American bred Talus Hops show potential to be a signature variety

At the beginning of the 2020 hop harvest, global hop supplier Yakima Chief Hops announced the commercial release of a new hop variety called Talus. Touted as a dual use variety with potent perfume like aromatics and tropical flavors, Talus has the potential to become a major cross-over hit with it’s easily identifiable characteristics that stand out to beer geeks and brewers alike. It’s creators are responsible for the name brand hops Citra, Mosaic and Ekuanot to name a few.

Some are describing Talus as a Neomexicanus hop variety, but it’s more like a nephew. Neomexicanus varieties are the untamed wild hops of the American West, a rare type of sub-species that have been found growing in the mountainous regions of New Mexico and Arizona. Unlike the majority of hops grown in the pacific northwest, these hops are native to America and not derivatives of European varieties or anything from the southern hemisphere. In appearance they have a closer resemblance to marijuana and in flavor and aroma mix tropics, with wood, earth and field. Since they are so distinct and uniquely American, Neomexicanus hops have become an exciting new front in the hop breeding and agricultural world and with brewers looking to find the bleeding edges of hop innovation.

TALUS HOPS

First trialed under the name HBC 692, Talus is a cultivated daughter of Sabro® brand HBC 438 which itself was only half neomexicanus which makes Talus only 25%. The advanced breeding program formed by John I. Haas and Yakima Chief Ranches set out to cultivate from the novel genetics of Sabro with an unnamed open pollinated northwest hop variety to derive new flavors not found in traditional hop varieties. The result is a potent flavored hop that has half of the love it or hate it woody and coconut milk flavor of Sabro with the more vinous, spicy, savory herbal notes of some of the new world varieties.

“Talus brand HBC 692 has the distinction of being exceptionally unique yet appealing and very translatable in beer. Moreover, its complexity lends itself to functionality in the brewing process alone or in combination with other hops. Talus checks a lot of boxes,” says Jason Perrault, one of the lead breeders of the program along with Michael Ferguson of John I. Haas.

Often the effusive and evocative descriptions of hops don’t translate nearly as strongly into the finished beer, or have problems in consistency, alpha acid and oil content. Yakima Chief Hops praises Talus for it’s ‘big aromas of pink grapefruit, citrus rinds, dried roses, pine resin, tropical fruits and sage’ as well as it’s 8.1% - 9.5% alpha acid content.

“Usually when working with new hops the flowery descriptions given are bull shit when practically applied. However, HBC-692 proved to be something worth exploring and a great addition to our hop forward program,” says Block 15 Brewing owner/brewmaster Nick Arzner.

When talking to some of the early adopters of Talus, it became clear that brewers had different takeaways from it’s flavor and aromatic contribution to beer- and they were all unique.

“I describe it as an unknown fruit and rose character I can't quite put my finger on,” says Arzner. “Many of our brewers detect layered notes of candied raspberry and coconut.”

“Our sensory team picks up a ton of tangerine and grapefruit notes from it, as well a pleasant woody note similar to cedar,” says Bale Breaker Brewing’s brewmaster Kevin Smith.

“Intense lemon/grapefruit/pine/wood quality,” described Fremont Brewing’s brewmaster Matt Lincoln. “It kind of reminds me of Lemon Pledge or Pinesol,”

Talus hops are quickly being integrated into both clear and hazy American IPA’s —with great levels of success, especially in how it plays well with other varieties like Citra and Mosaic. Current examples like Breakside Brewery and Ecliptic Brewing’s Starstruck West Coast IPA, Fremont Brewing’s Space Rex Hazy IPA, Block 15’s new Sticky Hands High 5 edition, and Bale Breaker’s In the Lup series.

“We have had great luck using it in hazy IPAs. It made an appearance in Clarity Rarity #1 and #2. We will definitely continue to experiment with it going forward,” says Bale Breaker’s Kevin Smith.

Block 15 Brewing first experimented with the then-named HBC 692 in February with a one-off beer for the KLCC Brewfest called Demo Tape IPA. It was a hit with brewers and drinkers, so Block 15 worked it into their Dab Lab series “New Wave” release. In early 2020 Nick Arzner began working on designing a modern take on the American Pale Ale and immediately thought of Talus as the anchor of the hop blend. Building on test batches and experimental dry-hop routines, Arzner settled on a combination of Azacca, Cashmere and Citra hops with Talus as the dry-hop in their new year-round release Joy Pale Ale. It’s already proved to be a bigger than expected hit and Block 15 is having trouble keeping the 16oz cans in stock.

Matt Lincoln and his team at Fremont Brewing was one of the first operations to trial HBC 692 in partnership with Yakima Chief Hops over a year ago. Talus has since made it’s way into a number of Fremont beers from their Great Notion collab Mr. Sun, to their seasonal Space Rex Hazy IPA. With last falls hop harvest underway, Fremont Brewing found the chance to trial their ideal Talus hop blend in the 2020 version of Head Full of Fresh Hops:

“While we enjoyed it on its own (Talus), we really came to like it with a variety  of other hops, specifically Mosaic.  They seem to play nice together,” says Lincoln. Using it as an unkilned fresh hop may have been the final proving ground for Talus, and Lincoln described it’s impact in Head Full of Fresh Hops as a “no-brainer.”

“We love its intensity and we had never used it as a fresh hop before. One thing we have noticed, especially with the fresh hops, is the aroma of the hop itself really translates to the beer which is not so apparent in other varieties.”

Talus hops are a product of the Hop Breeding Company, a joint venture between Yakima Chief Ranches LLC and John I. Haas Inc. formed in 2003. HBC’s mission is to develop pest-resistant and disease-resistant hop varieties with strong commercial qualities.

In addition to its commercialized brands Citra®, Mosaic®, Sabro®, Ekuanot®, Pahto™, Loral® and the newly-released Talus™, the HBC is continually breeding new and exciting experimental hop varieties for brewers to test and to provide feedback on.