Hopt Craft Hot Sauce – African Queen Piri-Piri Pilsner – Ltd Edition

I’m Sammi, and I’m the founder of HOP’T Sauce.

HOP’T Sauce started as a hobby when I was living in New York. I was there on placement with my day job, but as a beer geek I spent as much time exploring local breweries and craft beer bars as possible. The three places I found myself most were: As Is NYC, the Blind Tiger Alehouse and Other Half Brewing. Being a foodie, I also took to sampling authentic Mexican food slathered in various homemade hot sauces at Brooklyn’s amazing bodegas, something I had never experienced in my home town of London.  The two discoveries happening at the same time put an idea in my head – combining the citric flavours and aromas of hops with the heady spice of hot sauce seemed like the perfect combination. From this, HOP’T Sauce was born!

I began making HOP’T Sauce in my tiny Brooklyn apartment apartment, playing with flavour combinations and whole cone/pelletised hops. Once they were good enough, I started taking them just round the corner from my apartment on Clinton St, to Other Half, to share with friends and try on the pizzas made at Pizza Moto across the street. People really loved them and started making requests, so I kept experimenting, taking courses at New York’s renowned Institute of Culinary Education to improve my culinary techniques.

By the time I returned home to London, I had my process nailed down and some delicious recipes that I wanted to share with more people. That’s when I decided to share my sauces with the world. Although we started trading on the eve of the global pandemic, the response from the community has been outstanding, and our brand is going from strength to strength. I especially enjoy working with other talented chefs, artists and brewers to create new and interesting flavours – please get in touch if you have a crazy idea!

ABOUT THE SAUCES

All my sauces are inspired by specific beer styles, and each flavour has different hop/chilli combinations. My core range has a juicy, citrusy IPA, a crisp-but-fiery lager,  and a sweet, smoky stout. I also produce all kinds of other beer-inspired flavours throughout the year. Each one has a vinegar base on which I layer different fruits, herbs and spices, before hopping it delicately using the best hops and hop oils, and cooking it as little as possible to preserve the aromas and flavours. The result is unique, exciting and delicious whether you’re a beer lover or not!