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29th November 2012

Oakham Ales First Brewery To Use Native American Hop ‘Humulus Lupulus Neomexicanus’ Nicknamed ‘Multihead’

Oakham Ales, the acclaimed innovative brewery based in the East Midlands is no stranger to using American hops for the first time in the UK. Oakham Ales was the first brewery to launch a single hop varietal beer using the Citra hop in November 2009, then, in November 2011 it was the Baby Belma hop. December 2012 heralds the launch of Oakham’s ‘Multihead’ beer (the nickname for the ‘Humulus Lupulus Neomexicanus’ hop), for the first time in the UK.

The beer is once again a result of the Brewery’s Production Director, John Bryan, being introduced to the hop on his annual research trip to the USA. The grower, Eric Desmarais, introduced Multihead to John when he was visiting his farm in Moxee, a small town in Yakima County, Washington.   Eric had acquired the hop from a friend who has grown unusual hops in the mountainous area of the Yakima Valley for the past twenty years.

John’s good working relationship with the growers, built up over the years, has enabled him to have first option and he arranged to have the whole crop of ‘Multihead’ flown over to Peterborough. He has enough in the brewery to produce 60 barrels of beer which will be available from the first week of December 2012.

Light in colour with an A.B.V. of 4.8% John Bryan describes the beer as having a fruity aroma similar to “boiled sweets and pear drops.  The initial taste is tart softening to reveal some fruity sweetness with an accumulating bitterness.”

Adrian Posnett, Managing Director of Oakham Ales comments: “It’s fantastic to have a UK first for the third time.  We may not be the largest brewer in the UK, but we are proud to lead the way regarding innovation”

Multihead will be on draught nationally through the free trade and via selected distributors from December 2012. For further sales information contact Oakham Ales on telephone: 01733 370500 or e-mail: sales@oakhamales.com

 

For further information visit:  http://www.oakhamales.com or follow Oakham Ales on Twitter and Facebook. 
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For further press information please contact:
Gill Shaffer
Mint Communications
Mobile: 00 44 (0) 7958 989124 or (00(0)17992 18353

 

 

DOI: November 2012