Hops – the Green Gold of Our Collaboration Brew
It’s always nice to share things among good friends. While our Bitburger brewing yeast, in addition to our Bitburger Siegelhopfen, was a part of the team for our last brewing friendship, this time, our green gold was accompanied by one other variety of hops: aromatic Callista hops. Together with the two fresh American hop varieties Triumph and Cashmere, the aromatic hops give our collaboration brew Chasin’ Freshies: fresh-hop IPA its unmistakable tropically fruity flavors of mango, orange, and honeydew melon, and our Bitburger Siegelhopfen add the touch of pleasant bitterness. Even though we were only able to virtually witness the preparation of the India pale ale, the use of our Bitburger Siegelhopfen from Hof Dick and the German Callista hops gave our friends at Deschutes Brewery a little piece of our home.
Callista: No Stranger at the Bitburger Brewery
The aromatic Callista hops are a relatively young strain of hops that stand out due to their aromas of fruits such as the European gooseberry, passion fruit, peach, and grapefruit. Thanks to its fruity-sweet flavor profile, it can be used in a number of different beer types. As appreciative fans of hops, of course we like to work with these aromatic hops and have already put them into a few of our own beer creations. So we use Callista hops to brew our favorite Bitburger Winterbock, where it is responsible for its rich and pleasant character. You can also find Callista hops in the Mad Callista of our brewing friends at Craftwerk. It’s not for nothing that the bottom-fermented session lager features hints of tropical passion fruit and the taste of purple European gooseberries. By the way, the Bitburger family brewery has been involved in the development of the new Callista hop strain from the beginning and was among the first breweries to attempt to use it in its beers.
The Best of Two Breweries
The combination of fresh US hops of the Triumph and Cashmere varieties – which our brewing friends source from the nearby region of Idaho – the German Callista, and the Bitburger Siegelhopfen from our growing region near Bitburg results in a fresh-hop IPA with a character that is beyond comparison. It brings together the fruitiness of the aromatic hops with the crisp bitterness of the Bitburger Siegelhopfen. And although our collaboration brew will only be available in the United States, you still have something to look forward to – after all, the brewers from Deschutes Brewery are curious about our family brewery in Bitburg. Stay tuned!
