Fresh-hop season is such a wonderful time for brewers. Living in Oregon, I have the privilege of being less than 100 miles from some of the best hop growers on the West Coast. Take that a little further to the epicenter of hop farming in America: Yakima, Washington, and you are in hop heaven. That being said, hops are grown across the country with great success, so even if you aren’t in the Pacific Northwest, you may be able to source fresh hops from not too far away. Though this column isn’t on sourcing hops — it’s on what to do with fresh hops when you have them — do know that there are ways to get fresh hops to your brewery even if they aren’t grown a short drive away.

There are so many ways that you can jump into making fresh-hop beer. Do you want to focus on using hot-side hop additions, cold-side hop additions, or even liquid nitrogen to make the perfect fresh-hop beer? You also must decide what styles you want to tackle and the best way to approach them. All are valid questions and have many different paths that you can take. Having brewed many fresh-hop beers myself, I would like to share details around some of those paths and help you formulate a plan for the best season of brewing!

Hop Season

Hop harvest is usually split into three sections: Early-, mid-, and late-harvest, as not all varieties are ready to pick at the same time. Harvest timing is predicated by the moisture of the hop cones to determine when they are ready to be picked. Hop harvest usually begins in the first two weeks of August and continues for up to a month thereafter in the Northwest. Central hop growing states usually see the hops starting to hit peak ripeness in mid-August and running through mid-September. East Coast local growers usually are able to start harvesting in late August and the harvest will run through September. The first hops harvested usually consists of European-derived varieties that can be used to make fresh-hop lager, such as Mount Hood and U.S. Tettnang; but Strata® is another early ripening variety. You will also get the first burst of Centennial. 

Mid-harvest brings the bulk of the C-hops. Hops like Cascade, Chinook, and Columbus start being harvested in the second to third week of August. This timeline would be well adjusted depending on your climate for your local growers that you are connected with.

Near the end of August and early September is when you get the “cool kid” hops such as Citra®, Mosaic®, and Simcoe®. Knowing the relative timeframe the variety you are after will be picked allows you to plan well in advance for your brewing schedule. Hop suppliers usually start reaching out to customers in late May with projected dates of harvest. It is a bit of a moving target, but they are pretty spot on. I just leave a little bit of variability in my production schedule in case they push a hop’s harvest by a day or two.

Hop Usage Rates

This is probably the easiest place to start with fresh-hop beers. It’s still a little unpredictable and will always take adjustment. The general school of thought is to use 4–4.5 times your normal hopping rate (by weight) to achieve the character you are looking for. For German and English beer styles you can use the lower end of 3.5x, but for hoppier styles like pale ales and IPAs use the upper range for fresh hops. These rates even apply to the nitrogen section of this article. 

Production: The Reality of Hot-Side vs. Cold-Side Hopping 

Every brewer has their own preference on how to use fresh hops. Some like adding them on the hot side and some like to use them on the cold side as a dry hop. There are many ways to go about each use of the fresh hops and either option creates a fantastic product to encapsulate the season. 

Hot Side

I have always loved hot-side fresh hopping. You really get the essence of the hop into the beer. The main worry is always the chlorophyll component, which in some ways is inevitable. Outside of a small bittering addition, everything gets pushed to the whirlpool. You can use bags, but I have found that using your mash tun as the hot-side vessel is perfect. The ability to have the full soak, without having to push the bags down continuously while the hops have their bath works great. And you can scoop them out, making it easier than hauling sacks tied to string out of your kettle. The benefit of using the hops during the boil is that you have a ton of options once you reach your terminal gravity. You can dry hop with whatever hop that you would like. Make it as expressive as you want. Or you don’t dry hop at all. You have the opportunity to see where the beer is, and take it wherever you want to go. 

The issue with hot-side additions is that you will not have the alpha acids provided at that time of harvest. Most suppliers do not get the alpha provided until after full processing, which could be months. Knowing the hops you are choosing and looking at past records of the alpha acids, you should be able to get a pretty good idea to determine your best course of action for the amounts and usage for your beer. 

I have seen some of the best brewers in the world take this approach of focusing on hot-side additions and win medals year after year with their fresh-hop beers.

Cold Side

Using hops after the boil gets a bit more adventurous. There are both positives as well as potential drawbacks. If you look at the benefits, you are getting the true essence of the hop off the bine. The grower has chosen the exact moisture level that it needs to be picked at. Depending where you are, the fresh hops are either picked up the same day they are harvested or shipped to you overnight for a next day brew. It’s all a win-win on freshness. The biggest issue, in my mind is the “green” or chlorophyll character that comes out of cold-side fresh hopping. The leaf matter of the hops will penetrate the beer. Whole cone hops — fresh or nitrogen frozen in bales ­— will still have that character. In some ways it is enduring. It shows the season, without a doubt. In my experience in the Northwest, I see it in new-age American lagers and some IPAs. It really comes down to finding a sweet spot. It’s not my place to tell you what you think that spot is, but I think as advanced brewers you will know when you need to pull the beer off the hops. At that point, pick your favorite brite tank (my superstition for fresh-hop beers), crash the beer fully, and make that transfer and carbonate. Give it a couple of days to mellow and you should be in a great place to package.

