Fall Brings The Freshest Hops
As the leaves begin to change and the air becomes crisper, beer enthusiasts everywhere eagerly await the arrival of fresh hop & beers!
This exciting time of year marks the annual hop harvest in the Pacific North West, where more the 75 percent of North America’s hops are grown. Fresh hops are less concentrated, so it takes more of them to achieve the same flavor as a beer made with dried and pelletized hops. Fresh hops also provide distinctively grassy, plant-like, and “green” flavor profile without a lot of the bitterness we associate with more heavily hopped beer. They do have a very short shelf life and are meant to be drank fresh and ideally within a month of being released.
Here are 3 of our favorites, try them now before they are gone until next year! Availability may vary by location.
Driftwood Sartori Fresh Hop IPA
This wet-hopped IPA can only be brewed once a year when, in the midst of the hop harvest, fresh Centennial hops are spirited from Sartori Cedar Ranch near Chilliwack to our Brew Kettle in Victoria. Sartori’s fresh hops have a delicious profile unique to the patch of land they cultivate in the Columbia Valley making this limited release singular and remarkable.
HOYNE BREWING WOLF VINE WET HOPPED PALE ALE
This wet-hopped pale ale, brewed annually following the fresh hop harvest in September, is the culmination of a great friendship between Hoyne Brewery and the Hope Bay Hop Farm on Pender Island. On one special day every year, volunteers gather to pick fresh, aromatic hops, which are used to brew a single batch of Wolf Vine the very next day, capturing the rawness and fragrant intensity of island life.
CATEGORY 12 FRESH HOP IPA
Sourced from Bredenhof Hops in the heart of Chilliwack Valley, our select Chinook hops are harvested at their prime, then transported with precision to our brewery, ensuring they touch our kettles on the very same day they're picked. Dive deep into an aromatic experience, where nuanced tropical fruit converges with crisp citrus undertones.
