sartori harvest 2013

so, did you get your driftwood brewing sartori harvest ipa yet?
if not, you’re probably outta luck finding a bottle in vancouver
the brewery in victoria is offering growler fills
and there will be more casks about town (vancouver, victoria, chilliwack)

i got my bottles at viti (vancouver)
i tried to be greedy and get some more at liberty on the drive, but they were out of their 15 cases already

i have tried two casks so far:
monday night at st. augustine’s
(that was not very good)

and tuesday night at the railway club
(that was down-right ambrosia)

i have only had a wee sample from the bottle – and it was so delicious i am on a quest to find more bottles!

on the coast

if you missed me talking about fresh-hopped beers with stephen quinn last week on cbc radio’s on the coast, fear not!  you can still have a listen
follow the link, and if you just want to listen to me, fast-forward to the 2:17 mark

and if you missed getting your driftwood sartori harvest ipa yesterday, get out there right now, there may still be some left, but it won’t last for long!

beer column

my notes from last evening’s beer column with stephen quinn on the coast:

It’s the most wonderful time of the year for hop-heads! It’s hop harvest time, and to beer geeks that can mean only one thing: fresh-hopped beers. 

Fresh-hopping, also referred to as wet-hopping, is the process of using fresh hops to bitter the beer. Hops are ready for harvest at the end of August or the beginning of September in this part of the world. Growers know they are ready when the cone is plump and the lupulin is at a maximum. If you look at a hop flower, the lupulin is the yellow stuff between the green bits. This is where the oils come from that impart the bitterness and flavour to beer. Despite looking hardy, hops are actually quite delicate. They don’t survive long after being cut. To preserve the oils and resins they need to be dried right away.. Most of the hops harvested are dried right after picking and then frozen, or ground into pellets. These are then sold to brewers and used all year long. Fresh hops follow a different process. They are harvested and then immediately scooped up by brewers and put into a brew within hours of being picked. Hence the namesfresh-hop.

You can only get fresh-hopped beers at harvest time, so they’re rare commodities. You also get a slightly different hop flavour in a fresh-hopped beer. A little green or herbal perhaps. The base notes are the same, floral, bitter, tangy, but there’s less intensity – instead they are delicate, bright and vibrant. Its hard to describe really, so you should definitely try a fresh-hopped beer this season! Keep in mind, these are beers that will not cellar, the oils break down over time and the flavour changes. You have to drink a fresh-hopped beer right away. And that is a large part of the hype around fresh-hopped beers. They represent a moment in time in your local terroir.

 

Let’s look at how Driftwood brews its Sartori Harvest IPA – probably the most well-known fresh-hopped beer in BC. It is comparable to a pilgrimage to make this beer. The brewers travel from Victoria to the Sartori Cedar Ranch in Chilliwack, load their truck with fresh hops and then drive back to Victoria the same day. The batch gets brewed first thing the next morning, with additions of fresh Centennial hops at multiple points during the brewing process to highlight the bittering and the flavouring elements of the hops, and then the final product goes out to stores a few weeks later. That’s when the fun for the consumer starts – this is a very sought after beer, so if you don’t get your hands on some the day it is released, you may be out of luck to try it at all. People use social media to announce where they got theirs – and to beg others to share the wealth.

 

The good news is that Driftwood Brewing finally has enough tank space to brew a double batch of the Sartori this year – which should make it a little easier to come by than past years. But if you get a bottle, make sure to drink it right away. No storing a fresh-hopped beer, not even for a month! It really does need to be drunk right away. Driftwood Sartori Harvest IPA will be in stores next Monday – that’s September 23rd.

For this list of fresh-hopped beers in BC I need to give a shout-out to Joe Wiebe who wrote an article for the current edition of the BC Craft Beer News all about fresh-hopping and which beers to be on the look-out for.

Vern Lambourne of Granville Island Brewing is making a fresh-hopped ESB (extra special bitter). This year’s concoction will be called Mad Dash, and will also use hops from the Sartori ranch.

