CHUG

Yesterday, Sara and I went up to Julian to check out her family friends hop farm. It is called Hopportunity Farms, and is run by Phil Warren. He is growing a strain he found growing up there that they have named “Julian Gold” as well as Cascade, Centennial, Goldings, Magnums, and I believe another variety. When we got to the farm, we were welcomed in and I was told to pick whatever I wanted. I decided that I would pick the Julian Gold because it wasn’t something I will ever see anywhere else, and I wanted to give it a whirl.

So from what I know about wet hops, you need 4-5 times the weight of normal hops, so I decided I’d take 2 pounds. He said the alpha acids are somewhere around 6.7%, and I figured I could get enough bitterness out of that with a generous amount at the end.

So we picked until we had the amount we needed and it was a lot of fun. It was a cool, breezy morning in Julian and it was nice and relaxing. When I got home last night, I made a simple balanced pale ale recipe and set myself up to brew today.

So things went well, the hops smelled good, and hopefully I’ll have something drinkable in a few weeks. Wet hop beers are really a different animal, with a very grassy character and something that you don’t really get with dried hops.

So when the beer is done, I’ll let you know how it went. If you want to contact Phil about buying some locally grown hops, you can reach him at pwarrensanrrcom.

And now, the pictures.