Lucky Holler, our brand new hazy IPA for fall, was inspired by our annual pilgrimage to the Pacific Northwest for hop selection. Out in the Yakima Valley, we walk row after row of hops, inspecting the bines, crushing the cones in our hands and rubbing them until their oils fill the air.
“We go to Yakima to select hops for the beers that everybody knows and loves,” says Tröegs brewmaster and cofounding brother John Trogner. “Beers like Perpetual IPA, Nimble Giant and Nugget Nectar. And we’re also open to discovering new hops or combinations that might inspire us, an a-ha moment where a new recipe starts taking shape.”
After several test batches through our small-batch Scratch Series, we landed on a hop combination of Citra, Simcoe and the Australian variety Galaxy. The backbone of Lucky Holler is built with malted oats, pale malt, unmalted wheat and white wheat. That provides the beer’s hazy profile.
“Since last summer, we’ve brewed 15 or so hazy Scratch beers,” says Trogner. “We wanted to find out exactly how haze affects the flavor of a beer.” We discovered that haze plays an important role in flavor, propping up oils that would typically fall out during fermentation. “So the haze acts like a hop-oil delivery system to your palate,” John says.
In the end, Lucky Holler delivers bright waves of ripe pineapple, juicy citrus and ripe passionfruit. Fermenting with London-3 yeast adds hints of tropical gummies.
Weighing in at 6.8% ABV, this hazy, hoppy harvest ale joins our popular Hop Cycle series of seasonally rotating IPAs. Lucky Holler is available throughout late summer and fall on draft and in 12-oz. cans and bottles wherever Tröegs beer is sold.
Find it near you at www.troegs.com/brewfinder.
