Welcome back Comet. Comet hops have been around since the 1970s and are a crossbreed of British and wild American hops. At the time they were bred for higher alpha acid content, allowing for less hops to be used during the boil while retaining the same amount of bitterness. Many brewers at the time found the flavors and aromas of Comet hops objectionable. Flavor aromas such as citrus, herbal and earthy elements, and marijuana all distracted from the clean lager tastes favored at the time. These days you can hardly find an IPA without one of the adjectives listed above. Many tout the prominent citrus presence or tropical notes of the new age hops that have been released in the past few years. Others come with description such as strawberry, lychee, and lingonberries, odd new combinations that will have to stand up with malt and yeast interaction. Comet has several decades on these new hops and has started to re-emerge again, after nearly being cut completely from being grown. It has taken on the industry nickname of “Citra’s little sister.” Peaks and Pints welcomes back Comet with today’s five-beer sample flight we call Craft Beer Crosscut 4.8.17: A Flight of Comet.
Founders Comet IPA
6.7% ABV, 50 IBU
Founders Brewing Co., located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has been churning out beers since its founding in 1997 — but, until recently, only to the eastern half of the United States. A $26 million, 165,000-barrel expansion of its Grand Rapids taproom and production facility, however, has allowed the company to expand distribution quite a bit. Founders focuses on brewing the beers that got them excited about brewing in the first place: complex, crazy, drop-your-pants kinds of brew. You might not drop your pants for Comet IPA, but the brew with the namesake hop variety, Comet, is crushable with solid grassy hop flavor with hints of floral and an excellent malt base.
Sierra Nevada Tropical Torpedo
6.7% ABV, 55 IBU
Sierra Nevada fired up its hop torpedo — a device the brewery designed to dry-hop beer through one or more torpedoes slowly for four days, ensuring that all the desired oils are extracted from the whole hops — and added a little hula. The Chico, California brewery took its Torpedo Extra IPA, named for the device, and Comet, Citra, Mosaic and El Dorado add drops of trop with passionfruit and mango aromas and flavor (we taste pine and grapefruit rind too) with a sexy bitter finish, thanks to our friend Amarillo.
Iron Horse Beer Wolf
6.8% ABV, 55 IBU
In January 1984, TV drama series Airwolf hit the airwaves loaded with action and adventure thanks to its true star — a science-fiction helicopter named Airwolf. The storylines in Airwolf were full of espionage and danger, but they also focused on friendship and trust. In January 2017, Iron Horse Brewery’s Beer Wolf hit the streets with action and adventure thanks to its true stars — Comet, Centennial and Chinook hops. The storylines in beer wolf are full of resinous and grapefruit flavors, but also focuses on friendship and trust.
The Hop Concept Galaxy & Comet
8% ABV, 72 IBU
California’s Port/Lost Abbey launched a new line extension in 2015 dubbed, The Hop Concept. The Hop Freshener series featured some of the THC’s first beers, focusing on how hops change IPAs. The Hop Concept India pale ales focus on the dry-hopping process, focusing on how the brewing technique changes smell and aroma. In this case, Galaxy and Comet hops. Galaxy and Comet IPA, releasing for only the second time with a tweak in the recipe, continues The Hop Concept’s exploration into partnering select hops together. The Galaxy hop is front and center, lending notes of passion fruit, citrus and peach. The Comet hops packs a wildly bitter punch with a blend of grapefruit, lemon and orange flavors.
Ninkasi Ground Control
10% ABV, 80 IBU
Consider space. Albert became the first monkey in space June 11, 1948, when NASA sent a V2 rocket carrying him up 83 miles. Laika the dog became the first Earth-born creature to orbit the Earth when the Russians sent her into space atop a Sputnik rocket on Nov. 3, 1957. Countless astronauts have since ventured into space, traveling as far as the moon. So is it surprising that Eugene beer maker Ninkasi Brewing decided to launch several vials of yeast into space aboard a rocket and then retrieve the yeast to brew beer from it? Live long and prosper, Ninkasi. In October 2014, six vials of brewer’s yeast traveled up 77.3 miles aboard a UP Aerospace Inc. rocket, returning safely to Earth and cold-transported back to Ninkasi’s lab in Eugene, where it was propagated and tested before being used to ferment Ground Control, a rich, complex imperial stout brewed with Oregon hazelnuts, star anise and cocoa nibs, hops of Apollo, Bravo and Comet, and fermented with an ale yeast that survived a trip to space and back. Enjoy this creamy, milk chocolate stout with almonds, touch of vanilla, bourbon and a little licorice. The mission ends smooth and warm.
