Tardif de Bourgogne hops ROCK!

[seymour]

I don't know much about French hops. I've heard France was once a more important hops-growing district, providing some nice noble varieties. It makes sense, since they obviously have fertile terrain and climate, and the know-how to produce exquisite grapes, olives, herbs, etc. I've even seen some beer recipes calling for fine French barley varieties, but I digress...

Anyway, Schlafly, my local brewery, has been releasing a new single hop trial batch every few weeks, each using the same Scottish Optic pale malt and neutral ale yeast strain. It has been a fun way to train my palate to the bittering, flavour and aroma properties of each hop all by itself with nothing else getting in the way. Last night they released Schlafly Tardif de Bourgogne Hop Trial, which was mesmerizingly delicious. You can click that link to read my full review.

I'd never even heard of Tardif de Bourgogne hops, still don't know how to pronounce it, but I clearly needed to know more. So I consulted the handy-dandy Wikipedia List of Hop Varieties.

Here is the sum of everything they know: "French hop, used as an aromatic in continental lagers." Oh, come on! So I kept digging and eventually found a little more information. It's a true noble Strisselspalt variety grown around the Alsace region, the Eastern edge of France along the Rhine River, Germany, and Switzerland. Most likely, Tardif de Bourgogne was a rhizome clone someone selected from an old French land race with desirable brewing characteristics, as opposed to an intentionally cross-bred variety, or modern triploid experiment, for instance. Like many of the best aroma varieties, Tardif de Bourgogne contains a low percentage of alpha acids, only 3-5%, with relatively high humulene content. I remember tasting Urban Chestnut's Strisselspalt single-hop IPA, which had similarly delicious characteristics.

This excellent article discusses Elsasser hops, another term I hadn't heard of, but it apparently refers to related French Strisselspalt varieties. The author states it was an old favourite of Anheuser Busch, who simply called them "Alsace." That must have been a very long time ago, though A-B still grew some of their own "improved" Spalt Select hops (released by Hull Institute in Germany, 1991) until the InBev takeover when they stopped using any whole hops. Meteor Pils, a decent French lager, is still brewed with Saaz and Alsace hops, but I don't know of any other commercial beers specifying French hops of any kind. Do you?

In any case, you brewers should get your hands on some Tardif de Bourgogne hops, as difficult as it may be. I can guarantee from actual taste-tests it works well in a SmaSH, and would certainly be an awesome aroma variety in any hoppy recipe. I know I'm going to try. Best of luck!

See also:
http://beerlegends.com/tardif-de-bourgogne-hops
http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/pe ... 21169.html

[Morten]

Sounds really nice!