Hop Series: Fresh Hop Fever!

This post was written by our resident Hop Head, Josh Howard. Josh has written a couple guests posts, and is keen on writing as part of his Hop Series. This is his first official, non-guest, post. Welcome to the team Josh!

Ahoy, hop lovers!  As we hit the end of summer and head into fall, a young brewer’s thoughts turn only to one thing…fresh hop harvests. Yes, the fresh hop beers are coming. Last weekend Pikes Peak Brewing held a hop harvest party and has a batch of America the Pale (and Beautiful) in the works. They certainly are not the only ones picking and brewing, as I have seen breweries nationwide posting on their Facebook and Twitter pages about their seasonal fresh hop ales. Full Sail’s Fresh Hop Pilsner is using hundreds of pounds of minutes-off-the-bine Cascade hops, and Surly’s Wet! uses 800 lbs. of Cascade and 600 lbs. of Centennial hops that arrived at the brewery within 15 hours of being picked in Michigan. Great Divide in Denver will soon have their Fresh Hop IPA available as well, which is using Colorado grown Centennial hops as pictured below.

Respect the Hops! When Beer is Fresh...

There's a wonderful IPA out there called Blind Pig. The beer is made by Russian River Brewing, the same brewery that makes the infamous Pliny the Elder. A number of people believe that Blind Pig is a better beer, especially if they tend to favor floral and citrusy hops over the piney ones. I used to drink them on a regular basis when I lived on the west coast but haven't had either of them since I moved to Colorado. Really, both beers are fantastic IPAs and both could easily make anyone's Top 5 if they like hoppy beers. When bottled, both beer labels shout and proclaim that these beers are to be drank fresh "Consume Blind Pig Fresh, Or Not At All. Respect Hops." These beers are not to be aged. But how fresh is fresh? Does it really matter that much? I've always had these questions in the back of my mind and well, unfortunately, the other day I truly found out that it does matter...