Bringing hops to life

The first day on any job is always a mix of excitement and apprehension. So we thought we’d welcome Chris J.J. Heaney with a nice straightforward mission to help him settle in: design an entire box of new beers to showcase the staggering diversity of flavours and aromas that can be achieved with the humble hop. “For hopheads, it’s going to be a very exciting box, with plenty of great, hop-forward beers in there,” says Chris. “We’ve not only selected some of the most interesting, glamorous hops on the market right now, but used them in ways that create amazing depth of flavour. There’s lots of combination with fruit, so we’re picking up on those with the aromatics from the essential oils in the hops that I think should be a real explosion of flavour.”

As was the case with last year’s Elements Project, The Hop Project aims to give Beer52 members the opportunity to sample beers side-by-side, and discover the very palpable difference hop selection makes.

“I think people will come away from this box with a better understanding of how hops work, definitely,” Chris continues. “In terms of it being a didactic experience for people, we’ve looked at different terroirs of hop growing, and how that will influence the character of what you get in the glass and on the nose.

“We’ve created this milkshake-style IPA using lactose, which gives a creaminess in the mouthfeel which accentuates certain aspects of the hop character. We’ve got some more traditional-style beers in there too, using classic European hops in traditional styles. There are a couple of absolutely classic British beer styles, and I think again the hops we’ve chosen will accentuate the flavours in the beer to bring out something really interesting and unique.”

As well as working closely with the rest of the team at Beer52, Chris made a trip to Belgium, to oversea the brewing of his first box at Brouwerij Anders, as well as getting to know the brewery staff and familiarising himself with the state-of-the-art equipment.

“There’s a real understanding among the staff there; they’re very clued into what they do and have a very strong work ethic. Their quality control and measurement side of things is outstanding, as are things like cellaring and fermentation control. You feel like you’re in very safe hands.

“They’re also very passionate and creative though; there’s a prevailing atmosphere there of excitement about the things they produce. They’re in that position because they have so many different clients, but that also gives them the opportunity to produce new and interesting things the whole time. It’s a bit of a luxury for brewers I guess. They constantly have new recipes on the go and they try and push the boundaries.”

Pushing the boundaries was definitely the order of the day with The Hops Project, which required Anders to work closely with Chris on the processes and techniques needed to pull off his ambitious recipes.

“I think we all had a good time with it,” Chris grins. “Obviously a lot of Anders’ clients are from the Belgian market, so a lot of what they do is in the traditional Belgian styles. I think without a doubt the things they’re producing for Beer52 are by far the most ambitious and far-reaching things they do.

“Between the presentation of the bottles, the content of Ferment and of course the beers themselves, I think there will be a lot of info for people to take away with them. As always with Beer52 I think that, as well as the enjoyment of consuming the beers in the box, there will be a full experience behind that.”