Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery releasing member-grown fresh hop beer

It’s fresh hop beer season, that magical time of year that makes hop-loving beer drinkers giddy with delight. At Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery they extend their cooperative approach to brewing to include the fresh hop experience, asking members to harvest their backyard crops and bring the freshly cut bines into the brewery at a specific time. This year, the designated time was August 27th.

On Friday, September 16th they will tap into the beer at the brewery and taproom in Greenwood. Details are available in the press release below.

In the press release, Flying Bike asks a question: “Where else does this kind of fresh backyard-to-boil fresh hop brew happen?”

It may not be exactly the same, but at Lewis and Clark Brewing in Helena, Montana, they start early in the spring, signing up people for their Neighborhood IPA project. The brewery orders hop rhizomes and distributes them to the participants, along with instructions on how to properly plant and care for hops. Everyone is told when to harvest the hops and bring the crop to the brewery, where they make a fresh hop IPA. I would assume that by now some people have legacy hops growing and don’t need rhizomes, at least not every year. Members of this exclusive club get first crack at the beer when it’s ready to drink.


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Of course, at Flying Bike the backyard hop farmers are actually part of the ownership/coop group.

Here’s the press release from Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery with all the details.


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Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery releasing one-of-a-kind member collaboration Fresh Hop Ale.

On Saturday August 27th, something magical happened at Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery. Member hop-growers brought in their freshly cut, home grown bines, we picked the hop cones, and we brewed a fresh hop beer. Where else does this kind of fresh backyard-to-boil fresh hop brew happen? We wonder the same thing!

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Hops provided were mostly Cascade, with some Chinook and Centennial, and a bit of Hallertau. Overall about a dozen Flying Bike member-owners contributed hops.

The base beer is different from last year’s release and is different from any of our other beers. It is loosely inspired by the Oktoberfest/Marzen style with lots of light Munich malt and a bit of Dark Munich from Skagit Valley Maltings, but fermented as an ale with our house yeast. It will be malt-accented and deep orange in color, about 5.5% alcohol.

Fresh hops were added at “first wort,” in the boil, post-whirlpool, and in the hop back. We did a lot of improvising on the brewing side. Assistant Brewer Scott Jensen helped keep the crazy-fun, unconventional brew day on track through all the madness, and of course Head Brewer Kevin Forhan provided the steady course for this brew.

This unique, one-of-a-kind Fresh Hop Ale will be released on Friday September 16th, where the beer will be available on draft beginning when we open at 3pm. You can find the event posted on our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/311097255903893/

Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery is located at 8570 Greenwood Ave N, featuring member beer recipes and the creations of head brewer Kevin Forhan. Currently the Co-op has 1723 members.

 


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