Comet sightings

A new old hop is streaking across the local beer universe.

Comet – with its combination of fruity, tropical and grassy, earthy characteristics – is the signature hop in No-Li’s new Poser pale ale and stars in single-hop specialties released over the last week at both Waddell’s Brewpub and Perry Street .

Despite the flashy name, it’s actually been a bit of a dud on the market until now.

Comet was developed in the 1960s as a cross between a British hop, English Sunshine, and wild American hops collected from Logan Canyon in Utah. It was pitched in the ‘70s as a bittering hop because it contained what was then a relatively high amount of alpha acids, which give beer its bitterness.

But it was too pungent for its own good in those days of less hoppy, mass-market beers. Comet is high in cohumulone, an alpha acid that tends to produce a more harsh bitterness. And the USDA noted that it had a “wild American aroma that is objectionable to some brewers.”

Commercial Comet production pretty much died out during the 1980s, after the arrival of cleaner, higher-alpha hops. But it’s seen a resurgence in recent years, given the increased interest in bolder, hoppier beers, first with home brewers and now among professionals.

“It’s being sold as yet another Citra substitute,” says Perry Street owner/brewer Ben Lukes, referring to the red-hot, often hard-to-get (or afford) hop famed for its intense tropical fruit character.

He’s not convinced Comet really fits that bill. Indeed, Lukes’ new Comet pale ale (5 percent alcohol by volume, 35 International Bitterness Units), the latest in a series of single-hop pales, is considerably less fruity and more grassy than his recent all-Citra offering. The crisp, dry-leaning beer, made with toasty aromatic and Vienna malts, seems to bring out the hop’s sharper side.

Waddell’s softer, smoother spring seasonal Hop Comet (5.5, 37), with some Munich malt richness and a touch of caramel malt sweetness, teases out more of the fruitiness – brewer Bryan Utigard picks out passionfruit, tangerine and melon – before finishing grassy and spicy.

Comet also shares center stage in Odell’s tasty Wolf Picker Pale , a Colorado seasonal on tap at the new Filling Station on 5th growler shop in Coeur d’Alene, along with an experimental hop variety, HBC #472 – which may well show up with a flashier name itself someday at a brewery near you.