Green hopped beers

Discussion in 'United Kingdom & Ireland' started by ReluctantScoop, Oct 20, 2012.

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  1. ReluctantScoop

    ReluctantScoop Initiate (0) Apr 29, 2012 England

    Had a few at a Herefords/Worces themed fest this week, off to another this afternoon where there's a talk by hop farmers / merchants as well as sampling the hops (and the beers made with them).

    There certainly seems to be more interest in green hopped beer in the UK. Is it just a marketing artifice, though, or are there beers notably better for using green hops?
     
    #1 ReluctantScoop, Oct 20, 2012
  2. marquis

    marquis Pooh-Bah (2,313) Nov 20, 2005 England
    Pooh-Bah

    I've had quite a few of them in the past. The Teme Valley brewery made some very nice ones such as "Fuggles Nouvelle" back in (from memory) the late 90s. Very nice they were too; I understand the brewery was set up by a hop farm to showcase the produce.Haven't seen many of late though.
    Edit - from their website;
    To celebrate the 1st anniversary, we brewed 5 green hop beers in September 1998. Hops are harvested in September and are dried in kilns to preserve them for the rest of the year. Because the brewery is in the heart of Worcestershire’s hop growing region, we are able to use hops as they are picked. Just as using fresh herbs in cooking gives more flavour and aroma to food, fresh hops make very distinctive beers.
     
    #2 marquis, Oct 20, 2012
  3. jazzyjeff13

    jazzyjeff13 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,865) Nov 6, 2010 England
    Pooh-Bah

    Fresh hopping seems to be a running theme in the US, but I haven't really seen much interest in this over here. The only green hop beer I've had was Morrisons' own brand (brewed by Titanic), though it wasn't bad.

    Did you notice whether any of the ones you tried were going to be on sale anywhere other than the immediate vicinity of the brewery (ie. bottled etc)?
     
    #3 jazzyjeff13, Oct 20, 2012
  4. reprob8

    reprob8 Initiate (0) May 22, 2008 England

    it's this years flavour of the month, excuse the contradiction, it's a seasonal thing which will work best with cask conditioned beers. But whether it adds significantly to the taste is open to debate, or course the scarcity will mean that it is automatically a good thing.
     
    #4 reprob8, Oct 20, 2012
  5. ImperialStoat

    ImperialStoat Initiate (0) May 20, 2009 Ireland

    Dark Star did one a couple years back which was spectacular. Think it was just called Green Hop IPA.
     
    #5 ImperialStoat, Oct 21, 2012
  6. surfadelic23

    surfadelic23 Initiate (0) Aug 25, 2005 Florida

    Oh, I had that one! It was amazing!
     
    #6 surfadelic23, Oct 22, 2012
  7. ReluctantScoop

    ReluctantScoop Initiate (0) Apr 29, 2012 England

    Don't know if any were likely to be bottled. Eighteen different brewers represented, good geographical range (including Yorkshire and Suffolk hops), great talk by Paul Corbett of Charles Faram and an impassioned session by Ali Carter from Stocks Farm. A really, really good afternoon.

    If you haven't tried a beer with Endeavour yet, look out for them. An impressive hop.

    Does green hop make a difference? To an extent. Some were clumsy, some were meh, some were beautiful. Some were surprising (Riverhead's Green & Black porter with fresh Goldings). Some were outstanding (Ilkley's Green Goddess).
     
    #7 ReluctantScoop, Oct 22, 2012
  8. CwrwAmByth

    CwrwAmByth Grand Pooh-Bah (3,113) Jan 24, 2011 England
    Pooh-Bah

    Green hopping is the same as fresh hopping right?

    Tiny Rebel have what they call a "hop rocket" which is just their version of Randell the Enamel Animal. They serve their IPA through it at beer festivals and it seems to be popular, though it was already sold out by the time I got to the bar.
     
    #8 CwrwAmByth, Oct 23, 2012
  9. ReluctantScoop

    ReluctantScoop Initiate (0) Apr 29, 2012 England

    yes; green / fresh / wet hops = undried. Thornbridge put some of their beer through a randall with green hops a few weeks ago. It tasted like silage.
     
    #9 ReluctantScoop, Oct 23, 2012
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