Bloomington Brewing Co.'s Indiana Pale Ale created with patented hops from Monroe County

What kind of beer can a Bloomington brewing company create using patented hops grown on a Monroe County farm? A select group of people took the first taste on Nov. 27 at Bloomington Brewing Company of the brew, Indiana Pale Ale.

The hops were handpicked by Mike and Bev Baker on their Clearview Farm, where the patented CV12 hops are being grown. Less than two bushels of hops were dried and turned into pellets — just enough to fill an approximate 10-by-8-inch package — so head BBC brewer Zech Algood could create the beer.

"Our goal was to get enough to make a small batch," Algood said while seated at a table to taste the ale for the first time.

Indiana Pale Ale has a peach aroma, Algood said, swirling his glass of the still-cloudy brew. After a taste, he proclaimed the beer had hints of peach, citrus and mango. The next step is to let the beer settle and add carbonation so it can be shared at a private tasting later this month.

People won't be able to purchase this beer in a bottle or can anytime soon. There won't be enough. However, CV12, and potentially other CV hops varieties, could help in developing new hops that can flourish as the areas in the Pacific Northwest — where the majority of hops used in beer making are grown — experience warmer, drier weather, which most hop plants cannot tolerate.

Why is this Indiana Pale Ale a special brew?

CV12 is unique. There are no other varieties of hops grown in Indiana. In 2017, Mike Baker was told by a geneticist that the hops growing on his farm north of Bloomington wasn't in any database and therefore were previously unknown.

That began the process of growing new varieties of the original hops plant, known by its trademarked name as CVC (Clear View Control), in order to see if any might yield a good mug of beer.

What makes the hops special is that for about 100 years, they've been growing in Indiana's hot summers and cold winters — not the typical climate for hops. Baker believes the German family who settled on the property he now owns planted the hops for use in bread making, a common practice at the time. Since then the hops continued to grow, until they were rediscovered in 2017.

Now rows of cultivated varieties have been added to the farm as Baker and the co-owners of CV Hops work to develop new, improved hops that can better tolerate hotter climates and poorer soil conditions.

Besides growing where no other hops currently do, the CV12 hops are unusual because the plants produce cones the first year. Cones, or flowers, are the hop portion of the plant and are what brewers use to add aroma, flavor and bitterness to beer. Most hops don't form good cones until the third year, Algood explained.

The CV12 hops also are disease and insect resistant — a trait that makes "it potentially valuable," Baker said.

The beginning of CV12: New hops variety patented after pre-prohibition variety discovered on Monroe County farm

What's next for CV12 and Indiana Pale Ale?

The next step, according to Baker and Algood, is to complete the brewing process and let a select group of people taste Indiana Pale Ale. There will be less than 40 pints when the beer is complete, which should yield about 240 samples, Algood said.

After that, Baker and his co-founders of CV Hops LLC will try to find someone willing to grow the patented hops in bigger quantities to potentially produce more beer.

"We would like to find a grower in Indiana or Michigan to plant our hops on a larger scale," Baker said in an email. "We are trying to contact Purdue to see if they can help us with promotion of the only Patented hops from Indiana."

Baker said the U.S. Department of Agriculture currently has been funded for a multi-year study searching for hops that grow in hotter climates and are disease resistant — the exact characteristics of CV12 hops.

"We have reached out to them to see if there is interest in looking at what we have developed," Baker said. "It’s really all about the genetics. Having Bloomington Brewing Co. produce a beer using our hops will hopefully show that we have a hops growing in Indiana, from Indiana, that produces a flavor profile (comparable) to some of the top Pacific Northwest hops. Plus, it will be fun to have friends try it!"

Reach Carol Kugler at ckugler@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington Brewing Co. creates Indiana Pale Ale with patented hops