The Mount Hood hop has quite the extended foreign family tree. A descendant of the German Hallertau hop family, Mount Hood is also half-sister to Ultra, Liberty and Crystal hops. The first of the Hallertau triploid breeding program, Mount Hood was released by the USDA in 1989 after being cultivated in Oregon. Its namesake is the Mount Hood volcano just east of Portland. This hop has now become a staple of American craft brewing. With a warm and inviting aroma, refined spices and mild sweetness, Mount Hood can also be slightly floral and herbal. This varied range and temperate bitterness allows it to be used principally as an aroma hop in a variety of brews. Peaks and Pints salutes Mount Hood hops with the beer flight Craft Beer Crosscut 5.7.17: A Flight of Mount Hood.
Melvin Hey Zeus
4% ABV, 12 IBU
According to Melvin Brewing hype, the Wyoming’s Mexican lager Hey Zeus is, “Halfway between awesome and fantastico but with the quality you expect from the great Cervaceria de Melvin. Super simple with an abv that you can session all goddamn day. Stay thirsty bitches.” Indeed. Hey Zeus pours a clear pale blonde with a small white head. Aroma brings out straw, cereal malt and light corn. Flavor is fresh and crisp, with lots of straw and crisp crackery malt, and even a healthy hoppy bitterness from Mount Hood hops. Tasty.
Anderson Valley Boont Amber
5.8% ABV, 18 IBU
Anderson Valley Brewing’s Boont Amber is our customer’s go-to for highly drinkable amber. Boont Amber arrives a dark copper with a massive, pearly head. The aroma is clean and dry, like field grasses with subtle, sweet orange scents. The flavor is balanced and clean, with caramel, toffee, macadamia nuts and pecan that last long into the aftertaste. The Mount Hood, Northern Brewer, Bravo and Columbus hops lend both a citrus flavor and a moderate level of bitterness. Boont Amber’s thin body goes down easy; the carbonation only slightly bites the sides of the cheeks.
Silver City Luminous Libation
9% ABV, 30 IBU
Many years ago, one succulent succubus of a brew began its dominion as the annually recurring, limited series Liquid Sunshine Belgian-Style Tripel. With a delicate profile and spicy fruit notes from Mount Hood and Saaz hops, a specialized Belgian yeast strain is skyrocketed into maximum-fermentation-overdrive with the addition of candied sugar. Silver City Brewery changed its name to Luminous Libation, but not the recipe. The Belgian-style tripel still radiates with layers of candied sugar and bready malts, and finishes dry with subtle fruit flavor and the natural spiced notes of Belgian yeast.
Black Raven Second Sight Scotch Ale
6.9% ABV, 34 IBUs
According to Redmond brewery Black Raven, “Ravens in the Scottish Highlands were once thought to possess the gift of second sight, the ability to see future events before they occur. Second Sight is built around malted barley with hops playing a balancing role. This beer is ruby in color with large malt aromatics, delicious malt flavors and a full bodied finish.” Indeed, this creamy Scotch ale (Mount Hood and Magnum hops) hits with massive fruity sweetness of raisin, date and toffee notes then flies forever with a woody finish and a slight alcoholic aftertaste, warming if you will.
Shmaltz Jewbelation 20
16.8% ABV
Arriving as “the 13th version of its acclaimed seasonal Anniversary offering,” Shmaltz Brewing has crafted Jewbelation 20 to essentially be a triple brown ale. Whatever you want to call it, the base of this massive dark American strong ale was created with a gargantuan malt bill “overflow[ing] with dark fruits — bing cherry, raisins, currants, and figs.” This deep, rich fruit quality then shifts to “pronounced notes of pumpernickel and dark chocolate, coffee roast and cherry wood [that] dance with pounds and pounds of hops (10 hops including Mount Hood) leading with citrus and stone fruit up front melding into a grassy earthiness on the finish.”
