Crosby Hops and Roy Farms Collaborate with Texas Breweries to Test Experimental Hops

Published 2/25/26

As part of the Texas Craft Brewers’ Conference held this past weekend, Crosby Hops (Woodburn, Oregon) and Roy Farms (Moxee, WA) teamed up to provide breweries early access to a number of experimental hop varieties that are currently in R&D. Breweries nationwide, including a number in Texas, were able to produce small batch beers showcasing these hops, giving both industry members and the public a chance to smell, taste, and judge their quality as the farms consider whether to produce these strains at a larger scale. The experiment culminated in a Hop EXPerience tasting last Friday at Pinthouse, where ten brewers and their beers were put to the test against a crowded, thirsty group of industry professionals, who were asked to rate each beer and identify the prominent flavor profiles.

“The goal of the Hop EXPerience is to give Texas brewers, beer professionals, and industry partners a hands-on opportunity to explore experimental hopped beers from Crosby Hops & Roy Farms through guided sensory, learn about new and emerging hop varieties, and connect with others in the local beer community,” explains Beau Evers, National Sales Manager at Crosby Hops.

The Hops

Six hops were featured in this year’s experimental production: Crosby Hops featured “CH2” and “CH3” hops, while Roy Farms (under the Latitude 46 program) provided “ADHA-218”, “ADHA-1602”, “ADHA-1624”, and “ADHA-1631”.

The breweries selected their hops, brewed their beers, and the key flavor profiles noted by the drinking committee are below. At the tasting event, guests were able to sample the raw hop pellets to draw a comparison to the final beer, which allowed participants to consider how much of the hop was being presented when compared to other ingredients. For example, personally I thought Meanwhile’s beer tasted almost exactly like the raw hop pellet’s scent, while other beers did not seem to carry forward the profile quite as well. Here is the list of beers and their identified profiles:

Meanwhile – Zest Coast (West Coast IPA): ADHA-1624
- Tropical, Citrus, Fruity
Old Gregg – We Don’t Need the Words of Reviewers To Tell Us What We Are About (Hazy IPA): ADHA-1631
- Fruity, Sweet, Tropical
Pinthouse – The More You Grow (Hazy IPA): ADHA-1631
- Citrus, Fruity, Tropical
Real Ale – Boss Dog (Hazy Pale Ale): ADHA-218
- Citrus, Floral, Fruity
Vacancy – Mix Tape Vol. 5 (Pale Lager): ADHA-1602
- Grassy, Herbal, Citrus
Bankhead – The New Guy (Hoppy Lager): CH2
- Cereal, Bready, Sweet
Celestial – Methylene 2 (West Coast Pilsner): CH2
- Tropical, Citrus, Fruity
St. Elmo – Toad Burger (West Coast IPA): CH2
- Citrus, Pine, Fruity
Austin Beerworks – Disco Nap (Pale IPA): CH3
- Citrus, Fruity, Honey
Saint Arnold – Crosby Pale Ale (Pale Ale): CH3
- Fruity, Tropical, Floral

As you can see, “fruity”, “tropical”, and “citrus” were common elements of these beers. Some of these are available on tap at their respective breweries, so be sure to check socials if you would like to try!