By Angelo De Ieso II
Say hello to the Hop Czar, a light amber-orange bodied hop bomb with an inviting, blanketing white head. Brewed with three different malts and four hop varieties, the Hop Czar has a deep malt background with an
enthusiastic citrus and floral notes paired with uber hop bitterness.
8.0% ABV OG 17.9 IBU 100
The Hop Czar is available in 22 ounce bottles at select retail outlets and also on draught at BridgePort's BrewPub.
I talked to BridgePort's Jeff Edgerton, who was instrumental in producing the big brew. Edgerton said, "We'd been talking about it for a while. We thought it would be best if we not wait before hops are incredibly expensive." Edgerton is a ten-year veteran with BridgePort, and started brewing at the now defunct Blitz-Weinhard Brewery in 1989.
According to Edgerton, the Hop Czar is based on the brewery's flagship IPA, but with more grain, producing more alcohol, and employing almost three times as much hops. "We brewed 115 barrels in total" said Edgerton. "In these we used over 300 pounds of hops." The brew was bittered with Nugget hops in the kettle and made use of two hop jacks for additions of Cascade, Chinook, and Centennial.
"One thing about hop flavor" Edgerton continued, "It is volatile. So the beer is unfiltered. It sat in tanks for three weeks to let it chill."
The response to the Big Beer series has been great according to the brewer. "It is always fun doing this kind of thing like with the Hop Harvest Fresh Hop Ale" said Edgerton. "I stuffed my Four-runner with fresh hops for that one. That's my favorite one. We will be making that one again as our next Big Beer in September."
Edgerton also clued me in on another Big Beer that the brewery has on it's back burner : a wine barrel-aged imperial porter. "We killed our original porter for a while" said Edgerton. "Karl (Ockert) and I worked to make a better porter. The recipe was completely reworked to make it black and dark and roasty." The forthcoming porter will be much bolder and aged in surplus pinot noir and bourbon barrels acquired for the latest Old Knucklehead and Stumptown Tart.
More to come...
