired temperature.

During the mash rest, I prepared the kettle hop additions.

Once the 60 minute mash was complete, I removed the grains, boiled the wort for 60 minutes, and chilled it before taking a refractometer reading showing it was at my target OG.

After transferring the wort to a sanitized fermenter, I pitched a single pouch of Imperial Yeast A07 Flagship.

The beer was left to ferment at 66°F/19°C for 3 days before the dry hop addition was added. With signs of activity absent after another 4 days, I took a hydrometer measurement confirming FG was reached.

With fermentation complete, I cold crashed the beer then pressure-transferred it to a CO2 purged keg, which was placed in my kegerator and burst carbonated overnight before the gas was reduced to serving pressure. After a couple weeks of conditioning, it was ready to serve 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 20 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 0 to 10 scale.

My Impressions: I perceived this beer as having a lovely combination of mango, lime, and lavender on the nose, though the flavor didn’t seem as prominent as the aroma. Overall, I enjoyed this single-hop Styrian Wolf Pale Ale.

| CONCLUSION |

Styrian hops refer to those grown in Slovenia as well as the southern Austrian state of Styria, and while some of the more well-known, like Styrian Golding, tend to be more mild overall, the relatively new variety known as Styrian Wolf is quite unique. Packing both high alpha acid and oil content, this Styrian Wolf is a dual-purpose hop that is lauded for its ability to impart hoppy styles like IPA with pungent tropical fruit, citrus, and floral characteristics.

Consistent with existing descriptors, the most prominent aroma characteristics noted by people who evaluated a Pale Ale made solely with Styrian Wolf were tropical fruit, citrus, and floral; however, curiously, blind taster ratings on flavor were a bit different, with citrus being the most endorsed, followed by grassy and pine. Moreover, notes of onion/garlic, earthy/woody, berry, resinous, and melon were among the least endorsed descriptors. Perhaps due to its moderate to strong pungency, the beer style most tasters felt Styrian Wolf would work well in is IPA/APA, which likely speaks to its overall fruity character.

This being my first time using Styrian Wolf, my expectations were based solely what I’d read about it, and while those expectations were certainly met it terms of the aroma, I felt the flavor was somewhat lacking. That’s not to say it was bad, just not as pungent as the aroma, which in my experience isn’t very common. Either way, I look forward to using Styrian Wolf in conjunction with other fruit-forward hops, and I also think it might pair well with more floral noble varieties.

Styrian Wolf 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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