Michigan Wet Hops

I just purchase Founders Harvest Ale and call it good. I don't like to overthink these things.

 

I haven't had a harvest ale in several years because when I tried a few of them I didn't think they were all they were cracked up to be. For regular IPAs, it's all about the hop selection for me to like it, so translating that to harvest ales, I haven't had the right one yet.

 

The taste of most wet hop ales reminds me of how sweaty gym socks smell.

 

Yep, that's exactly what I've experienced so far. Good comparison.

 

Liked Founders harvest the last couple years.

Did not like Dark Horse's.

Going to try Shorts this year.

 

I haven't had quite the adverse reaction as @GuyFawkes and @Mothergoose03, but I still haven't been wowed by any. For a couple years I would buy a handful of different ones to try and see what I liked best, and nothing really ever stood out. If I were at one of the breweries and it was on tap, I'd probably order one, but shelling out money for 4-6 of them isn't really what I'm looking to do now.

 

Personally, Founders Harvest is one of my favorite we hop beers ever (at least when I've had it fresh on tap). Can't fully rate last year's as the pack I bought was over a month old but still thought it was good. Hoping I get the chance to try Shorts this year.

 

Some great informative posts in this thread, especially from the illiinois contingent.. Dark Horse was weak. Shorts Kind is draft only this year so thats one less this year for home. Had the Griffin Claw wet hop on tap and that was decent. Hazy juice bombs are all the cool people want, so I speculate the bottled ones like Founders may sit in stores for longer than they used to.

 

I'm a fan of Off Color Aqua Predator. Really enjoying this year's release (big fan of regular apex predator too). Not a MI brewery, but it uses 100% MI wet hops.

 

Expanding this from SW Michigan a bit, but this year's Broo Doo from 3 Floyds is excellent. Just released on tap today, which is how I sampled it, and in my opinion, it was flippin awesome.

Now, you can't compare something bottled to fresh from the teet....but...

It was flat out excellent.

I did buy four bombers, though. What was I supposed to do?

 

Anyone know if Founder's Harvest has popped up in SE Michigan yet?

 

Picked up a 4pk of Founders Harvest Ale yesterday. One of the Founder's releases I usually try each year and this year's iteration does not disappoint imo. Just about gone through them & will likely pick up another tomorrow. Cheers.

 

Yep, seems widely available now. Looks like we were about a week behind the rest of the Great Lakes region, not that I’m counting...

 

$12.99 for a 4-pack (48oz) of Founder's Harvest Ale = $0.27/oz.

$13.99 for a 4-pack (64oz) of M-43 = $0.22/oz.

This seems awful strange to me, when you consider M-43 has expensive hops and lots of them.

What's the deal here? The same fresh hop can't be more expensive than its dried counterpart. Maybe more volume? I've never brewed a fresh hop beer.

 

Not that there's always logic in beer pricing (see: all bombers ever), but I imagine the logistics involved with fresh hop beers are fairly expensive.

 

Four brewers going out into the field for at least half a day and drinking beer is pretty hard on the overhead, not to mention the beer that didn't get brewed while they were gone.

 

It's not exactly apples to apples, but shorts cat grass takes the cake for a logistical nightmare, and still comes in at a reasonable price.

I'm going with your first take, no logic, which means founders is just digging deep into my wallet....Damnit, I've been saying it for years, if I could invest in that company, I'd be a rich man right now.

 

Shipping costs for wet hops can be much greater, as the wet weight required is a lot greater than equivalent dry weight. In addition, the logistics of using fresh hops within the tiny window of freshness (~24 hours) can add cost, field trips aside.