We’re in the midst of hop season — brewers have their hands on freshly harvest hops and they are putting them to good use, while educating their customers and celebrating the season. In that same vein, BridgePort Brewing Co. decided to try something new this year with its Hop Harvest beer. BridgePort’s brewmaster, Jeff Edgerton, took two trips to Annen Farms in Mt. Angel, Ore., to harvest more than 900 lbs of fresh hops to use at the top and the bottom of the brewing cycle.
“We wanted to showcase the delicate fresh hop flavors so we used Pilsner malt and fermented with lager yeast,” said Brewmaster Jeff Edgerton. “By finishing off the beer with a very light filtration, the fresh hop aroma is better preserved. Be sure to drink this one right off the shelf to truly experience the fresh hop flavor.”
The BridgePort team was on its way to harvest 400 lbs of fresh, green Oregon Fuggle hops earlier this summer to get Hop Harvest started. At the end of fermentation, the team returned to collect an additional 500 lbs of green Tettnang hops to add before cooling. The two step process of adding hops at both ends of brewing embodies the meaning of fresh and local.
The result of two trips south and 900 lbs of hops later is this year’s BridgePort Hop Harvest: a double fresh hopped imperial pilsner that locks in the aromas and flavors of the fresh green hops picked straight from the field.
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