This week we will release our sixth Woodcut brew, an oak-aged American ale featuring Mosaic hops. It’s the first dry hopped offering we’ve ever done in the series, and is the result of over a year of collaboration between the Mosaic hop farmers and our team.

It all started back in 2010. We shared some Woodcut 4 with Jason Perrault (a 4^th generation Yakima Valley hop farmer), and he loved it. He and Brad Carpenter (his family began growing hops in the valley in 1868) then shared some experimental hops with us, and we loved them!

We began experimenting with the hops, known only as “HBC 369” at the time. They offered a very unique flavor and aroma…much more fruity, sweet, and tropical as compared to the traditional piney, spicy, earthy aromatic hops used in most IPA’s.  We decided to invite Jason and Brad out to the brewery to brew Woodcut No. 6 with us. At that point, they had decided on “Mosaic” as the name of this remarkable new hop.

Our brewers included both Mosaic and another yet-to-be-named experimental variety in the kettle and Hopback, but the beer was dry hopped with 100% Mosaic hops. As with all of our Woodcut offerings, we aged the beer in virgin American oak barrels for several months.

The final blend combines the intricate and delicate tropical fruit sweetness of the Mosaic hop with the traditional vanilla and toasted oak flavors from the barrels.

We’ll celebrate the release of Woodcut No. 6 this Saturday in the Tap Room and will be pouring it at The Great American Beer Festival, October 11th – 13th.

Cheers,

Brent

Brent Cordle is the Barrel Aging/Pilot System Manager for Odell Brewing