Ep 03 - Beyond the Rub & Sniff - Henry Smith

The rub & sniff is the staple of every hop assessment we do. But are there questions we can ask our hop farmer or merchant as well as the rub and sniff that will better understand the hops you are assessing? This episode is with Henry Smith formally the youngest hop farmer in Europe and a generational hop farmer. 02:26 - The rub & sniff10:55 - Alpha Acids and hop quality14:08 - The hop manufacturing process19:30 - The 3 tier kiln system22:41 - Cold storage24:49 - Hop pellet process38:07 - How important is country, climate and soil?43:55 - Hop growing technology and analytics46:04 - Hop diseases and it’s regionality 48:44 - The future of hop growing51:04 - What questions should you be asking to get great hops?Thank you to our sponsor Brewing Trade, a platform to not only buy high quality hops direct, but also sell your over contracted ones!🔗 Chris' LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-lewington/ 🔁 Brewing Trade - https://www.brewingtrade.com/