Part 2 of my series on neomexicanus.
If you recall from part 1 of this series, there is a “new” variety of Humulus lupulus available to homebrewers called neomexicanus that has been cultivated from wild plants in New Mexico. Though the variety is nearly 500,000 years old, it has only recently been cultivated into varieties compelling to brewers. Thanks to the efforts of enterprising backyard hop growers like Todd Bates and professional growers like Eric Desmarais at CLS Farms we are on the frontier of an exciting new hop variety.
Hop Wheel (Tim Kreitz)
Much like neomexicanus’ European sister lupulus there is not a simple way to describe the characteristics of the hops; whether through happenstance or selective breeding there exists a broad spectrum of bitterness, flavors, and aromas that the hop can possess. Instead of attempting to describe the characteristics of neomexicanus in broad terms I am going to examine what is available at the moment whether for brewing, growing, or drinking.
Brewing
As far as I am aware, the only place in the world harvested neomexicanus hops are available for purchase to use in homebrew is from the brothers at Benedictine Monastery of Christ in the Desert via their Holy Hops website (commercial-sized batches are entirely spoken for). In the 2013 season Freshops had the Multihead (aka Medusa) variety for sale, but does not appear to have any from 2014 available. A place called Amalia Hops claims to have “100 separate vines of the Neomexicanus variety” and offers a link to buy hops, but does not yet have anything available for purchase. I will keep my eyes peeled to see if they end up offering them later this year, but in the mean time these are all the varieties available and their characteristics.
Holy Hops
If the 2014 harvest sells out, there is still a large quantity of a handful of varieties from 2013.
- Amalia: Citrusy, tangerine, slightly minty. Alpha: 4.5%. Beta: 6.0%. (It is not clear if this is the same variety available for growing listed below)
- Chama: Citrusy, herbal, fruity. Alpha: 7.3%. Beta: 8.2%.
- Latir: Spicy, herbal, flowery. Alpha: 7.2%. Beta: 5.0%.
- Mintras: Herbal, minty. Alpha: 4.1%. Beta: 6.2%.
- Tierra: Minty, citrusy, very slightly grassy. Alpha: 5.7%. Beta: 6.2%.
Growing
Photo by Dana-K 
I have heard from a handful of homebrewers who managed to get neomexicanus rhizomes last year, so I am confident that many sources will have rhizomes or crowns available for purchase in the upcoming spring season. You might want to ask your local homebrew supply if they can stock the variety, but if that fails a quick search online shows a handful of sellers that had them available last season. Check back in late winter to see if any online sellers have them available for pre-order.
The first three varieties listed below have been for sale online at some point, but I have no hard evidence of the Willow Creek variety. If you are interested in growing your own, here is what you will find:
- Amallia (Amalia?): Has an earthy smell. Great for a brown style beer or darker style ales. Estimated alpha is 5.5-9% with a beta of 4.2-8.3%
- Multihead: Very floral, exhibits a unique peachy aroma. Can produce double cones. Good all around hop. Estimated alpha to be around 3.5-5.5% with a beta around 6.5-8%
- Neo1: Has a super lemon aspect and is citrus. Lots of a lighter style aroma and bitterness. Estimated alpha is 7-9% with a beta of 3-3.3%
- Willow Creek: ??? I have seen folks mention this variety as available, but the most I’ve seen is “they are in the midst of production trials, and hopefully some will be available soon for brewery trials.”
Drinking
Interested in trying some neomexicanus without brewing it yourself? As of this writing there are only three commercial examples that use neomexicanus hops, but all of them feature the hop exclusively. Investigation of check-ins on Untappd indicates that Denver-area folks should have no problem finding Neomexicanus Native, but the Schlafly Hop Trial: Neomexicanus was only available in-house in August. The good news, however, is that Sierra Nevada has just started distributing Harvest Wild Hop IPA: Neomexicanus and folks should have no problem finding it wherever Sierra Nevada distributes until at least January.
Neomexicanus Native – Crazy Mountain Brewing Company
Style: Pale Ale
Description: This ale is a tribute to the artistic expression that can be realized when a brewery and a hop farmer partner together with the common goal of achieving something new and creative. This beer is an exploration of a largely undocumented hop, native to the South Western United States. This ale offers a citrusy aroma with a distinct lemon and tangerine character while maintaining a moderate acidity that accentuates the delicate flavors and aromas of this brew.
Availability: Crazy Mountain Brewing tap room, Denver area taps.
Reviews: RateBeer | BeerAdvocate | Untappd
Hop Trial: Neomexicanus – Schlafly
Style: Pale Ale
Description: The next in our ongoing Hop Trial series, this time with a rare North American native hop, scientific name Humulus lupulus L. var. neomexicanus. We decided to further enhance the fruity complexity by serving it cask-conditioned.
Availability: Schlafly Tap Room
Reviews: RateBeer | BeerAdvocate | Untappd
Harvest Wild Hop IPA: Neomexicanus – Sierra Nevada
Style: IPA
Description: A few years back, we caught wind of rogue hop heads in the Southwest who began collecting some of the wild hops they found while scrambling down hillsides near their home in New Mexico. These bizarre, multi-headed, native U.S. cones have a flavor like nothing we’ve tasted, and for the first time, we’re showcasing their unusual melon, apricot and citrus aromas and flavors in our beer. Neomexicanus is the literal wild card in our five-bottle Harvest series which features single hop, fresh hop, wet hop, and wild hop beers.
Availability: Nationwide in December/January.
Reviews: RateBeer | BeerAdvocate | Untappd
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A great article, I am a huge fan of Multihead(Medusa) and have got a lead on some Neo1 plants for next year. Just disappointed that Multihead was not available for purchase this year. Loved the hop.
Yeah, I’ve heard from a handful of folks that managed to get Neo1 this past growing season, I’m interested to hear how their beers made with the hop turn out.
I think CLS Farms is keeping Multihead close to the vest at the moment, I hope they release it for us backyard growers!
The rhizomes for Amallia and Neo1 were available last year through RNV Enterprises. You can read yourself on their website, but Rob and Vickie were previously bigwigs for on of the biggest PNW hop companies. They sell extra rhizomes that aren’t needed by the farmers. Sometimes it’s from crown maintenance, sometimes from field replacements. Not clear which category their neomex. hops fall into, but if they’re the ones selling the rhizomes, it’s a safe bet that there are some large-scale trials going on. Personally, I bought an Amallia and it grew like gangbusters in southern NH last summer. Fast grower, taller even than my best first-year Cascade (above the third floor balcony railing), very full and bushy with lots of side shoots. Very small cones that were still forming when everything else was past harvest. Smelled great, very earthy – but hop aphids hit the week before harvest, so didn’t get to brew with it.
Wow, thanks for the tip! I’m going to be keeping an eye out for folks selling neomexicanus rhizomes/crowns so I can 1) let folks know where to get it and 2) get some for myself 🙂
I’m in SoCal (about the same latitude as the native plants), so I’m really hoping that they’ll fare much better than lupulus varieties.