Nitrogen

A trend that has hit the industry over the past dozen years is the use of liquid nitrogen to flash freeze fresh hops and get the complete essence out of the cones. The idea is to pick the hops, take them back to the brewery and use the liquid nitrogen to stabilize the hop character that you want. The idea comes from the same idea of how hops are packed in pellet form from major hop farms. Each packaged bag gets a nitrogen purge before it is sealed. This helps with the longevity of the hops. The same concept can be applied to fresh hops. The process seems complicated, but is actually pretty simple. 

Before even considering liquid nitrogen use; as fun as a return that it can have on your fresh-hop beer; you must ensure that you have the proper Personal Protective Equipment or PPE.  Heavy industrial gloves, chemical-resistant boots, face shields, and proper skin protection. Liquid nitrogen is no joke. Take precaution and be responsible. 

Most industrial supply companies carry liquid nitrogen and the tools to use it. This includes the tank and a dispersing wand. What you are trying to create can essentially be called shatter. You need to remove the excess oxygen from the hops and make a stable hop product ready to be added to your beer. You’ll need the nitrogen and equipment from your supplier to disperse the cold gas on hand when the hops arrive. Then you’ll need one, if not two, extra strength plastic bins. The extra strength is imperative. If you want to spend money every year on new vessels for this process you can, but getting the heavy duty one will last you a long time for a nominal cost. You are also able to use some of your smaller vessels, if they have an open top and can vent. 

Once you have the nitrogen and the hops, in a well ventilated space, add the hops into your bins as soon as you get them into the brewery. Then take the wand and stick it to the bottom of the bin. Crank the nitrogen all the way open — be careful of off-gassing, inhaling liquid nitrogen can result in injury or death. Again liquid nitrogen is very dangerous. That gas can fill a room quickly as it disperses. It is also incredibly cold and if it touches your skin can be incredibly harmful to you. If this is a route you want to try, take precaution on all steps.  Slowly move the wand up as you start seeing billowing gas coming out of the container. As you get to the top you will start to see the freezing in real time. The hops start to become brittle. Once you see this, you can turn off the liquid nitrogen flow. Now the frozen solid hops need to be broken down. The shatter is very vulnerable at this point. The cost-efficient route is using a baseball bat. You take the bat and use the top end and just smash! Definitely fun and therapeutic. The other option is an immersion blender (preferably industrial). This will break all the particulates apart and make for easy use. Have a hop sack available to pour the hops into, wrap up, and get ready for transfer. 

Transfer and Finishing

Depending on which method you choose, there is some variability in how to handle fresh hopping. If you choose to go hot side only, maybe with a dry hop of your choice, you can pretty much settle on a standard fermentation and transfer schedule. 

If you use the fresh hops exclusively on the cold side or a mix of the cold and hot side, I would suggest a double transfer. Even with hop bags, the particulate will come through the mesh and it becomes hard to settle. I look at a fermenter-to-fermenter transfer first at full crash. Let it settle for a day or two and then transfer to the brite tank for carbonation. It does take up tank space but will vastly improve the look and quality of the beer. If you are a filtering brewery, I would resist filtering these beers; as the hop quality you are trying to express from their freshness will be diminished significantly. Whether it is a single transfer or a double transfer, I suggest over-CO₂ purging your tanks. Make sure oxygen is absent as best you can. The best method is to fill a tank with water, purge the tank with gas and send the water back to your hot liquor tank or water storage unit. This allows you to reuse the water for the next batch of beer or for cleaning.

Conclusion

We have the opportunity to create and manipulate our beers from grain to glass. A lot of that falls to the wayside when we get to the fresh-hop season. It makes us reflect on where our hops are grown, the farmers who grew them, and how they were produced. I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to drive to my growers and smell the hops through the season. It helps plan out a year of brewing. But fresh-hop season is special as it allows any brewer to showcase their favorite hops in their prime. It is a fulfilling process that connects our beer back to the land from which it came. I encourage every brewer to connect with their hop supplier to learn more about their fresh-hop options and glean any insight they can.

The fun part, as with all craft beer, is that you get to make it your own, while working with farmers who care as much as you do about the craft. Don’t ever forget about them. 

Special thanks to the brewers who have taught me so much about using fresh hops: Brett Thomas (Sunriver Brewing Co.), Stephen Hughes (Coldfire Brewing), and Shaun Kalis and Devin Benware (Ruse Brewing). 

Further Reading …

• Can’t use your fresh hops right away but don’t want to try them? The Wizard shares tips for freezing fresh hops.

• Learn more about brewing fresh-hopped beers from three pros.