Fresh Hop Beer Season Has Arrived at Two Beers Brewing in Seattle
The super-short version of the story.
- On Friday, August 21st Two Beers Brewing will tap the first fresh hop beer of the season at The Woods tasting room in Seattle: a small-batch fresh hop beer brewed with Kviek yeast. Supplies while they last.
- The following Friday, August 28th, Two Beers Brewing releases Fresh Hop IPA, which will be available in 12-oz cans at The Woods and across the brewery’s distribution network.
Both the Fresh Hop IPA and the Kviek fresh hop beer were brewed using freshly picked Centennial hops from Puterbaugh Farms in the Yakima Valley. The hops were harvest and handpicked on Monday, August 5th.
Early that morning, two of the brewers hopped in a moving van and road tripped to Yakima to harvest the hops. Upon their return from the hop fields, the brewery’s staff was joined by a group of volunteers for the actual picking. I was there to witness the socially distanced glory. Within 24 hours of harvesting, those hops were utilized in the creation of two different beers: the small-batch Kviek version and the regular Fresh Hop IPA, the latter of which will find its way into cans for distribution.
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Here is the press release from Two Beers Brewing with all of the information.
Two Beers Brewing Co Continues Fresh Hop IPA Tradition
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“Unprecedented Times” Can’t Stop Fresh Hop
SEATTLE (August 20, 2020) – Amid the ever-changing and unparalleled roller coaster that is 2020, it’s refreshing to know that something worth celebrating is almost upon us. Enter, Fresh Hop beer season! Two Beers Brewing Co’s Fresh Hop IPA is equal parts celebration of harvest and love letter to the mighty hop.
First brewed in 2009, hand picking hops that to go from bine to brew in less than 24 hours has become an institution for the Seattle based brewery’s Fresh Hop IPA seasonal release.
As with so many things this year, Two Beers Brewing’s Fresh Hop picking party looked markedly different from years past. The picking party typically draws a crowd of interested onlookers, so hops were picked by staff and a select few long-time volunteers on the brewery’s shipping dock. Participation was preceded by temperature checks, all participants wore masks and gloves, and picking tables were amply spaced and limited to five people.
Yet even with the addition of a new order of strict safety measures, the most important aspects of the Fresh Hop IPA tradition remained: hand-picked Centennial Hops from Puterbaugh Farms, a sense of community, and perhaps most importantly, a captivatingly hop forward, classic Pacific Northwest style IPA.
At Two Beers, Fresh Hop 2020 season started on August 5 with an early morning road trip to Puterbaugh Farms in Yakima Valley. Head Brewer Jesse Ransavage and Assistant Brewer Andrew Potts harvested over 30 bines by hand, loaded up a moving truck with the fragrant lupulin haul, and returned to Seattle where more than 145 pounds of Centennial hops were picked then added post whirlpool starting with a 6AM brew on August 6.
“Hops don’t care if there’s a pandemic or restricted bar access. When they’re ready, we’re ready,” said Assistant Brewer, Andrew Potts. “We’re grateful to our volunteers, bar staff, to the sales team, marketing, and (sibling company Seattle Cider Co) cidermakers- most of our company has hands in this (hop picking) process. We were going to continue this tradition of supporting Washington agriculture any way we could.”
Fresh Hop IPA (6.2% ABV/70 IBUs) features Centennial hops, which provide a juicy citrus aroma with hints of grapefruit and passion fruit. The recipe is rounded out with locally grown Simcoe and Citra hops resulting in a beautifully balanced IPA that packs a hoppy punch.
Two Beers Brewing is canning Fresh Hop IPA on Friday, August 28 and it will be available in cans and draft in the tasting room starting at 3PM. Look for Fresh Hop IPA throughout Washington, wherever Two Beers Brewing is sold.
For those eager to start celebrating fresh hop season immediately, The Woods tasting room in SoDo (4660 Ohio Ave S) will have a small batch of Kveik Fresh Hop on draft starting Friday, August 21.
Visit the new Two Beers website (twobeersbrewing.com) to order Fresh Hop IPA 6 packs for pick up, shipping throughout Washington, or free Thursday delivery throughout Seattle.
About Puterbaugh Farms
Puterbaugh Farms is a 5th generation hop farming family, growing hops in the Yakima Valley of Washington State since the early 1930’s. After hearing of the fertility of Washington State’s Yakima Valley, Noel Charvet – a French immigrant – moved his family from Canada in 1932 and planted his roots for a hop farm. Today, Stacy, his brother, sisters, and two sons now work the 1,200+ acre hop farm. They take pride in knowing that four generations have worked to grow and harvest only the highest quality crops, paving a path for their growing 5th generation to carry on the legacy. For more information about Puterbaugh Farms, visit hopsdirect.com
About Two Beers Brewing Co.
Life is just a little more honest after Two Beers.
Founded in 2007, Two Beers Brewing Co. crafts delicious, creative, and award-winning beers with quality Northwest ingredients. Located in Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood, Two Beers Brewing shares The Woods tasting room with sibling company Seattle Cider Co (4660 Ohio Ave S. 98134) and features over 30 draft beers and ciders. For more information, visit twobeersbrewing.com and connect on Facebook, Instagram, and twitter @twobeersbrewing
