Top of the hops: British Hop Award 2014

Worcestershire based hop grower S J Adams & Son has been named the overall winner of the British Hop Awards for 2014, as the results of the 71st Institute of Brewing & Distilling’s (IBD) annual competition were announced at an awards ceremony in London on the 23rd of January.

Taking the title ahead of 123 entries, the champion hop is a sample of Goldings, chosen for its rounded complexity encompassing delicate floral and citrus overtones with slightly spicy and earthy notes in the background.

Judging of the competition took place in December, where the judging panel drew on their knowledge and experience to assess the hops on a number of criteria such as quality and intensity of aroma and trueness to variety type – before giving the top awards to the hops they would most want to use in brewing their own beers.

Judges commented that the hops submitted were of a high quality, and further noted that the overall aroma of Goldings hops was exceptional and Target was becoming more purposeful as a dual purpose hop for brewers, presenting some excellent aroma properties this year.

The judging process produces winners in five classes before the overall winner, which were:

• Le May Cup for best sample of Goldings: S J Adams & Son

• Hop Merchants Cup for best sample of hops (from each category) bought on the basis of their aroma (in four aroma categories):L E Humphreys & Sons (Pioneer); Little Lambswick (Challenger); M R & A Capper (Pilgrim); Clive & Richard Edmed (Target)

• Brewers Cup for best sample of High Alpha content hops: CR & G Daws (Admiral)

• Wigan Cup for best sample of Fuggle: W Rogers & Sons

• Botanix Cup for best sample of Dwarf/Hedgerow variety: J Walker (First Gold)