The name comes from the Greek Kallistos, meaning "the most beautiful". Callista would therefore be... the most beautiful! Nothing less 😉 In fact, it's become a first name for girls. But what about beer?
Let's take a closer look.
Origins
Callista was a Christian woman living in Nicaea, Bithynia, Asia Minor. She was martyred around 304, during Diocletian's persecution, along with her mother Theodotus and her brothers Evodius and Hermogenes. According to Cajetan, hagiographer (or writer of the lives of saints ;-)), they were particularly venerated in Syracuse, Sicily, in the 7th and 8th centuries.
OK!
On the brewing side,
is a fairly recent hop variety, developed by the Hop Research Center in Hull, Germany, and brought to market in 2016. It is a worthy descendant of Hallertayu Tradition and a Hüll male.
Its little name, during the search period, was 2010/008/033. Sexy!
Some of you may know it as Grungeist or "grunge" 🙂
In my brews
Callista is a typical Aromatic hop, ideal for late addition to broth or dry hopping.
Key hop flavors include strawberry Callista include strawberry, pear, caramel, passion fruit and orange.
Callista sends out intense fruity flavors of passion fruit, apricot, peach and blackberry, as well as a touch of pine.
This makes it an excellent choice for brewers looking to add a fruity touch to their beers, particularly in delicate styles like pilsners or in late additions for pale ales and IPAs.
Low alpha acids ensure it won't add bitterness to your brew.
With an average Myrcene oil content of 52%, it is one of the hops with the highest content! This also means that you really have to this hop: no oil really likes heat, and this one even less so! So you'll lose all Aromatic interest in this hop if you don't take this into consideration 😉
Longer boils will give you pine and citrus aromas; shorter boils will frankly reinforce the citrus and fruit side, peeled orange being something that comes out quite frequently.
We've done an article on oils if you'd like to get back into the swing of things.
Use
Beer Analytics show us the popularity of this hop according to beer type, which may give you a better idea of how to use it 😉
Another interesting graph is the pairings, i.e. the marriages most frequently made with the Callista:
And just as well, because we have almost all of them in the store!
- Magnum or Magnat
- Mandarina Bavaria
- Cascade
- Ariana
- Perle
- Hüll Melon
- Hallertau White
- Chinook
Recipe Ideas
You'll find plenty of inspiration on:
If you enjoyed it or would like to find out more, click here!
Good brews!
