Lublin Hops: A Polish Hop of Tradition & Nobility

History of Lublin Hops

Poland is a country steeped in farming tradition. Even today, more than 60% of the country’s land is dedicated to farming. Hops have made up an important part of this farming culture since at least the 14th century.

Poland’s climate was even thought, by some, to be more fitting to grow hops (PDF) because they tended to mature earlier than in other countries.

The exact history of the Lublin, also known as Lubelski, hop is vague. It is named for Lublin, the town around which most of its acreage is situated, though it is also grown in the regions of Opole and Poznan.

Lublin is considered Poland’s oldest and most traditional hop variety. It is also one of Poland’s most popular hops and, as of the 2015/2016 growing year (PDF), had the most dedicated acreage of any aroma variety grown in the country.

It is considered a fine aroma hop, on par with the noble varieties; a supposition backed by the long-held belief that it is a landrace cultivar of the Czech Saaz variety. It is unclear whether this parentage has been confirmed as fact or not, but most resources tend agree with the connection, and the similarity in characteristics lends weight to the probability.

The high amounts of farnesene oil found in Lublin hops (12%) give it a rather unique aroma characteristic of marigolds and lavender. This same oil is released by aphids as an alarm pheromone, which lets other aphids know to run or stay away, making Lublin hops less susceptible to aphids.

Incidentally, marigolds also contain farnesene, thus the associated smell. But it also makes marigolds helpful to have around if you’re having trouble with aphids on your hop plants.

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How to Grow & Brew Lublin Hops

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.

As far as I can tell from my research, including this nice chart of patents (PDF), Lublin hops do not have any sort of protection on it; but neither can I find anywhere that sells rhizomes online.

At the very least, it seems Lublin would be a hard one for the home grower to get their hands on, especially in the U.S. On the up side most of the Noble hops would run pretty close to Lublin’s character. So, if you are looking to plant some hops that can provide noble hop character, you could try varieties such as Saaz, Tettnenger, or Spalt.

General Characteristics:

This hop variety grows in light or medium heavy soils and features dark green leaves.

• Growth Rate — Fair to Moderate
• Yield — Low, 800-1120 lbs/acre
• Cones — A medium sized, fluffy loose cone, with a golden-green color
• Maturity — Early Season
• Susceptible To — Viruses
• Resistant To — Downy Mildew
• Ease of Harvest — Difficult
• Storage — Good, maintains 70% to 75% alpha acid content after 6 months storage at 68°F.

Sensory Description:

Lublin is known for a pleasant, spicy/herbal and floral aroma character including notes of marigold, lavender, tea, and lemon; mild, refreshing, and Noble-like.

Availability:

Can be ordered on the web from some U.S. homebrew suppliers as pellets, but I couldn’t find any selling whole cone. They are probably easier to find in Europe.

Use:

Lublin is most often used as a finishing hop because of its delicate aroma qualities. However, it may find limited duty as a bittering hop, especially in a beer where this is the single hop being used. As a flavor addition it will lend a subtle spiciness. Don’t forget about dry hopping either, particularly if you want to get the full beauty of the aroma character.

Can Substitute With/For These Hops:

These are general substitutions and are not perfect Lublin clones in any respect. Each hop variety is unique in some way, so do not expect the exact same beer you’d get using Boadicea hops. Obviously this goes the other direction too, using Lublin when noble hops aren’t available.

• Saaz
• Sterling
• Spalter
• Tettnanger

Common Beer Styles Using Lublin Hops:

• Pilsners
• Lagers
• Golden Ales
• Porters
• Blondes

Commercial Examples:

Commercial examples using this hop variety aren’t all that easy to find and even harder to find in the U.S. Ithaca Brewing was the only company I found that used Lublin in some of their core beers. Keep your eyes open though, because I did find several past limited-release brews’ making use of this hop.

Though hard to come by, you may want to make the effort, and find some examples… for research purposes of course. The more examples you can try the better your understanding will be of this hop’s aroma and flavor profile, how it works in different styles, and maybe get some ideas how you want to apply it in your own brewing adventures.

Uses Only Lublin Hops:

• Mount Lublin from The Beer Studio (United Kingdom)
• Anniversary18 Baltic Porter from Ithaca Brewing Company

Uses Lublin With Other Hop Varieties:

• Cayuga Cruiser from Ithaca Beer Company — Also uses Syubilla.
• Midnight Sun from Ithaca Beer Company — Also uses German Mittlefruh, Magnum.
• Chesil from Dorset Brewing Company — Also uses Ammonite.
• Lublin from Dublin collaboration Beers between Ohara’s (Ireland) and Pinta (Poland)- Also uses ?
• Cuvee Cascade from Brasserie Castelain (France) — Also uses Tettnang, Magnum, and Cascade.

Cheers!

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