Ingredient insight: Green Flash puts the focus on hop selection

Craft beer drinkers tend to be smarter than your average beer consumer. They put time and thought into their beer purchases. (Take it from the guys at Craft Brewing Business, who spend hours standing indecisively in front beer coolers). Savvy brewers are starting to wear their ingredients on their label – providing insight into what goes into the beer. In that same vein, Green Flash Brewing will put the focus on its hop selection when it debuts its third annual Hop Odyssey series  – a national beer program that focuses on exploring new hop varietals, fresh combinations and innovative brewing methods.

This year’s series is an in-depth look at Green Flash Brewmaster Chuck Silva’s intimate relationship with hops from farm to fermenter — showcasing Silva’s approach to selection based on hop-provenance and terroir. Brewed with carefully selected, flavor-forward ingredients, Hop Odyssey 2015 is comprised of three session IPAs that deliver a balance of complexity, each with an identical malt base to best highlight the flavors from the featured hops and 4.5 percent ABV with 65 IBUs. By offering bold yet drinkable beers, Green Flash hopes to elevate expectations within the session category, enticing craft beer lovers to embark on an epic journey of the senses with ales to go the distance.

“Through the Hop Odyssey series, we are able to introduce three exceptionally hoppy session ales into our 2015 product rotation,” says Green Flash CEO and Co-Founder Mike Hinkley. “Chuck is the master when it comes to hop selection. I am confident that this year’s series will resonate with craft consumers who want a sessionable beers that have a flavor profile that’s on par with some of the higher-gravity IPAs in our portfolio.”

Each 2015 Hop Odyssey beer is built with an identical malt profile consisting of a simple, golden, five SRM grist of Premium Pale two-row, Vienna malt, Marris Otter and British Crystal to allow the flavor of the hops to dominate.

“This year, we wanted to really explore the range of flavor that is achievable in a session ale through careful and deliberate selection of bold hop varietals,” explains Green Flash Brewmaster Chuck Silva. “By building solid relationships over the years with hop growers, I was able to get my hands on the best product available from the 2014 harvest and build a recipe for three solid session beers that I think even the most die-hard hop heads will enjoy as much as I do.”

The 2015 Hop Odyssey lineup includes:

Mosaic Session IPA

A bold hop that has notable characteristics from its parentage of Simcoe and Nugget hops, but Mosaic creates a unique and complex floral, tropical and fruity blend with earthy characteristics. Mosaic also imparts blueberry and other dark berry notes to the beer.

Citra Session IPA

One hundred percent Citra hops are introduced throughout the brewing process to impart intense flavors of orange, lemon and grapefruit that transcend the inherent tropical and floral notes.

Segal Ranch Session IPA

Using single-estate hops, hand-selected by Brewmaster Chuck Silva from Segal Ranch in Yakima, Washington, Segal Ranch Session IPA features Tomahawk, Centennial and Cascade. The verdant pungency and citrus aromatics from the Tomahawk hops serve as the perfect base layer to allow the flavors of bright floral and pine sap from Centennial hops to emerge on the palate.