When Yakima Chief Hops (YCH) introduced what the company initially labeled LupuLN2 just five years ago, theirs was not the first concentrated hop product available—but it was the one that would change the hop-pellet landscape. The differences between one pellet and another are not as obvious, at first glance, as the difference between Type 90 pellets and whole cones. However, their impact on aroma and flavor may be more dramatic.
“There are times when T-90s need extra oomph,” says Brannen Morris at Creature Comforts near Atlanta. That brewery was among the first to use LupuLN2—now simply known as Cryo Hops—and more recently was a trial site for CGX Lupulin Pellets from Crosby Hops. Morris hasn’t used every new product developed, but he has established a routine for evaluating them.