MN Fresh/Wet Hops - 2018

100% agree, and I have liked every vintage to some degree. 2 4 packs wasn't enough. Will need to grab some more while it's still around

 

I agree in the sense that being a beer guy who likes hops today is kind of an embarrassment of riches compared to even 5-years ago.

That said Born Yesterday has killed it year in and year out while many other fresh hop options from good operations have been inconsistent at best.

I still enjoy a fresh Two Hearted tap now as much as I did 15 years ago and that beer is consistent & consistently outstanding. Just can't say the same about some other hoppy staples. One of which is Hopslam......

Maybe some beer recipes are easier to nail batch in & batch out, maybe there are big variations in hop quality/consistency with some varieties or maybe as you say palates change...

 

Junkyard's 2018 'Hop Tun' fresh hop IPA is totally quaffable with solid orange melon aroma and taste, along with a slight fresh hop burn at the end of the taste profile. Very solid.

 

Stopped by Bad Weather last night... their wet hop saturation was decent but Fog Of War hazy ipa was fantastic.

 

Surly Wet is good but not going to "blow any doors off" this year.

 

Agreed.

 

I like it - I guess my palate is what it is but these beers still hit the spot for me. Similarly, I still love Founders Harvest Ale, even though so many people say it gets worse and worse. I am not a big fan of the milkshake / juice craze and enjoy the ruddier, more herbacious/earthy notes I get out of something like Wet or Founders Harvest.

To me these beers always taste great because they are ushering in fall and the beautiful cool weather here in the midwest. Crisp October evenings with a fridge full of fresh wet hop beers and malty octoberfests - doesn't get much better!

 

I think Two-Hearted is kind of a red herring in this convo. It's a fine beer, give it extra points for consistency if you'd like, but with so many available options an all-centennial IPA doesn't stand out anymore. The pack has caught up and then some.

As well, I think the wet-hopped beers have somewhat lost their luster because the flavor and aroma additions in IPAs, most noticeably by NEIPAs, have "advanced" so much in the past 5 years. I'm sure some of this is due to the availability of lupulin powder, etc in addition to spread of new techniques (e.g. hop rockets/torpedos, double/triple dry-hopping) and appreciation of yeast-hop interactions.

So, if you just want big hop flavor and aroma, there are many year-round options available without the wet-hop markup. I think there are still some nuanced flavors/aromas that only wet-hop beers can provide, but these seem to only shine in the best examples. [The wet hop examples I've had this year really seem to benefit from warming up near room temp.] I really want to convince myself I still love wet hop beers, but as I was enjoying a Founder's Harvest last weekend I couldn't help but think about the extra ~8 bottles of SN Celebration I could buy for the same price.

 

Best Fresh Hop in consistency ,price and taste is Born Yesterday.

 

No doubt about it

 

I just had an Indeed wet hop for the first time in like 4 to 5 years last night. Tastes exactly like I remember it.

 

I think most breweries bitter their wet hop beers with dried hops, and finish them with the wet hops.

 

I believe you are correct. I can't remember if Town Hall's menu said 100% fresh hop casades or just 100% casades.

 

Just cracked my first bottle of the season, without a doubt Born Yesterday is the only wet hop worth a damn. Still maintains a hoppy resin quality while screaming freshness. Well done

 

Is it possible you don’t really like wet hop beers?

 

Or I only like really good wet hop beers.

 

Not the simplest explanation, but certainly possible!

 

My honest-to-god theory. Years ago they all used to be on par with Born Yesterday, slowly over the years they've all fallen off. CD's was on par two years ago... but BY is the only one that has maintained it's awesomeness. They also brew it different then the other breweries.

 

That's really all I was getting at, but I haven't been able to confirm any technique details. Obviously, Born Again Yesterday involves some freezing process. I wonder though, is all of the late-hopping of Born Yesterday with wet hops or is it some combination?

In my experience, brewing with wet hops only (or even with allowance for bittering with dried hops) results in subtle, herbal, green flavors. You typically do not just get a cranked-up-really-fresh version of your traditionally hopped beer. For me, beers like 2018 Surly Wet have more in common flavor wise with an imperial pilsner than an IPA. Maybe these beers are in fact "not worth a damn" and don't demand any respect, but they are different and I appreciate that to some extent.

 

I think I’m actually mixing up the two! Born yesterday is dog town ale dry hopped with whole cone wet hops. Born Again uses some proprietary process for drying and preserving wet hops.

I think the bottom line is some breweries enhance an existing beer by using wet hops, others have a separate recipe. This isn’t the first time Wet has had Pilsner qualities.