September 07, 2009
Brewing a Fresh Hop Beer
I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated this blog, I need to find an easier way to compose the posts..
With the day off, I took advantage of the time to get some brewing done for this Fall. Nothing better than a fresh hop beer, one of my favorite styles of the year. So many of the local brewpubs make their own, and the variety flavors available are tremendous since the style is not clear-cut. Everyone makes up their own, which is a great conversation starter around beer-geek circles.
Today the hops were ready for picking, so with Debbie and Charlie's help we brewed our first all-grain fresh hop beer! The harvest this year is impressive, but not as much as I hoped. We're all a little envious of the massive plants that Paul grew, from cuttings I gave him this spring!
Since I didn't have a chance to go by the brew store before they closed I came up with the ingredients I had around the house, making this nearly a "kitchen sink" brew. I had to get creative roasting my own crystal malt out of some pale malt I had, used up some hops in the freezer, and found a packet of dry yeast I had stashed for exactly this occasion. This is truly going to be a home-grown homebrew, and perhaps impossible to repeat!
It's going to be a nice nutty amber ale with a powerful floral flavor and aroma since I put almost the entire harvest of hops in the last 10 minutes of the boil. I'm looking forward to it already! Give me an email in a month or two for your taste..
There are more photos here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/bretthall/BrewingAFreshHopBeer2009#