New beer from old wine grape skins

“HBC are the same folks that developed Mosaic, Citra, Loral, Sabro, and Talus,” says Jeremy Moynier, Stone Brewing Sr. Manager of Innovation and Supply Chain, when discussing the brewery’s partnership with Hop Breeding Company. He continues, “We are very involved in hop research and hop exploration. We walk the fields with breeders every harvest and give feedback on experimental varieties that they have planted. We also do a lot of trialing on our pilot brew systems of these varieties in development, and will send beer and sensory data back to the breeders, growers, and vendors. It lets us experiment with new hops, and in turn, gives good feedback to those developing these newer hops. We have used several HBC hops over the years in many of our beers.”

The most recent selection from this partnership is 843, an experimental hop used in Stone’s upcoming Patio Magic Double IPA. According to Moynier, 843’s attributes are orange, berry (especially strawberry and raspberry), floral, and wood notes. And though it’s being used for a double IPA in this case, Moynier suggests that 843 could also work well in a lager or stout — though he has yet to try that. The new hop is combined with Mosaic, plus Southern Aroma hops from South Africa, which add notes of passion fruit and lychee.

In addition to its hop profile, Patio Magic boasts another unique ingredient: Phantasm. “This is our first commercial release with Phantasm, a grape skin extract from New Zealand,” explains Moynier. “White wine grapes are pressed off of the skins, and those can be thrown away or worked back into the soil, but here they are used to develop this innovative addition to beer. Phantasm contains Thiol precursors” — compounds that produce many of the desirable fruit characteristics also found in hops — “and when used with certain yeasts and hops, they can really intensify the flavor and aroma experience. Phantasm is fairly new,” he notes, “and we started trialing it over the summer last year.” Made from Sauvignon Blanc grapes, Phantasm contributes a juicy flavor and aromas of passion fruit and guava.

Patio Magic’s recipe features a simple malt bill, meant to let the hops, orange peel, and Phantasm come to the forefront. The result is a complex 8.8% ABV double IPA with flavors of citrus blossom honey, mango, cherry cordial, white wine, and papaya. On the nose, Patio Magic boasts hints of candied orange, mango, dank, floral, strawberry, and guava. The beer is a limited release, hitting shelves and taps on February 27. It joins another Stone limited release, 9 Minutes to Midnight Black IPA, which is part of Stone’s One Batch Dispatch program. The latest one-off release is a double dry-hopped Imperial black IPA, which has a small portion of Stone’s 25th Anniversary Triple IPA aged in whiskey barrels blended in for good measure.