For this year’s Washington Brewers Guild’s 2023 Craft Beer Summit, the HAAS Innovations Brew Crew—Virgil McDonald, Max Snider and Jeff Barnes—created a special lager featuring one of our newest experimental hops, HBC 1134.

HBC 1134 is exciting because it’s an American hop bred specifically for modern lagers. It provides the classic noble flavors of floral (rose), woody aromatic (pine), herbal, and citrus (lemon, slight grapefruit) with nice bitterness quality. Plus, it exhibits excellent agronomics—and a significantly greater per-acre yield—compared to similar, noble hops like Saaz.

We recently caught up with the team to learn more about HBC 1134, and to take a peek at their award-winning lager recipe.

Why did you choose this hop for this beer style for this event?

We’re big believers in HAAS and the HBC’s goal of developing noble type hops that have true sustainability in mind and can be grown here in the United States. HBC 1134 is one of the first to come out of the HBC program that we feel hits that target. We wanted to show that this hop will make awesome lagers with all of the ingredients being grown close to the Yakima Valley.

What’s HBC 1134, and the beer you brewed with it, like?

HBC 1134 will definitely meet the sensory expectations of seasoned lager brewers—there’s nuanced aromas of floral, citrus, herbal, and mild spiciness which harmonize with the typical malt and yeast characteristics of a zwickelbier. Whether you’re brewing a helles, pilsner, kölsch, American adjunct lager—or really any style where that noble aroma and bitterness harmony is required—HBC 1134 is a really great choice. This is a true noble hop bred for the noble purpose of drastically reducing the inputs required during the growing process and the CO2 footprint associated with importing noble hops from Europe.

What are some features of HBC 1134 that set it apart as an innovative hop?

Its high yields, its pest and disease tolerance, and its dense cone structure. All of that means HBC 1134 will provide 3-4 times more yield than traditional noble lager hops. HBC traces to Hersbrucker lineage, which was developed specifically for use in traditional lager styles, but it’s also suitable for a broad range of brewing applications.

We know magicians never share their tricks, but since sustainability is on everyone’s mind, we thought it would be great to share this winning lager recipe with our friends. Here’s how it comes together.

HBC 1134 Lager

• Target 12P CSW (Malt of choice, we use Pale/Pils Malts)
• SO4/Cl 1.25
• 70-minute boil
• HBC 1134 for all hop additions
• Target 10 Iso Alpha Acid @ +10 minutes (60-minute boil)
• Target 10 Iso Alpha Acid @ +55 Minutes (15-minute boil)
• Target 15 Iso Alpha Acid @ Whirlpool
• No Dry Hops
• Fermented with Lager yeast

If you’d like to learn more about HBC 1134, or any of the HBC experimental hops, contact your local HAAS representative or HAAS distributor. Or explore the full lineup of HAAS hops here. And be sure to let us know how your version of HBC 1134 Lager turns out.

Cheers!