Tin Whistle Brewing in Penticton will have a fresh-hopped Harvest Honey Pale Ale made from fresh hops from a farm in Grand Forks and honey from Cawston. This will weigh in at around 30 ibus and use mostly Cascade hops.

Salt Spring Island Ales has a hop farm located quite close to the brewery, which will make it quite easy for them to brew a fresh-hop version of one of their regular styles. From bine to boil is so much easier when the hops are local.

Hoyne Brewing plans to crowd-source hops from backyard growers in the Victoria area for its fresh-hopped brew.

Lighthouse Brewing is brewing its first fresh-hopped batch this year. Their brewer, Dean McLeod says it is an American brown ale with Chinook and Zeus hops from a farm in Cedar on Vancouver Island. The brewery shut down for a day, the staff all travelled to Cedar to pick the hops.

Townsite Brewing will have their Time Warp Pale Ale with hops from Powell River and Texada Island.

Parallel 49 is brewing a Bohemian Pilsner with Sartori hops.

I suggest you follow social media and the CAMRA website for announcements of when these beers have hit store shelves, and also for cask nights featuring fresh-hopped beers.

on the coast

great news!!
stephen quinn will be hosting the bc craft beer awards on october 19th!

and i’ll be on the radio talking about fresh-hopped beers with him at 5:50 this afternoon
88.1 fm

driftwood sartori

bc craft beer month is in full swing!
the belle of the ball so far is driftwood’s sartori harvest ale, a fresh-hopped ipa
sold out of stores the same day it arrived in them
it is the star of several cask nights around vancouver
and one beer-pairing dinner

st. augustine’s had a cask of the elusive sartori that sold out in 24 minutes
that was monday
tuesday there was a cask at the cascade room
thursday there was a cask at the alibi room
neither of those casks beat the 24 minute record, but neither lasted very long either

missed out on the sartori both in the bottle and on cask?
well, you’ve got three more opportunities that i am aware of to get yourself some:

if you’re a camra member and you have a ticket for the now sold out harvest fest / bc beer awards at chapel arts on saturday the 13th, you can have some of the members only cask that will be available there

the whip has a cask of sartori on sunday the 14th
tapping at 4, i expect this one will be gone in very short order

the sartori is also one of the driftwood beers being paired with food at biercraft cambie’s beer-pairing dinner on october 25th
as of tuesday there were still a couple of tickets available for this event

me, i managed to get two bottles of this ambrosia
one of which i enjoyed on the air on cbc on tuesday evening
and i got some of the alibi cask last night
(thank you nigel for dealing with the slam of people last night with such grace and making sure everyone got some of the cask!)

i plan to be at the whip on the 14th for more
because i just can’t get enough of this limited release
it is not a hop monster, even though it weighs in at 75 ibus
the wet-hopping leaves it smooth rather than bitter
and just so very drinkable

when i’m going to crack my second bottle, i’m not sure
its not a beer you want to keep, it needs to be drunk fresh
but i think i’d like to make an occasion out it!

a little bit of catch up

the cask last night at the railway club was central city’s pumpkin ale
it was quite a nice pumpkin ale
is it too early in the season to be over the pumpkin?

and speaking of the lovely railway club, if you ever frequented that joint you would have been served by the fabulous natasha
well, she has retired from slinging beer at the railway
and there’s a party in her honour on sunday at 5
come out and hoist a glass to this wonderful woman

bc beer blog reports that a few victoria beers are ready for release
including hoyne’s wolf vine ipa and driftwood’s sartori harvest ipa, both wet-hopped

a couple of pieces of gossip as well:
there will be a new beer and vodka distributor in town
official announcement coming shortly, but i can tell you oregon beers will be featured

this bit of news is unsubstantiated…
steamworks is opening a new brewery
i would assume to brew their bottled beers and restaurant beers currently being brewed off-site
makes sense to me
i look forward to finding out the details!

deschutes seasonals

flavours of the season from deschutes:

BLACK BUTTE XXIV

Our 24th Anniversary Release is back in black with a couple of new additions this year including fresh Daglet dates and Mission figs. You’ll still get flavors of dark chocolate and Bourbon roasty goodness but after one sip…you’ll be hooked. Grab a few bottles for aging and one for now! Cheers to 24 years of Deschutes beers!

