Bend’s Worthy Brewing announced a new beer yesterday, made with a hop formerly known as X-331: StrataSphere IPA. What’s particularly notable about this hop is that it was developed special collaboration between Indie Hops (founded by Worthy owner Roger Worthington) and Oregon State University. Worthy has been experimenting with it extensively, and Crux Fermentation Project and Sierra Nevada Brewing have brewed with it as well.

The full press release is at the bottom of this post, but here’s some pertinent quotes:

Strata is an open-pollinated Perle that expresses many of the oils associated with mango, oranges, and other fruits and herbs.

Strata is the first hop creation to emerge from the OSU-IH aroma hop breeding program. It has superior disease resistance, the promise of substantial yields, and boasts a tropical and herbal flavor profile along with a dual purpose alpha acid level that render Strata a potential stand-alone, one-stop hop.

I sampled the new StrataSphere IPA, and it does have a nice fruity and slightly dank and catty presence. The beer is on draft only right now, and the brewery intends to package it in the future.

And then coming up the first weekend in February, the 4th and 5th, Worthy is celebrating their Golden Birthday—their fourth anniversary (on the 4th). They plan to celebrate all weekend with special beers, food specials, and even a commemorative glass for sale.

I reached out to Worthy’s new marketing manager, Shannon Hinderberger, for details. She said:

Brewer Dustin Kellner and team are brewing up a yet to be named India Golden Ale to be released on Feb 4 and on Feb 5, they will be re-releasing for a limited time Go Time eXtra Pale Ale. GTX was the first beer Worthy brewed.

We’ll also have culinary specials paired with the beers each day and a commemorative glass will be sold for $6 (which includes a fill).

If you’re interested, you can check out my post about the soft opening on February 4, four years ago.

And their expansion will be completed soon, with their Hopservatory and telescope going on line, their Hop Mahal banquet space, and expanded seating. I’ll note when that all goes live.

Here’s the full press release about StrataSphere IPA:

Worthy Brewing has launched StrataSphere IPA, a fruity India Pale Ale, which utilizes the new hop Strata, in kegs for distribution across four states, as well as in Worthy’s pub.
Strata, formerly known as X-331, has been an ongoing collaboration between Indie Hops and Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. Strata is an open-pollinated Perle that expresses many of the oils associated with mango, oranges, and other fruits and herbs.

Roger Worthington, the founder of Worthy Brewing, is also the co-founder of Indie Hops along with his childhood friend, Jim Solberg. They partnered up in 2009 and rebooted Oregon State University’s hop-breeding program with a $1 million donation. Under the leadership of Shaun Townsend, Ph.D, they have developed over 50 new aroma-centric genotypes that thrive in the Willamette Valley terroir.

Strata is the first hop creation to emerge from the OSU-IH aroma hop breeding program. It has superior disease resistance, the promise of substantial yields, and boasts a tropical and herbal flavor profile along with a dual purpose alpha acid level that render Strata a potential stand-alone, one-stop hop.

“I felt like a proud daddy whose baby girl just won the state title in the 100-meter dash, shot put and mile,” said Roger Worthington. “With the hop breeding program, we didn’t want to bring sand to the beach. Our goal was to generate aroma hops tailored to the Willamette Valley —with a unique aroma, high yields and high tolerance to viruses. This was all part of our utopian vision to revive hop farming in Oregon and bring worthy flavors to the craft market. ”

Worthy Brew Master Dustin Kellner was one of the first to experiment with Strata:
“It was an honor to fiddle around and experiment with this hop,” Kellner said. “The aroma Strata gives off and the finish product blew our mind and all expectations. It’s a staff favorite and received rave reviews in our pub.”
After assisting in the selection of the hop, Kellner and his team brewed four (4) pilot brews in the pursuit of a more perfect IPA. They came up with StrataSphere , an IPA with a tantalizing array of layers. Sensory panelists describe StrataSphere’s hop character as tropical, candied fruit and a light herbal dankness.

“From terra firma — pineapple, watermelon and a whiff of herbal dankness. From the jungle canopy — passion fruit, and mango. On the outer rim — detections of peaches, cotton candy, and juicy fruit gum,” Worthington says about his brewery’s most multi-layered beer.

StrataSphere IPA will be in draft only with intentions to go into package in the future. Kegs are distributed by Columbia Distribution in Oregon and Washington, Hodgen Distributing in Eastern Oregon, and by Hayden Beverage in Idaho through January.