DINING
hoever claims that we don’t get to experience the seasons in San Diego hasn’t thought about beer. When fall rolls in, we might not get leaves that change color or a briskness in the air, but we do get something extra special on taps around town: fresh hops. Fresh-hop, or wet-hop, beer is made once a year, to coincide with the annual hop harvest. Hops, which add bitterness, stability, flavor and aroma to beer, are the female flower of a plant called hu- mulus lupulus. The perennial vines (called bines) produce flowering cones that peak in late summer, when they are harvested exclusive- ly for use in beer. The majority of hops are dried and vacuum sealed for use year-round, but every year a small percentage of the harvest is used fresh. For a fresh-hop beer to happen is no small feat. A brewery has to coordinate with a hop farm to arrange for hops to be picked, transported, delivered and brewed within a span of one to two days. The oils and acids in hops—which are responsible for their aromas, flavors and bitterness—break down when exposed to light, heat, and oxygen, so hops are at their peak the moment they leave the vine.
This means that during wet hop season, time is of the essence. Once they are picked, hops are shipped as quickly as possible to allow the brewer to use the hop in its freshest form. While there are some hops
Falling for Fresh Hop Beers W
HoptownGirl Lauren Duffy Lastowka
grown in Southern California, most hops in the U.S. come from the Pacific Northwest. So for breweries like Port Brewing, this means ar- ranging for an entire trailer of hops to be driven down overnight from a hop farm in Yakima, Wash. When it arrives, it’s all hands on deck. “We brew continuously until it’s gone,” said Port Brewing’s Sage Osterfeld of the 1,100 pounds of fresh hops that arrived this year to make the brewery’s annual High Tide Fresh Hop IPA.
If an entire tractor trailer of hops seems like a lot, it is. Hops in their fresh form are about 80 percent water, which means that brewers use anywhere between four and eight times as many hops as the dried versions they use the rest of the year. Yet despite the massive increase in hop quantity, fresh hop beers are actually more subtle and delicate than their dried hop counterparts. “I really like the flavors of the wet hop beers, since the enormous amount of hops that are used in these beers give them a very different feel,” said Tom Nickel of O’Brien’s Pub in Kearny Mesa. “The hop flavors are more earthy and grassy with nice spice notes and even a little resiny in the finish.” There is only one time a year when you can experience these
beers and the time is now. Many are such special releases that they aren’t even bottled; the few that are distributed in bottles are designed to be enjoyed immediately. If you’re interest is piqued, your best chance to sample these beers is to head to Kearny Mesa October 22–24, for O’Brien’s annual Wet Hop Festival. The bar will have 20- 25 wet hop beers on tap, including seven made locally. There will also be several cask beers that have been cask-conditioned with wet hops, including local casks from Mission Brewing and Stone Brew- ing Co. The festival officially runs Friday through Sunday, although Nickel plans to tap several fresh- hop casks Thursday evening. If you can’t make it to O’Brien’s, keep an eye out for fresh-hop beers in taps and bottles around town. If you see one, go for it—these truly are a seasonal opportunity that doesn’t last long. When you have a glass in front of you, take a mo- ment to enjoy and savor the fruits of this year’s hop harvest. And next time someone brings up San Diego’s lack of seasons, make sure to recount your experience with fresh-hop beers.
HIGH TIDE FRESH HOP IPA, PORT BREWING
This beer pours clear and unhazy with a gorgeous gold hue. The nose is subtle and refined, and if anything a hint of sweetness
see HopTown, page 14
San Diego Uptown News | October 15-28, 2010
11
A close-up of Star B Ranch hops shows the flowering cones that peak in flavor in late summer.
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