ALORA™ HOPS

This week for Fresh Hop Friday we are featuring Alora™ hops.
Alora™ is a newer hop from the great minds at Hopsteiner, who is known for their unique hop varieties and hop products.
They discovered something surprising with Alora™ that has resulted in a very unique hop unlike many of the other hops on the market.

Peach in your face

Alora™ boasts huge peach and apricot notes that we haven't seen from any other hop on the market. In addition to the prominent stone fruit flavors, Alora™ has layers of yuzu, sweet melon, orange and citrus.

What about selinene?

Alora™ has a very unique oil composition, including over 50% selinene. Selinene is a very rare oil that is not commonly found in most hops on the market, and Alora™ has A LOT of it. This selinene is believed to be a major contributor to the insane peach and stone fruit flavors, something that is exceedingly rare in other hops. During initial trials, the selinene was originally labeled as "unclassified" while they worked to identify what this compound was.

But wait... there's more!

THIOLS! Actually, bound thiol precursors to be exact, and a lot of it. Alora™ contains a high amount of 3MH, over 5 times more than Cascade. 3MH is a thiol compound responsible for the tropical, passion fruit and citrus notes. To convert those thiol precursors into free thiols, products like Thiolized yeast or Phantasm can be used to unlock Alora's full potential.

THE NUMBERS

As we mentioned earlier, Alora™ has a very unique oil composition. The main standout here is the selinene content, which is 50% or higher. In most hops, selinene is extremely low or even non-existent, while myrcene and humulene typically dominate. Alora's myrcene content is quite low, so this is truly a unique hop from an oil composition standpoint.

Most modern hops boast a high myrcene content, which results in punchy citrus and grapefruit notes. But Alora's selinene produces a much softer peach / apricot flavor without as much citrus bite. This allows Alora™ to shine in many different beer styles, particularly styles where softer fruit expression is desired. The bound thiol precursors and stone fruit notes can produce fantastic modern IPAs and hazy NEIPAs, while its subtle peach and melon notes and lower myrcene content also make it well suited for lighter beer styles.

Selinene is also special for other reasons. For one, it is less volatile than hop oils like myrcene. This means more stability and longer-lasting flavors and aroma retention in the finished product.

While the selinene content is extremely high in Alora™, the overall oil content is on the lower side at 0.8–1.3 mL/100g. The lower overall oil content generally means larger additions may be required to achieve explosive IPA-level intensity, although Alora's stable selinene and high thiol potential help it punch above its weight.

It's not just one-dimensional either. Alora™ also has some myrcene and humulene on board, which adds a touch of complexity and ensures that Alora™ is not a flat or boring hop.

ALORA™ IS AN ANOMALY

At least for now...
Alora™ is fascinating because it contains the same major hop oils as most hops, but in very different proportions, plus an unusually large amount of selinene, which is rarely a major player in hop chemistry. The result is a hop that smells fundamentally different from almost everything else on the market. Its aroma isn't built around the usual citrus-resin engine—it's built around a rare oil that most hops barely contain at all. Alora™ is one of the few commercially available hops whose identity is driven by an exceptionally high concentration of selinene, making its aroma chemistry fundamentally different from nearly every other modern aroma hop on the market.

So if you're looking to truly try something new, Alora™ might just be what you're after.