The Hop Chronicles | Pacific Jade (2022) Pale Ale

Author: Martin Keen

Hailing from New Zealand where it was released by the HortResearch program in 2004, Pacific Jade is a hop variety that’s known to impart beer with bold herbal, fresh citrus, and black pepper notes. Given its high alpha acid content, Pacific Jade can be used in smaller amounts early in the process to contribute a soft bitterness in less pungent styles, while many have found favor with the complex characteristics associated with later additions.

Alpha: 12 – 14%
Beta: 7 – 8%
Cohumulone: ​​22 – 26% of alpha acids
Total Oil: 0.6 – 1.0 mL/100g
Myrcene: 31 – 35%
Humulene: 31 – 35%
Caryophyllene: 8 – 12%
Farnesene: < 1%
Linalool: < 1%
Geraniol: < 1%
ß-Pinene: < 1%
Parentage: cross of First Choice and a Saaz male

Having used a handful of other Kiwi hops over the years, I was excited to get my hands on some Pacific Jade, particularly considering the unique descriptors. Given my lack of experience with this variety, I decided to brew a single-hop Pale Ale and serve it to tasters for a less biased evaluation.

| 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.

Pacific Jade Pale Ale

I started off my brew day by flipping the switch on my controller to heat up the RO 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.

During the mash rest, 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 used my CFC to chill the wort during transfer to a sanitized fermenter.

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.

The beer was left to ferment at 66°F/19°C for 2 weeks before I took a hydrometer measurement confirming FG was reached.

With fermentation complete, I transferred the beer to a CO2 purged keg and placed in my keezer where it was burst carbonated overnight before I reduced the gas to serving pressure. After a week 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 17 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 bold citrus hop character accompanied by a subtle peppery note that gave it a multi-dimensional complexity. This was a delicious Pale Ale, better than most single-hop beers I’ve tried!

| CONCLUSION |

Over the last decade or so, New Zealand has come to be known for producing hop varieties bursting with unique fruity notes that brewers have found work beautifully with modern hoppy styles. Released in 2004, Pacific Jade seemingly received a fraction of the fanfare other Kiwi varieties such as Nelson Sauvin and Nectaron, though its fans claim it contributes a uniquely complex blend of fruit and spice that works well in a variety of beer styles.

The most prominent aroma and flavor characteristics noted by people who evaluated a Pale Ale made solely with Pacific Jade were citrus, tropical fruit, and stone fruit, while onion/garlic, grassy, and dank/catty were among the least endorsed characteristics. While the citrus rating confirms existing descriptions of this variety, ratings on spicy/herbal were quite low, suggesting any notes of black pepper were quire minimal, which may be a function of the hopping rate.

As a fan of other New Zealand hop varieties, I was optimistic about this single-hop Pacific Jade Pale Ale and ultimately ended up loving this beer! The pungent citrus was balanced by a subtle peppery note that created a multi-dimensional flavor profile that I found very enjoyable, and it certainly had more complexity than other single-hop beers I’ve tried. As pleased as I was with this beer, I look forward to seeing how well Pacific Jade works in conjunction with other hops, and I also plan to try it out in less hop-forward styles. This is definitely a variety I plan to keep on hand!

Pacific Jade 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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