Hops

Does British Columbia have its own hops? Yes, and has since the 19th century. According to tradition, the first planting in the Fraser Valley was made by John Broe in Aldergrove in 1884, followed in 1893 by the Hulbert Hop Farm in Chilliwack. By the early 20th century, the province was considered the largest hop-growing region in the British Commonwealth. In the 1930s, Agassiz had about 300 acres, roughly 120 hectares, of hop gardens.

Then came the decline. Big breweries turned to cheaper hops from the Yakima Valley in Washington State, and cultivation in the Fraser Valley shrank until the company John I. Haas shut down its Chilliwack operation in 1997. According to a regional newspaper, cultivation has since made a comeback thanks to craft brewers.

New operations are planting trellis systems again, where the vines climb many meters high on wires. Chilliwack Hop Farms is considered Canada's largest single hop grower working exclusively for craft breweries. Chilliwack is also home to the Sasquatch variety, described as the first Canadian-bred and patented hop plant. In the fall of 2018, another operation, Fraser Valley Hop Farms on Seabird Island, celebrated its first harvest.

In September and October, these hops go into fresh-hop beers. The cones, the flowers of the plant, go straight into the brew within hours of harvest, without being dried. The aroma comes across green and juicy.

A West Coast IPA lives for its hops. Aroma comes from varieties like Cascade, Centennial, Citra or Mosaic, most of which come from the Pacific Northwest of the US. The bitterness, measured in IBU, ranges from 40 to 70 according to the BJCP guidelines.