As mentioned earlier in the blog, the Freshy Fresh has arrived!
What a great time of year; the crisp, cold air begins to roll in, beers get a touch maltier, and our air conditioners surrender their grip on our windowsills, providing us with an open vista through which to view the changing of the season. Oh yeah… and the harvest! This year we will be recieving fresh hops from two different harvests (Wayne, Pa & New Paltz, Ny). The first round came from our friend, Matt Guyer, over at the Beer Yard. Behind his store grows a surprising amount of wild hop vines! They have been happily growing there for as long as he can remember, which is great for us, as they are well-established and literally dripping with sticky lupulin magic. About two weeks ago, I arrived at his store early in the morning, yanked all of the vines down and tossed ‘em in the back seat of my car. Once loaded up, I drove straight to the brewery, where a team of eager servers helped us separate the hop cones from the vine. My car was drenched in grassy, floral hop aromas; sure glad I didn’t get stopped by the fuzz on the drive back! All day, we yielded a bit more than two pounds of bright green hoppy love, and within hours, we had filled 4 firkins of our Ryesing (rye pale ale) with half-a-pound of fresh hops shoved into each cask. This is what we will be tapping on Tuesday 9/1. I expect this once a year treat to sell fast, so get it while you can! Next up, my own New Paltz, Ny hop stash!
-Jean

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