Mango, Tangerine and Coconut: Hwy 50’s Single-hop, One Way IPAs

by Gary Ritz
10/12/2021

I love a good IPA as much as the next beer lover. As a brewer, I know most IPAs are made by combining two or more hop varieties to create the overall aromas and flavors we all enjoy. However, when you combine several hop varieties, you create amazing flavor and aroma profiles, but you miss getting to know a particular hop for its own individual characteristics.

And as we have discovered with our One Way IPA series, there are hop varieties out there that are absolutely worth getting to know on their own.

This is why we developed the Hwy 50 One Way series, an IPA with a relatively simple malt bill, intended to accentuate a single hop selection and let the malt take a back seat. Each new beer features a different hop variety and is brewed in such a way that highlights the characteristics of that hop, letting it shine solo.

Our One Way IPAs have featured Ekuanot, Sabro, Cashmere, and Mosaic hops, among others, each with its distinctive aroma and flavor.

Sabro for instance—one of my favorites—provided an incredible coconut flavor and aroma profile. We enjoyed Sabro so much, it will most likely be back. It was amazing to pull such a pronounced coconut character from a hop.

The hop attributes are not created with flavorings or additives, just hops.

Hops are a cone-shaped flower grown on a bine. Inside the cones is a yellow powder, called lupulin, which contain acids, resins, and essential oils. These are the source of bitterness, aroma, and flavor in beer. Like all flowers, each variety has its own unique natural qualities. The brewing process brings these out with temperature and timing.

Currently on tap is our One Way IPA that features Mosaic—a phenomenal hop with tropical flavors like mango and papaya. I believe it was Matt Brynildson (Firestone Walker Brewing Company) who said Mosaic is the hop that allows anybody to brew a good IPA! And I think he's right. It's an amazing hop that's used in many IPAs.

We wanted to allow Mosaic’s fruity character to shine all by itself, not in combination with other hops. It has turned out really well and has become a go-to-beer for many of our amazing guests.

We’re currently brewing a new single-hop IPA using Idaho 7 hops. This hop is described as having juicy tangerine flavors with notes of resiny pine and black tea. We’re excited about this one and are timing it to go on tap as soon as the Mosaic IPA is gone.

Because we want to showcase individual hops, Tyler and I make every effort to ensure we provide the same base beer for every One Way IPA. We use the same malt bill and keep our mash temperature very low to give a light dry body.

This process lets the hops really shine without interference from an overwhelming malt profile. It creates an even platform from hop to hop, and I don’t have to guess, for example, what changes the malt might have made in the finished beer.

The options for flavor and aroma profiles are endless! I've had single-hop beers from other breweries where two breweries use the exact same hop and get very different results—because the processes were different. Hop-addition timing, temperatures, and of course malt bills, all play a role in the finished beer.

Time to test the progress of the new One Way IPA featuring Idaho 7 hops.

I love experiencing each hop for exactly what it is. It’s exciting to compare and consider which ones I might select for future Hwy 50 Brewery beers.

And there are so many hop varieties available. Research into new varieties continues forward. Historically, it has taken roughly ten years to breed a new hop variety and make that hop available to the brewing community.

When a promising new hop shows up from a breeding program, hop farms have to decide how to use their limited acreage. Will they pull out a variety that’s not as relevant and replace it with the new? Will that new hop sell long term, or will it prove a mistake to have pulled out those older established bines? I don’t envy the hop farmers! They have to make tough decisions that have long term effects, good or bad.

The growing of hops and the making of beer have been with us for thousands of years. For most of that time, beer drinkers haven’t understood—or cared—what went into brewing their beer. They just wanted to drink up and enjoy!

Even a couple decades ago, I think a single-hop IPA like our One Way series might not have been met with much interest. It was the startup craft breweries of the 80s and 90s that took on the hard task of educating the beer drinking community as to what hops and malts will do for the beer they drink and to forge a break from the American light lager industry and into the craft beer world of today. They created a huge paradigm shift, and we, as craft beer drinkers, definitely reap the rewards. I certainly appreciate their foresight and perseverance that has given us the advantages we enjoy today.

As a result of those early endeavors, most beer drinkers today are fairly educated—especially craft beer drinkers. They have an expansive understanding of hop varieties and the different styles of beer. We make our One Way IPAs for them, for those wanting to learn more about craft beer, and also for those who are simply curious and enjoy exploring a variety of beers and discovering new favorites.

Not to be selfish, but sometimes I make a beer for myself. As much as I enjoy brewing our flagship beers, the ones we always keep on tap, I find that trying new and experimental things really keeps brewing exciting for me.

A brewer must have a scientific side because numbers are critical—measurements, weights, temperatures, timings. But there’s also a creative and artistic side just as critical to the craft. Our One Way IPAs are a fun way to feed and inform that creative side of me.

Have you tried any of our One Way IPAs? If so, please, let us know which hops you enjoy the most. Your input helps us decide our direction on future projects.

See you all at HWY 50 Brewery. Cheers!