It’s been a while since we updated you on our ventures into the world of hop farming. 2021 was the 3rd year that we have been growing hops with the Henderson family in the North East of Scotland. We thought we should take a moment to tell you a little bit about the hops and our latest fresh hop offering.

THE HOPS

A classic British hop, Pioneer is great for bittering and has a distinctly herbaceous and spicy aroma. As we are growing hops slightly further North than would be traditionally expected, our harvest takes place quite a bit later than the norm. We also had a late frost to deal with so instead of early-mid September, we actually harvested mid-late October. Our friends at the Hutton Institute test the hops before we harvest them so we know what to expect from them when brewing.

THE BEER

Previous iterations of Hop Harvest have used a Belgian Pale base to allow the aromas and bitterness of the hops to come through. This year we are trying something a little different. A Vienna Lager is a malt forward lager with a spicy aroma and balanced bitterness. This should allow our hops to shine without overpowering the beer itself. Once again, they were brewed within less than 24 hours after picking. We then lagered the beer for a total of 11 weeks to give a smooth, crisp and rewarding drinking experience.

This year we were also able to dry some of the harvested hops. These dried hops were vacuum packed and are being kept in our chilled hop store, to be used throughout the year. We are hoping to utilise them as a base bittering hops in future premium lager offerings.

Hop Harvest 2021 Vienna Lager will be released on Thursday 27th January.