RESERVE SERIES

11.0% ABV | 55 IBU’s

Availability: Now in 22-oz bottles and draft in limited quantities

 

 

THE DISSIDENT Pucker up, sour fans…it’s time for the return of our favorite Flanders-style brown ale. As our only bottled wild yeast beer, we use fresh tart pie cherries from Oregon and Brettanomyces to give this beer unique flavors and aromas that will have you singing, “Wild Thing” by The Troggs. Snag a bottle while they last and savor the sour! RESERVE SERIES ~10.5% ABV | ~30 IBU’s Availability: Very limited in 22-oz bottles beginning mid-September

HOP TRIP Each year at the beginning of the fall season, Deschutes brewers head over the pass to Doug Weather’s hop fields near Salem, Oregon for the harvest. After bagging these aromatic green cones of awesomeness, we hustle back to toss these hops into the brew kettle within four hours of picking. Our reward: a pale ale with a bright citrus flavor and an amazing floral hop aroma. Take the trip with us, the Hop Trip! BOND STREET SERIES 5.4% ABV | 38 IBU’s Availability: 6-packs and on draft in late September

CHASIN’ FRESHIES The first time in a bottle, this Fresh Hop IPA is perfect for the fall season and packs a citrusy punch! We’re always seeking the freshest powder on the mountain or the freshest hops from the harvest and this beer will quench your desires for both. Fresh Heirloom Cascade Hops from our friends at Goshie Farms are added to the brew for flavor and aroma to delight your taste buds. Be sure to chase this beer down and enjoy as fresh as possible! BOND STREET SERIES 7.2% ABV | 65 IBU’s Availability: 22-oz bottles beginning late-September

rogue news

rogue news

from rogue brewery:

“One Ton of Hops

INDEPENDENCE, OR, September 1, 2010 — Rogue Ales has begun our annual harvest of GYO Certified hops from the Rogue Farms Micro Hopyard in Oregon’s Wigrich Appellation. We honor our cultivation, growth, and harvest by using 5 different varieties and 2,200lbs of fresh hops from our 42-acre farm to create this year’s Chatoe Rogue Wet Hop Ale.

Like any farmer sowing seed in soil, the success of our hops lies a great deal in the hands of Mother Nature. Master Brewer John Maier had planned to add a sixth variety to the brew, but our Alluvial Hops did not produce this year.

After being cut from the trellises, the hop cones are separated and loaded into 250lb burlap sacks, driven 77 miles to the Brewery in Newport, OR, and immediately pitched into the brew kettle. Total elapse time: approximately 2 hours, 17 minutes.

Due to the massive quantity of wet hops used in the brewing process we create three small batches, and then blend them to form our Wet Hop Ale.

– Batch One August 23: 250lbs of Revolution Hops and 250lbs of Liberty Hops

– Batch Two August 24: 500lbs of Freedom Hops and 250lbs of Independence Hops

– Batch Three August 26: 1,000lbs of Rebel Hops

Wet Hop Ale is brewed with 11 ingredients: Carawheat, Carafoam, and Rogue Micro Barley Farm Dare & Risk Malts; Rogue Micro Hopyard first growth Freedom, Revolution, Independent, Rebel, & Liberty Hops; Pacman Yeast & Free Range Coastal Water.

Wet Hop Ale will be available in select markets on October 1st, 2010. Rogue remains dedicated to saving the terroir of Oregon hops and barley, one acre at a time, by growing our own.

For more information on Chatoe Rogue releases, Tasting Room hours, Hopyard tours, or overnight stays at the Hop ‘n Bed, please contact the Rogue Department of Agriculture at 503.241.3800.”