brew: Limited Hop Series

Don’t be fooled! This is no stout, although at first glance, you’d be forgiven for believing so. This jet-black ale has the coffee and dark chocolate notes of a porter or stout, with none of the more astringent roast characteristics.

Hops are the flowers of the Humulus Lupulus plant. For centuries, they have been used in beer for the bitter, aromatic, and preservative qualities they impart. 

Throughout most of the year, breweries utilize hop flowers that have been dried to preserve them for year-round use. However, for just a short window of time every year during harvest season, brewers have the opportunity to brew with fresh, undried “wet” hops. Wet hops are picked off the bine in Yakima Wa, shipped cross-country, and are in the beer within 36 hours; ensuring the freshest and most unadulterated hop character possible!

There’s something special about New Zealand, and her hops.

Although New Zealand accounts for a relatively small portion of the world’s hop acreage, the quality and range of what is grown there is breathtaking. The New Zealand terroir seems to impart hops with some of the most exotic and surprising characteristics imaginable.

Perhaps no hop embodies this notion more than Nelson Sauvin, the star of our show here. It is so named for its one-of-a-kind profile of gooseberry and passionfruit, reminiscent of New Zealand’s Sauvignon Blanc wines.

Paired with Nelson Sauvin is another New Zealander: Motueka. A more subtle hop with an old world pedigree, but featuring a tropical-lime twist.

Combined, these two hops bring loads of tropical fruit and citrus character to the table.