314: Pinthouse, Cloudburst, and Single Hill Join For a Fresh Hop Brewing Roundtable
Jul 30, 2023
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Experts in brewing with wet and fresh hops, Joe Mohrfeld, Steve Luke, and Zach Turner, discuss the evolution of fresh hop brewing, telling agricultural stories through beer, balancing grassy/vegetal and fruit flavors, choosing specific hop varieties, layering multiple hop forms for flavor complexity, fermenting with the right yeast, managing pH increase, and the longevity of fresh hop beers.
Fresh hop beers continue to evolve, offering unique textural components with flavors of leafy, grassy, and chewy elements.
Advancements in preserving and shipping wet hops allow breweries to create fresh hop beers year-round, maintaining their connection to hop farms.
Breweries balance different hop formats in fresh hop beers to create complexity, layering flavors and considering environmental impact.
Deep dives
The Brewing Process and Flavor Profile of Fresh Hop Beers
Fresh hop beers have evolved dramatically over the years, both in terms of volume and complexity. In the early days, breweries would brew just one fresh hop beer as a special treat without much knowledge or communication with the hop farms. Nowadays, breweries, such as Pine House, Cloudburst, and Single Hill, have dialed in the process, honing their brewing techniques and experimenting with different hop varieties like Mosaic, Chinook, and Amarillo. The flavor profiles of fresh hop beers often feature a unique textural component, with hints of leafy, grassy, and chewy elements. While popular IPA hops like Cascade, Crystal, and Simcoe dominate the fresh hop scene, breweries also explore lesser-used varieties to introduce more diversity. Overall, fresh hop beers continue to capture the essence of the harvest season, offering a limited but special drinking experience.
The Advancements in Fresh Hop Brewing: IQF and 301 Trial Hops
The popularity of fresh hop beers has sparked advancements in preserving and shipping wet hops to breweries outside of the traditional hop-growing regions. In recent years, the use of individually quick frozen (IQF) hops and 301 trial hops has gained traction. IQF hops are harvested wet and then subjected to a freezing process that preserves their qualities. These frozen hops can then be shipped long distances and used in brewing without losing flavor and freshness. Similarly, the 301 trial hops are cryo-pelletized versions of IQF hops. These innovations allow breweries like Pine House, Cloudburst, and Single Hill to create fresh hop beers year-round, offering a range of flavor profiles and maintaining the connection to the brewing process and the hop farms.
Balancing Different Hop Formats in Fresh Hop Beers
Breweries face the challenge of balancing different hop formats in fresh hop beers while still capturing the unique fresh hop character. For breweries like Pine House, Cloudburst, and Single Hill, the choice of hop format depends on the desired flavor profile and the availability of the hops. Fresh hop beers may combine a variety of formats, including fresh dried hops pelletized in-house, IQF hops in the hop bag, and T90 or cryo pellets for dry hopping. By using a combination of these formats, breweries can layer flavors and create complexity in their fresh hop beers. Additionally, breweries carefully consider the impact on the environment when choosing hop formats and aim to reduce carbon footprint by utilizing more efficient shipping methods.
The Brewing Process and Flavor Considerations
Breweries utilize a range of techniques to construct fresh hop recipes that exhibit the desired flavor characteristics. Mash additions and hop backs are often employed to bring in fresh wet or fresh dried hops, allowing for a direct infusion of flavors. The use of multiple dry hops, including fresh dried hops like IQF or 301 trial hops, adds layers of flavor and complexity to the beer. Brewers also consider the impact of yeast selection, with some opting for lager yeast to enhance the flavors of fresh hop beers. Despite the ongoing experimentation and use of different hop formats, breweries strive to maintain the essence of a fresh hop beer and deliver a drinkable, refreshing, and memorable experience for beer enthusiasts.
The Importance of Telling a Story
One key aspect of brewing fresh hop beers is telling the story behind them. Breweries should focus on conveying the process of obtaining the hops, whether by ordering and shipping, or by visiting the farms during harvest. By sharing this story with consumers, brewers can create a unique and special experience around the beer. Building relationships with the hops and understanding the sense of place they come from is crucial in crafting a memorable fresh hop beer.
Technical Considerations & Flavor Profiles
When brewing fresh hop beers, brewers should pay attention to technical details like managing pH, contact time, and preventing undesired off-flavors. Maintaining low pH levels, especially when using highly vegetative fresh hops, helps retain balance in the beer. Supervising fermentation and utilizing specific yeast strains like German ale can contribute to a well-rounded and integrated fresh hop beer. Additionally, brewers should keep the malt bill simple, focusing on a relatively dry finish, while allowing the hops to shine without excessive interference from other ingredients.
The Northern hemisphere hop harvest is just weeks away, and that means one of our favorite times of the year—fresh hop beer season. To help add to the excitement, we invited three experts in the field of brewing with wet and fresh hops—Joe Mohrfeld of Pinthouse, Steve Luke of Cloudburst, and Zach Turner of Single Hill—to join in on a panel discussion on the subject. Over the course of the podcast, they share thoughts on:
the evolution of fresh hop brewing over the past decade and a half
telling the agricultural and growers' stories through beer
riding the fine line between hops' grassy/vegetal flaors and brighter fruit flavors
choosing specific varieties for different brews, and hops that work best in fresh and wet form
using fresh dried hops for dry hopping
layering multiple forms—IQF, 301 Trial, wet, and fresh dried—for more flavor complexity
fermenting with yeast that provides the right sulfur lift
managing the pH increase from fresh hops through varied acid additions
longevity in fresh hop beers
And more.
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