Hops are the soul of a beer. Sensory tasting is becoming increasingly essential in the modern world of brewing science. Be it a brewery, microbrewery or a casual conversation among the beer connoisseurs as well as consumers. Over the last decade, the use of hops in brewing has significantly skyrocketed with the emergence of hop forward ales courtesy of IPAs, Double and New England Style IPAs. That being said, it has become challenging for a layman or even beer enthusiasts for that matter to describe the hop aroma and flavour accurately with an ideal vocabulary. This is where Barth Haas’ hop flavorist course comes in which trains and educates the industry to understand hop sensory in a right way.
The course is unique and the world's most comprehensive course for training true experts in the flavors of hops. Immerse yourself in the universe of hops with Barth Haas’ hop flavorist course and follow a structured syllabus covering the language and secrets of experiencing hops through taste and other senses.
[caption id="attachment_24473" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
Whole cone hops[/caption]
The Levels
Barth Haas hop flavorist course is spread across five levels where each level is tougher than its predecessor. All Hop Flavorist courses must be completed within one year. The introductory course i.e. Level 1, serves as the basic prerequisite for all participants. Level 2, 3 and 4 can be booked by interested parties according to their preferences but for the grand finale (level 5), participation in Hop Flavorist Level 1 to 4 is a prerequisite.
[caption id="attachment_24474" align="aligncenter" width="885"]
Picture credits: Barth Haas[/caption]
Level 1 – The Connoisseur
Level 1 is all about getting started by diving right into the basics of evaluating flavour by sense. This is where you will be tasked to write down all the flavours or aromas that your senses are able to pick up. This is surely not as easy as it sounds. Fruits, herbs and other natural aromas set up the building blocks for learning and to work with a range of well-known hop varieties.
Level 2 – The Sommelier
Here, your sensory memory is put to a flavor test by a range of hop varieties. This is to strengthen your senses by establishing connections between your appreciation of aroma and your brain's ability to describe flavours more accurately.
Level 3 – The Sniffer
This is where you will come across the production and modification of aromas in the brewing process. Level 3 takes the course a notch up where the trainees will have to sniff and understand the aromas of different hops. This will allow your senses to distinguish even the most similar hop varieties according to several categories.
[caption id="attachment_24475" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
Picture credits: Barth Haas[/caption]
Level 4 – The Clairvoyant
The fourth stage of hop flavorist course will bring you the effects of climate on hops. Every year as the hops are harvested, they change. Aroma, flavour or the vitals won’t be the same as the previous year. One of the reasons is, of course, climate. This level clearly addresses these issues and takes a step further to identify the subtle differences among 250 unique varieties of hops available around the world.
[caption id="attachment_24476" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
Picture credits: Barth Haas[/caption]
Level 5 – The Master
This is the ultimate level for the hop expert. It will have the right tools for innovative flavour design and assessment. At level 5, you will master all of your senses to understand every aspect of the green flower.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic there has also been an extensive digital training program. The digital campus offers a comprehensive professional training portfolio for brewers, beer sommeliers, and beer enthusiasts worldwide. They range from guided tastings to courses on recipes, sensory characteristics, harvesting or the market situation.
