Confluence Fresh Hop Centennial

From a classic Czech Pilsner to the trendiest of milkshake IPAs, kiln dried and pelletized hops are the industry standard for almost every beer. But once a year, when the fresh hops are ready for harvest, we brew a “Wet” Hopped IPA. For this batch, we drove north to Hulu Hop Farms just outside of Cambridge, Iowa the morning of brew day to help the farmers harvest the beautiful Centennial Hops from the bines. Within a few hours of being picked, these wet, unkilned Iowa hops went directly into our kettles. In fact, most of the fresh hops are held for our Whirlpool kettle, where the Centennial is encouraged to impart its citrus and floral flavors to the beer without excess bitterness. We chose to keep the malt bill clean and slightly sweet to showcase the distinctively smooth, fresh hop character; and because we were using Iowa grown hops, we used Iowa malt from Black Gold Malting. It’s brewed fresh to be enjoyed fresh, from all-Iowa grown ingredients–so be sure to get some while it lasts!