Hop Hooligans International Affairs
“It came out surprisingly juicy only using European hops.”
-Cristian en Mircea, Hop Hooligans-
Read all about the second beer in the Hop Trophy series below, scroll down for the full video.
Hop Hooligans. What's in a name? Our expectations are high, these must be specialists in hoppy beers... and we were not disappointed!
Far from it, these Romanian beer chefs know very well how to give hops the stage. Most of the beers they release are IPAs and time after time they manage to surprise their audience. We talk to the founders Cristian and Mircea at their brewery just outside Bucharest about their Hop Trophy beer.
Despite we have every confidence in a good outcome, Hop Hooligans sees this Double Dry Hopped (DDH) Hazy IPA a bit of a test: “It was fun because it was a bit of a challenge for us. Although hazy, juicy IPAs are our go-to style, we never concentrate on one with European grown hops.”
The foundation of International Affairs is a Hazy IPA that Hop Hooligans are known for: fruity, juicy, loaded with hops, mildly bitter and interesting enough to make a difference. A beer like this is brewed by Hop Hooligans on a base of barley malt, malted wheat and flaked oats. Fermentation is done with London Ale III which is known for its good results in a Hazy IPA. But the big flavour booster are, of course, the hops.
Testing hops in a can.
Testing the hops
Before the hops were selected, a hop test was carried out: “We got handed six hop samples and tested them out. We filled six cans with fresh fermented beer that wasn’t dryhopped, and we put 10 grams of each hop inside and then we kept it until the next day. Like dryhopping it in a can. We tried all of them, choose the four best ones, and then we tried to combine them to see which mix was best. Pretty much like home-brewing days!”
The selection of European hops
Hop Hooligans eventually chose four hop varieties: Mandarina Bavaria, Monroe, Lilly and Bullion. "From what we tested them, they felt the most fruity, bubblegummy, sweet-floral ones."
We go over the four hops: "Mandarina Bavaria is the most well known of the selection. Citrusy, nice grassy, probably the ‘cheat hop’ usually when you think of this one because you already know it’s a sure shot, but that was not the point here actually.”
“We’ve met Monroe, I know the Germans use it in modern dry-hopped lagers, cold IPA’s and stuff like that. Nice and fruity also on it’s own.”
“Lilly is really new, can’t find a lot about it. Really nice floral notes, also maybe towards violets, or well, lilies! It’s in the name.”
“At last the dreaded Bullion, which was the most funky of them all, citrus with a huge herbal charge, I would say almost towards tomato leave, that spicy, zingy thing that tomato leaf can leave on your hands.”
International Affairs: The result.
The Hop Hooligans are happy, almost relieved even considering the leap they took with such a beer brewed with only European hops: "It came out surprisingly juicy, only using European hops. We look for the nice, full grown citrus, some nice berries, herbal and grassy notes, but not too earthy. It’s really fresh, vibrant, almost meadowy in a way.”
The European hops also give a certain adventurous twist to such a beer: "It's interesting, definitely not boring. It has herbal notes to it, but it’s also pretty fruity and I love fruity stuff."
Despite the fine description, they don't think their own verdict on the beer is that important: “We don’t like talking about beer that we brew like this. We are surprisingly happy with how it came out, but feedback from the public would be most important for everybody involved. Sometimes people can get a bit exhausted by another DDH IPA with the usual hops, but hey, there you go, something different this time, check it out and see what you can find out about it.”
In any case, they agree that more experimentation with European hops is welcome: "I hope a lot more breweries are going to use more European hops because it’s interesting. Modern breweries often stick to the sure shots, but we should try it. There’s a lot more space to include European hops”, they conclude.
Want to try it yourself?
Hop Hooligans International Affairs is a one-off brew, be quick! Ask your better (online) beer shop about it.
When you are in Romania, check the Hop Hooligans online shop to order it or try the Hop Hooligans Taproom in the heart of Bucharest, which is definitely worth a visit anyway.
Follow Hop Hooligans on Instagram here or visit the their website.
Tasting notes from the tasting panel
Of course, our independent panel of beer connoisseurs also tastes International Affairs. You can read their findings on our website soon.
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