Long an indispensable flavoring ingredient in beer, hops famously have one of the most complex aromas of any botanical ingredient. Hop experts I know suggest that there are at least 700 known terpenoids in hops, and that’s a conservative estimate. And as you can see from the chart below, there are many other chemical types contributing different characters to hops’ amazing aromas.
A session on eBay led to my acquiring a handwritten recipe from the Howard & Fuller Brewing Company of Brooklyn, NY. One Hundred Years of Brewing(1903) says: “This house manufactures fine ales and porters only and represents the oldest business in those lines on Long Island.” Founded by Junius A. Fuller in 1835, the brewery moved to the corner of Bridge and Plymouth Streets, a neighborhood now called DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), an up-and-coming area near the Brooklyn Bridge. The stationery is preprinted with the date 190_, so the recipe probably stems from that decade, but it could be a bit later. There’s a bit of shorthand in the brewer’s notes, so this may take a bit of guesswork to figure out.
Like living organisms, the evolution of beer styles follows a principle called “punctuated equilibrium.” This states that as long as conditions remain unchanging, there is little evolutionary change other than random drift. But when conditions change, entities either adapt or radiates to fit changing niches or gets pruned back as unfit. With long-dormant American beer, changes started in the 1970s.
IPAs currently accounts for about half of all craft beers sold in the US. Their bold flavors and shape-shifting characters, plus the fun of terroir and varietal characteristics make them endlessly fascinating. Like most beers, they’re mostly malt, hops, water and yeast, but obviously the hops are the starring attraction.