Black Brewing XXXPA

An ‘XXXPA’ from WA’s Black Brewing is the first commercial application in Australia of a highly resinous new hop called Denali.

Black’s head brewer Paul Gasmier discovered the new hop while brewing for Ellerslie Hop as part of its experimental hop program.

“Ellerslie has a relationship with Steiner hops (Hopsteiner) who also had their own experimental [program] and one of the hops they were trialling was Denali,” he told Australian Brews News.

“Knowing what I’ve learnt about hops, I noticed straight away a massive difference in the make-up of the hop and thought, ‘I have to brew with that!’.”

Gasmier said that in terms of total oil content, Denali looks to be four times more powerful than Cascade.

The result is a 9.8 per cent ABV, 75 IBU XXXPA offering pineapple, candied orange and pine characters.

Just 30 kegs and 150 cartons of the beer are available, starting March 10.