WHAT IS IT?

All you could ever need to know!

OVERVIEW

This year the UnderDog hop is CHINOOK!

The UnderDog Brewing Competition is all about the skilled brewer. We invite craft brewers across the European continent to take part in a BATTLE OF THE BEERS to show us their talent, creativity and dedication to flavor. By banning the use of the most popular and dominating hop varieties, this competition gives brewers the opportunity to show what they can do with an under-used, FULL-OF-POTENTIAL hop.

The victor will brew a beer that delivers a balanced, flavorful beer displaying the characteristics and ESSENCE of Chinook. A thorough description of the piney Chinook is found a bit farther down, and you can find Chinook products on our webshop here.

Registration closes at midnight on 4 February 2022 and all entry beers must be received by end of business day on Tuesday 15 March 2022. We have two locations to make it as easy as possible for you to send in your entry; please see the addresses listed in the Rules page.

AWARD

You’re battling for THREE INSPIRING PRIZES! Yes that’s right, the UnderDog will have First, Second, and Third place winners! All three winning breweries will get HOP CREDIT, either straight away in a direct bank transfer or paid to their hop contracts. Each winning brewery will additionally win their choice of the BarthHaas BREWING SOLUTIONS TEAM services as described below. Then, as the gold medalists, the First Place Champions will get TWO guaranteed spots on a BarthHaas HOP HARVEST TOUR and up to £500 per person towards their transportation!

Each of the three winning breweries can further level up their skills by choosing either the Academic Deep Dive or the Premium Brewing Experience from the BarthHaas Brewing Solutions Team’s technical services. The ACADEMIC DEEP DIVE is the complete five-part Hop Flavorist Course to become a Master of Hops and total know-it-all.  For the PREMIUM BREWING EXPERIENCE, you’d brew alongside the Brewing Solutions Team for a few days at the Nuremberg Campus Brewery, including your choice of hopping experiments on the extensive Campus brew equipment in order to increase your practical understanding of hop flavor in beer. (Sorry, travel/accommodation/subsistence not included for this one!)

Additionally, as ambassadors for beer excellence, we’ll also give you promotion through our digital and social media platforms. Check out the Winners’ Circle page to see the previous Champions and what exceptional company you’d be in…

And finally: You’ll get your brewery’s name on the best TROPHY going. Priceless.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO?

We want you to brew a beer that showcases the rich piney, citrus qualities of Chinook (tasting notes below). Appropriate beer styles are all iterations of HOP-FORWARD BREWS, such as IPA, golden ale, session pale, a crazy hazy or an enormous DIPA… we want you to brew a beer that you feel makes the most of this hop’s attributes. Who knows? It may turn out to be your next core beer.

  1. REGISTER for the competition online before 11:59pm GST 4th February 2022.
  2. On registration, Plucky will email you a unique code allowing you to purchase up to 25kg of Chinook with a 15% DISCOUNT from the BarthHaas X webshop.
  3. BREW an amazing, hop-forward beer which really showcases Chinook’s qualities.
  4. Send your precious beer creation AND completed Beer Info Form to us before the DEADLINE on Tuesday 15th March, 2022.

Plucky is always available to answer any questions and to help you! Reach out to plucky@barthhhaasX.com

SO WHAT IS CHINOOK LIKE?

CHINOOK is a triple threat- it can be used for aroma and flavor, and also can add bitterness. The main attributes you’ll notice in a Chinook beer are CITRUS AND SWEET FRUITS, with pine and some herbal notes.

You will often hear Chinook described as bright GRAPEFRUIT and resiny PINE but additional nuance found in this variety includes FENNEL spiciness with an undertone of basil herbal notes. Typically when Chinook is used in a beer, alongside citrus and the classic woody resin there is a fairly significant sweet fruit presence. Quite a bouquet!

With every variety, the raw hops will express different qualities than when the hop is in an infusion or used on the hot side. To TRY SOME FOR YOURSELF, reach out to your regular BarthHaas contact to request a sample. Supplies limited!

For information about the descriptors above, refer to the BarthHaas Hopsessed Tasting Scheme and the Chinook variety page at the following links.

TASTING SCHEME    MORE ON CHINOOK

JUDGING CRITERIA 

All eligible beers will be judged using a SINGLE BLIND tasting method by an independent panel of industry PROFESSIONALS using the following criteria: 

  • Ability to effectively deliver typical sensory attributes of the Chinook hop variety. 
  • Ability to deliver a pleasant and balanced flavor. 
  • Ability to deliver a pleasant and balanced aroma. 
  • Ability to deliver a pleasant and balanced aftertaste. 
  • Appropriate beer style. 

The following criteria will NOT be considered in determining the UnderDog Champion:

  • The entry’s bottle/can labeling or packaging. 
  • Any other factor outside the stated judging criteria. 

In the event of a tie, the final decision will be made by the independent head judge.  

Here are some examples of appropriate BJCP styles from the 2015 guidelines: 

12A British Golden Ale
12B Australian Sparkling Ale
12C English IPA
18A Blonde Ale
18B American Pale Ale
21A American IPA
21B Specialty IPAs (this includes Black, Red, Rye, White, New England…)
22A Double IPA
22B American Strong Ale 

View complete descriptions of ALL beer styles in the following document: https://www.bjcp.org/docs/2015_Guidelines_Beer.pdf

REGISTER