I recently sipped a new pale ale from Bristol’s Wiper and True. Upside Down (5 per cent ABV) positively explodes with tropical and stone fruit flavours, balanced with a considered bitterness and hoppy, woody tones. An uncomplicated beer, I enjoyed its soft, mouth-filling body.

I was fascinated to read that it used the uncommon Slovenian hop, Styrian Dragon. The hop is so named because of its dramatic forked branches, likened to a dragon’s tail. While hop choice is always an important decision, the brewery was at pains to stress that it had been searching for a more sustainable hop that didn’t compromise on aroma and flavour in its bold beers.

The figures from Charles Faram’s 2022 Sustainability Evaluation Report suggest the C02 emissions linked to the transportation of Slovenian hops to the UK are effectively half that of bringing over American varieties – one of Wiper and True’s usual go-to producer locations.

Of course, it could choose to only use British hops and reduce its environmental impact further. And it does for certain beers like its recent cask mild. But it can’t quite commit to British hops across the board because of the flavour profile that is a part of its signature style. American and New Zealand hops are likely to stay on its agenda for a while.

It isn’t the only brewery which is thinking about the impact of its hop selection. Oakham Ales in Peterborough has arguably built its reputation on American hops, as it was the first UK brewery to brew a 100 per cent Citra beer and revisits the US hop farms each year to seek out the best. But even so, it is seeking to reduce food miles by balancing out its portfolio with British hops.

“We’ve always been known for our hop-forward beers, using hops from all over the world,” says head brewer Mark Tetlow. “However, as we strive for a more sustainable business, we are looking closer to home. It’s wonderful to see how much British hops have developed in flavour and intensity.”

Oakham’s recent Woodston IPA (5.2 per cent) used six British varieties including the experimental C247. It was brewed in collaboration with Charles Faram – one of the leading lights in hop development. I’m looking forward to trying the Ernest amber ale (4 per cent), a new beer developed for the Oakham 30th anniversary range. It promises New World characteristics in a single UK hop beer.

The Charles Faram team has been busy with collaborations of late. One of my favourite UK hops is Harlequin, which gives an aromatic explosion of passionfruit and peach. It has been used in a Charles Faram collab with Norfolk brewer Moongazer. Harlequin and Admiral sit alongside experimental varieties CF162 and CF325 in an attempt to mimic the soft, fruitiness of the New Zealand Motueka hops in its Pintail pale ale (3.9 per cent).

“Almost everyone believed that it was impossible to grow UK hops with the same intensity and fruitiness as New World options,” said Charles Faram MD Paul Corbett. “When our agronomist Peter Glendinning put some hops from his garden on my desk that smelled just like an American variety, I thought he was joking! These hops became our new variety, Jester, because I thought he was pulling my leg, and led us to embark on our Charles Faram hop variety development project. That was 2009 and we have since produced flavours that I didn’t think were possible in our relatively mild climate.

“Our desire to reduce the environmental impact of shipping hops halfway around the world and produce flavoursome hops on local soil explains why we have invested so heavily in the project. The collaborations with our brewer friends are a vitally important part of the process and allow us to see the effect our new hops have on the flavour of a beer.”

I am actively seeking out its latest addition, Harlequin, these days, so I have a long list of favourites to share with you. This includes another 30th-anniversary celebration beer, Dirty Gertie (5.5 per cent), a refreshing pale ale from Shropshire brewer Hobsons. Sheffield brewing legend Abbeydale produced a Harlequin variant of its popular UK Hop Heathen pale (4.1 per cent) which is delicious but hard to find these days. And of course, never ones to miss the chance to experiment with flavour, Thornbridge of Derbyshire has released a Harlequin single-hopped beer as part of its Quiet Storm range which is truly excellent.

The London-based Small Beer Company is another interesting example. It used to focus on US and Czech hops until launching an Organic IPA in 2021 using 100 per cent organic British hops and malt.

“Many so-called organic UK beers are produced using conventionally grown non-organic hops due to a derogation from DEFRA [Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs] to address a shortage of UK farms committing to growing hops organically,” Small Beer co-founder Felix James said. “We decided to turn that on its head and help generate the demand by buying up all of the UK-grown organic hops available on the open market to convince farmers to put more rhizomes in the ground.

“The beer was such a success that we have now moved all of our kettle hops to UK varieties and we are systematically moving the aroma hops in the same direction, one beer at a time. We have also gradually increased our use of organic malt so that all of the oats and a proportion of the barley in every beer we brew is now organic.”

As our breweries experiment with more sustainable choices and still deliver bold flavours, we can support them by choosing to buy British at the bar. In the long run, increased demand will bolster UK hop growers, encourage R&D (research and development) and give us even more delicious ales to enjoy down the pub. Win-win, if you ask me.