African Queen Hops: The Secretive South African Variety

History of African Queen Hops

AB InBev’s announcement that they would not be releasing any South African hop varieties to the craft brewers outside of SA, reportedly because of a bad harvest season caused by drought in the region, got me thinking about… what else? South African hops.

There was the expected outcry over this news, and though I can understand the frustration, especially coming on the tail of Wicked Weed’s purchase by Ab InBev, this article in All About Beer, written by Lucy Corne, at the very least, should broaden the perspective somewhat. Perhaps this move by AB InBev has put some light where it needed to be… on the fact that it sounds like South African craft brewers are not being allowed full and complete access to their countries harvest before it is given up to export.

African Queen is one of the newest and most exciting varieties to come out of South Africa’s breeding program. Unfortunately, it is also unlikely to be seen by either home or commercial craft brewers outside of South Africa at least for this year — possibly longer if the recent warmer, drier weather continues in the region.

This hop variety is also the culmination, thus far, of the only successful hop farming industry at low latitudes. Hops do best in environments between the 40° and 54°N parallel. The city of George in the Western Cape, where all South Africa’s hops are farmed, is well below this ideal band at 34°S. The area gets about 3 hours less sunlight than in the best hop growing regions, thus sodium lights are used for a portion of the growing season. There is also ongoing research to breed new uniquely African varieties that can do well under these natural growing conditions.

The breeding program that led to African Queen was started in 1998 by Gerrie Britz, a hop breeder for South African Breweries. Its pedigree is a mysterious mix of two experimental varieties, simply designated as 91J7/25 and 94US2/118.

Beverley-Anne Joseph started work at the SAB Rob Roy Research and Development Centre in 2006, and immediately started helping Britz with the breeding program. In 2010, she took over.

For the duration of the breeding and evaluation phase the hop was known simply by the designation J-17-63, or J-17. In 2014, the hop was finally unveiled to the market and was later named African Queen.

Because it is one of the newest hop varieties to be developed in South Africa there is little information out there about the plant description, yield, and storability. Hopefully more information will become available shortly.

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Hop Profile & How to Brew

Unfortunately, the African Queen variety is under National Protection (PDF), so rhizomes are not available to home gardeners. But, there are several other varieties available for those seeking the satisfaction of growing and brewing with their own hops. Popular varieties to consider include: Centennial, East Kent Goldings, Saaz, and Magnum to name but a few.

If you plan on growing hops in your backyard, we would make a few recommendations to help you in your endeavors. Before you choose the variety you want to grow, it is a good idea to talk to other local growers or possibly someone at your local homebrew supply store. They may be able to point you toward varieties that grow well in your area.

General Characteristics:

Unfortunately, not much is known about this variety. We will update the areas below as we learn more, but if you can help provide information in these areas, please leave a comment down below.

• Growth Rate — ?
• Yield — ?
• Cones — ?
• Maturity — ?
• Susceptible to — ?
• Resistant to — ?
• Ease of Harvest — ?
• Storage — ?

Sensory Description:

African Queen presents an interesting and good balance between bittering potential and fruity flavors. The fruity aroma can include hints of blueberries, cassis, passion fruit, citrus, stone fruit, black currant, iced tea, lemongrass, gooseberry, and even chili.

You can find a spider graph of African Queen’s flavor profile here.

Availability:

They are available online at a few retailers, but it is unlikely that they will be around long or be available again for awhile.

Use:

With its higher alpha acid content African Queen can play both sides of the boil; making it a good dual-purpose hop. It’s a variety that’s begging to be used in a single hop IPA or Pale ale.

You could also pair it with a clean bittering high alpha hop and use it only for the flavor/aroma additions. Seasonal styles using fruit and/or spices as a main theme may fit particularly well with this variety. And don’t forget to throw it in as a dry hop addition to really get that full unique aroma kick.

Can Substitute With/For These Hops:

These are general substitutions and are not perfect African Queen clones in any respect. Each hop variety is unique in some way, so do not expect the exact same beer you’d get using African Queen. You may need to do some blending experimentation to get a truer substitute for this unique hop.

• Amarillo
• Cascade
• Mosaic
• Simcoe
• Citra

Common Beer Styles Using African Queen Hops:

• Pale Ales & IPAs
• Golden Ales
• Porters & Stouts
• Belgian Strongs
• Belgian Golden
• Fruit/Spice Beers
• Autumn Seasonals
• Winter Seasonals
• Spice, Herb, Vegetable Beers

Commercial Examples:

There are few widely available commercial beers made with this hop and they are only going to get harder to find. If you get the chance, try the below listed beers and always keep an eye out at your local brew pubs for one-time brews that make use of this exotic variety. This, ummm… research will deepen your understanding of how African Queen works in different beer styles, as well as how you can work it into your own recipes.

Uses Only African Queen:

• The Bachelor from Societe Brewing Company
• Single Hop African Queen from Hermitage Brewing Company

Uses African Queen With Other Hop Varieties:

• 2Hop Pale Ale from Faction Brewing Company — Also used Southern Passion
• Nitro Chocolate Stout from Tröegs Brewing Company — Also uses Simcoe and Warrior
• Divine Smite from Modern Times Beer — Also uses Calypso, El Dorado, Horizon, Nugget

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