“Some years, it is tough to keep up with the new varieties out there,” Jon Downing of Niagara College’s brewmaster and brewery management program told me. “Students have been brewing with a few recent varieties in the past year.”

Global supplier, Yakima Chief, uses new varieties of hops including Talus, Loral, HBC 630 and Triumph for a lab-tested blend this year that helps brewers eliminate guesswork and gain batch-to-batch consistency, according to an article in the London Free Press.

“BSG also released a blend they called Nobility being used in the burgeoning craft lager market,” Downing said. “We’ve made some great pilsners and bocks using this.”

“Charles Faram (hops supplier) is coming out with varieties from the U.K. and central Europe,” Downing said. “We have used Jester, Harlequin and Most for numerous excellent ales.”

“The popularity of New England style, hazy, hoppy beers is still deciding a lot of the popular hops in craft brewing,” he said. “The style relies on bold hops with concentrated fruit characteristics. Some of the newest varieties to fit that description are Nectaron, which is loaded with tropical and stone fruit notes, and Vista, which displays aromas of melon, peach, and pear. These hops grew a lot of traction in the U.S, last year, and I expect them to be in more and more brews in Canada in the coming months,” said Shayn Sawchuk, a technical sales adviser with Charles Faram’s Toronto office.

Anderson Craft Ales in London, Ontario, launched a single-hop series of beers to allow customers to learn about these new varieties.

“We have used a good chuck on Sabro in our Juicy IPA and various other IPAs,” brewer/owner Gavin Anderson said. “I’m a big fan of it, it has lots of tangerine, tropical fruit and a hint of coconut.”

“If juicy, fruity ales aren’t your preference, we’re also seeing a rise in the popularity of European-style lagers,” Sawchuck said. “These beers rely heavily on malt character and subtlety. They’re often about what you don’t taste. They’re clean, smooth and easy-drinking, and mostly use old-school hop varieties that have been popular for hundreds of years.”

Still Fields uses Hallertau Hersbrucker hops for light herbal tones in its lager. Sawchuk also highlights a beer from Quayle’s of Oro-Medonte: Right Bauer is a German-style pilsner brewed with the more modern and floral Saphir hop.

Photo courtesy of Sannerud Hop Consulting