Experimental Hops in Focus – BRU-1 Hops

Bru-1 Hops are an experimental hop developed by John I. Hass and Brulotte Farms in Yakima Valley, Washington. This is dual purpose hop that offers 13-15% Alpha Acids. It contributes aromas of pineapple, stone fruit, and soft spice notes.

Bru-1 also has a very high Mycrene oil content that makes up more than 50% of the total oil in this hop. Craft Beer and Brewing explains Mycrene oil as “a type of essential hop oil and the most plentiful hydrocarbon of the hop oils.

Like other essential oils, it develops in the hop cone’s lupulin gland and is formed throughout the entire hop cone maturation phase.”

You can still order BRU-1 Hops

Playing Well with Others
The folks at The Hass Experimental Brewery suggest that BRU-1 hops pair well with such hops as Citra, Chinook, HBC 328, and other U.S. aroma varieties. Since not much has been written about this experimental hop, I wanted to try them out myself. I decided to pair it with Cascade hops in an American Pale Ale.

Sensory Notes from Yakima Valley Hops

Aroma	Fruity, floral, spicy
Alpha Acids*	13-15%
Beta Acids	8-10%
Cohumulone	35-37% of alpha acids
Total Oil	1.5-2.0 ml/100g
Mycrene	50-55% of total oil
Humulene	9-11% of total oil
Caryophyllene	7-8% of total oil
Faresense	<1% of total oil

*Alpha acids are determined by spectrophotometric (ASBC Hops-6)

Graph courtesy of Brülosophy’s BRU-1 Hop Chronicles 

Commandeering Pale Ale Recipe

Grains

• 59% 2-Row
• 23% Munich
• 12% Vienna
• 6% Biscuit Malt

Hops

• Columbus 1oz   60 min  15 AA  28 IBU
• Cascade 1oz   30 min  8 AA  8.3 IBU
• Cascade 1oz   10 min  8 AA  3.9 IBU
• BRU-1 2oz   Flameout  8 AA
• BRU-1 2oz  Dry Hop   5 Days

Yeast

• Fermentis Safale US-05 81% attenuation

Batch Size:  10 gallons
Boil Size:  12.5 gallons @ 60 min.
OG:   1.052
FG:    1.010
Color:   6.1
Efficiency:  83%
Bitterness: 40.3 IBU
ABV:   5.4%

Brew Day Prep

I measured out my brewing salts since I was using RO water for this particular batch and needed to build the minerals back up.

I used the following:
Gypsum CaSo4                 5.6g
Epsom Salt MgSO4          9.9g
Calcium Chloride CaCl   2.9g
Baking Soda NaHCO3     2.3g
Chalk CaCO3                     5.4g

Convenient way to store brewing salts.

The night before my brew day, I also weighed out and milled my grains. I also purchased my water from the store and prepared it in my kettle along with my brewing salts.

Cereal Crusher in action.

Tasting Notes

• Aroma:  Lots of tropical fruit, more specifically pineapple, and stone fruit on the nose

• Appearance: Dark orange hue, tiny white bubbles that disappeared fairly quickly. Nice lasting, white beer lacing.

• Taste: Smooth hop character with pineapple taking center stage. The stone fruit is pronounced, but not as much as the pineapple. I do think the bitterness of the  60 min. Columbus addition is coming through. I think I would use less hops at bittering or even use BRU-1 as the bittering hop.

• Mouthfeel: Medium body with a very smooth, dry finish. Leaves me wanting another beer.

• Overall: I know this sound like I’m probably biased, but I really like this beer. It’s smooth, fruity, and certainly showcases the great American hop innovation.

Order some BRU-1 hops today.