It’s Stash time.
Hop Valley Brewing Company’s lineup of unique IPAs is hitting shelves across North America starting today, led by standalone six-packs and draft for flagship Bubble Stash IPA, accompanied the Hop Valley Stash Pack, its variety 12-pack.
The Eugene, Ore., brewery’s hop-forward portfolio includes a slate of beers made with Cryo Hops®, a concentrated hop powder developed by Yakima Chief Hops that gives beer an aromatic payoff without assertive bitterness.
“We’re super stoked. To take the psychedelic funhouse on the road has been an absolute dream for us for many, many moons,” says Walter Macbeth, Hop Valley’s co-founder and vice president of sales and marketing. “We can’t wait for people to try the magic of Stash.”
The brewery’s irreverence is manifested in balanced, juicy beers like Bubble Stash, a smooth-drinking IPA with tropical flavors, which put Hop Valley’s Stash innovation on the map. Joining it in the Stash Pack, featuring Cryo Hops®, are its team of Stash Panda Hazy IPA, Mango & Stash Fruit IPA, and Cryo Stash Imperial IPA.
Hop Valley, which has been part of Molson Coors’ Tenth and Blake craft division since 2016, says Bubble Stash will compete with other national IPAs, such as offerings from Lagunitas, New Belgium, Sierra Nevada and Anheuser-Busch’s Goose Island and Elysian.
For Hop Valley, the national distribution across the U.S. and Canada, where Bubble Stash is available, is a turning point. Its Cryo Hops® beers have pushed it to become the second-largest brewery in Oregon, while sitting on the cusp of the top 20 craft breweries in the U.S.
That’s due in part to the strength of its Stash series in the Pacific region, where it has been available in 10 states.
Now the entire country can experience the magic of Hop Valley’s Stash.
“The reception from distributors has been strong,” says Adrian Benkonvich, Hop Valley’s president. “Orders are exceeding expectations, and feedback from test markets on our 19.2-oz package has been fantastic.
“We knew going into this that we had a difficult road ahead of us, as the distributor network has a vast craft portfolio. However, as we executed several taste-and-learn events across the country, the response has been overwhelmingly positive,” Benkonvich says. “We’re excited that distributors are seeing the power of our Stash series and the diversity that it provides their portfolios.”
While IPA remains craft beer’s hottest style, Hop Valley believes its Cryo Hops® beers will win over consumers with its refreshingly different spin on IPA.
“The diversity that our liquid, branding, and packaging provide our distributors is absolutely amazing,” Macbeth says. “Our innovative IPAs provide a true point of difference to go out and win in the IPA space.”
While the Stash Pack goes national, Hop Valley is set to release a Hazy IPA variety pack in the Pacific region next month called Hazy Daze, which includes its best-selling new brand, Stash Panda, along with three new Hazy IPAs.
“Innovation will continue to be a core pillar of our strategy,” says Macbeth.
Introducing the IBU-O-Meter
To kick off its national launch, Hop Valley is introducing the IBU-O-Meter, an online tool that uses machine learning to measure bitterness on the internet – while hooking legal-age drinkers up with some juicy Hop Valley IPAs.
To participate, legal-age drinkers can submit their Twitter handle at IBU-O-METER.COM and Hop Valley will generate an IBU score based on how bitter they are on Twitter. Visitors will get a rebate, where legal, for their Hop Valley purchase.