Wet hopped IPA

I think that if you "recently" had wet hop head hunter then you had a beer that was over 6 months old. That might explain the lack of bitterness

 

Thread ended

 

That’s what I thought but it turns out they released a wet hopped Head Hunter on April 22 due to “quick freezing” the hops.

 

I was curious about how they managed the wet hopping, but I do see that they release that beer in October and April/May

http://fatheads.com/assets/fh2022releasecal.jpeg

Let the debate about what qualifies as wet hopping begin

 

So much to debate here

 

Oh, you done opened a can of worms…

I think once you’ve preserved/processed them, even if the process keeps a convincingly fresh aroma/flavor, it’s not the same as if the Brewer rushed from field to brewhouse. If it helps people outside of hop growing areas get a glimpse of what’s great about fresh hop beers then it serves a purpose, but it’s no match for actual FH season in the NW.

 

Anything more than 24 hours from bine to kettle is garbage.

 

Ah I remember hearing about this program. I wouldn't call it "wet hop" but I'd let the brewer slide with "fresh hop" or preferably "fresh frozen hop".

 

Plot twist

 

Someone can chime in with some specifics here, but I remember in one of the fresh hop/wet hop threads of yore an eye-opening discussion about this very process. Is it Breakside who started doing this, even for in-season fresh/wet hopped beers?

 

Oh Christ!!!!

It is FAR too early for this fucking argument.

AGAIN!!!!

Dear every brewery; fire your fucking marketing dickwads and make then find real jobs.

 

Yes, I remember at least part of that thread and I think it was Breakside. I recently had this beer, similar concept I think. It was good but I wouldn’t say it was the same as a true fresh hop beer.

 

As has been discussed there is a way to process (a freezing process?) wet hops so they can be used after the harvest season. Wet hopped beer is no longer just a late summer/early fall seasonal thing.

In a past NBW thread I conducted a side-by-side tasting of Wet-hopped Head Hunter and 'regular' Head Hunter:



https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-weekend-66.662256/#post-7371408

Cheers!

 

Breakside uses a process (if I'm remembering things correctly) of flash freezing and shattering using liquid nitrogen.

This beer was brewed with hops that Yakima chief froze wet at harvest season and has stored (or maybe shipped to the breweries to store?) until now.

As far as I know, breakside has never brewed a beer with stored frozen hops months after harvest and called it a wet hop or fresh hop ipa.

 

Lagunitas tried to extend fresh hop season (Born Yesterday) another six months (Born Again Yesterday) with some mysterious process they hand waved about, but I don't remember the second batch each year being as good as the first.

 

I believe I took the torch from @BBThunderbolt in 2021 as a staunch opponent of the term wet hop since all hops are wet once introduced to the beer, and a champion of the term fresh hop referring to hops that are picked fresh off the bine and used in the brewing process within 24 hours. Are hops still fresh if they were frozen or dried? Nope. In summation, based on definitions of words whose definitions have been agreed upon for centuries, this beer is not fresh hopped and ANY beer using hops is a wet hopped beer.
Can we make the argument that the OP may be experiencing lupulin threshold shift? Absolutely. Could this beer be lower in IBUs than its predecessor? Certainly, especially if those frozen hops have a different alpha acid percentage than the dried hops Fat Heads uses for their regular head hunter.

 

Yakima Chief sells Frozen Fresh Hops:



Cheers!

 

Fatheads also brews Fresh Hop Freddy which uses fresh frozen hops. Pretty nice beer. Seems strange they call one fresh hopped and one wet hopped when they seem to use the same process.