Good morning. We are fast approaching the unofficial end of summer - once September hits, summer is packing its bags and fall is entering the chat.

Looking forward to some amber ales, Oktoberfest marzen beers, and if I’m being honest, pumpkin beers - the “basic” option of the beer world, likened to the Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks. But I still love them, especially with a cinnamon/sugar ring.

-Brandon Copeland

Brewing With Homegrown Hops

We are entering hop harvesting season for much of the United States - if you want to visit the famous Yakima Valley in Washington, you have until the end of September to enjoy the marvels of the season. However, if you are growing your own hops at home, you’ll have your own mini harvest coming up.

If it’s your first year growing hops, you may be wondering: what do I do with the hops once I harvest them? As a homebrewer, you really have 3 options:

1. Brew With The Wet Hops Immediately

If you’re making a full day of it, you can freshly harvest the hops from the bine and immediately throw them into your boil. This will eliminate the need for storage and they will be as fresh as they can possibly be. Keep in mind you’ll need ~4-6 times more hops by weight that you normally use in your pelletized hop recipes.

2. Freeze The Wet Hops

If you plan to brew within 2 weeks, you can store your hops in Ziploc bags (try to zip them tight without any air) and throw them in the freezer until they are ready for use. This is what I did last year and what I plan to do this year - since my Cascade hops are growing at my mother-in-law’s house (shout out to Catherine!), they have to make the journey back to my apartment before brewing.

3. Dry the Fresh Hops

Once the hops are dried, but are still whole hops, then they are known as fresh hops. Fresh hops, if stored properly, can last from 6 months to a year. There are different methods to dry hops, but a simple food dehydrator does the job just fine. Once the hops are dried, conventional wisdom is that pelletized hops are ~10% more efficient than dried whole hops, so take that into account with your additions.

There is nothing more satisfying than adding whole hops into your brew kettle… something about it just feels natural and even fresher than using pelletized hops. If you didn’t grow hops this year, there is always next year!

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Beer Trivia Question

🍺 What are the oldest hops used for brewing, dating back to the 8th century A.D.?

Read to the end to find out if you're right!

Homebrew Spotlight of the Week

Flash Brewing Kits

MoreBeer recently released Flash Brewing kits which include pre-boiled malt in a dried format, where all you need to do is mix with water, add a hop injection and the flash yeast, and bam you created 5 gallons of fermenting beer. While this is truly innovative and downright cool tech, it also takes away the joy of homebrewing. However, I could see it as a good “gateway drug” for beginners to start the hobby.

Brewgr Recipe of the Week

Bad News IPA

Would you like the good news, or the bad news? Well, we only have bad news today and it’s in the form of a distinguished English IPA. This recipe has an equally complex grain bill and hop schedule that will lead to a sophisticated and hoppy IPA - I guess that’s the good news.

Credit: BadNewsBrewing-MasterBrewers

Poll Results: Nitro Stout vs. Stout (Carbon Dioxide)

Nitro Stout was the winner of this poll by a narrow margin - there is something about a Guinness that is just undeniably satisfying. Any other nitro stout is then just reminiscent of a Guinness, which is also a great taste. However, that’s not to take away from the classic stout - I love a chocolate stout, especially as a beer float with a dollop of ice cream in there. If you haven’t tried it, now you know - it’s a treat.

And the Answer Is...

🍺 German Spalt hops. If you guessed Saaz (like I did) you get a silver medal - these hops were cultivated in the 14th century in the Czech Republic and have stood the test of time.