I was wondering if anyone here has used Mt. Rainier hops? I was thinking with the licorice descriptor that they would work well in a Black IPA, but it took me forever and a day to find a shop that still had them in stock.
I then contacted YCH Hops to check about this variety’s availability, and found out that the variety has been discontinued.
I’m kind of sad. I always feel alone as a lover of all things licorice, so I suppose it doesn’t surprise me that a licorice-y hop like that wouldn’t exactly be a top seller, but I was still looking forward to using it.
Was anyone else a fan? I don’t know how much of a voice we homebrewers have in the matter, but I’d sure like to see Mt. Rainier come back…
Hop growing is a business, not a public service. If the hop growers can’t make money on a hop, they won’t grow it. Obviously there wasn’t enough demand to make it worth their effort. I’m afraid that even if all the homebrewers wanted it back (and most don’t care) that still wouldn’t be enough to make it a viable crop.
what about a rhizome of mt rainer, you might be able to get ahold of some of them for sale, you may send out an email and see what it would take for you to grow some in your back yard.
I got a bunch of free Mt. Rainer hops some years ago. I made good beer with them, but I don’t recall any licorice flavors. I don’t like licorice so I think I would have noticed. Other than getting them free, I’ve never seen them and frankly I haven’t missed them as I’ve simply used other hops.
The odd thing is, I got them from the Goose Island brewery so at least they were using them 10 or so years ago. Dunno what they used them in or what they replaced them with. GI alone isn’t likely a big enough customer to keep someone growing them if no one else wants them.
I used them in a porter and I definitely got some spicy licorice aroma from them, but yeah I suppose they weren’t as pungent or in your face as a lot of the newer hop varieties coming out nowadays.
Mt rainier was released a few years ago when a number of other varieties were released, and the supply of hops far exceeded demand. We put in about an acre of them last spring, and they seem to be a nice aromatic hop. We really don’t get much production here the first year, but should get reasonable production ( 1000 lbs?) this year. We got the rhizomes from Brulotte farms, should be some hops available someplace.
A little late, but try Stella. I crafted an American stout with Mt Rainier based on the licorice descriptor. My local shop didn’t carry Mt Rainier so I went with Stella (Australian) since it has anise as a descriptor. Was not disappointed! They added a subtle anise/licorice accent to the stout that went really well with the roasted coffee and chocolate tones.
This link: Mt. Rainier - Field Grade you can buy as little as one plant. Fortunately I only live about 16 miles from them and can pick it up with no shipping. :) They are in Zeeland, Michigan BTW.
Wow Teds ears must have been burning from this thread. Just got the Hop Heaven pre sale email and Mt. Rainier is on the list! Definitely gonna order a pound
