Extracting most from new UK/Czech hop variety
Bohem Brewery hosted hop merchants Charles Faram at its North London home to exclusively use within the UK a newly developed hop Möst™ to create a unique dry-hopped lager.
The collaborative brew involved Paul Corbett, MD of Charles Faram, and Jon Stringer, sales manager at Charles Faram, developing a beer with Bohem head brewer Matěj Krizek to highlight the flavour profile of the Möst™ hop that has been in development over the past five years.
“It’s very new and still in trial. It’s a UK [hop development] programme with the seeds sent to the Czech Republic where the conditions are right for growing this variety. It’s a perfect thing to be able to brew on Bohem’s authentic Czech brewing kit in the UK so we can see what the hop can do,” said Corbett.
Bohem joins five breweries in Canada to have access to the Möst™ hop at this early stage in its life and it is hoped that these exclusive beers will help create sufficient demand for commercial plantings of the variety in the Czech Republic that has been created from a Cascade cross, which has also provided us with Jester and Olicana.
For Krizek (and brewing assistant Honza Svatek) it was a great opportunity to create a lager that highlights the hop’s flavour profile that includes light fruity characteristics including tropical fruits and strawberry, along with a spicy finish.
“If all goes to plan, we’ll have a 4.5% premium pilsner with some Saaz added in order to bring some bitterness. This adds no flavour at all as we want the focus to be on Möst™ hops. We’ll be predominantly dry hopping with it,” he says.
The beer will be available from the start of January on draught and a limited run of cans.
Bohem would like to thank Charles Faram for the opportunity to work with the new hop and for their help with the collaboration.
Glynn Davis, editor of Beer Insider