Following the success of our 2007 harvest special, we are bringing back our Hop Harvest Gold for 2008.
This year's beer is slightly altered from the 2007 version. It's still a blonde beer brewed with the finest Maris Otter pale and extra pale malt, but this year we have slightly upped the gravity to an abv of 5.2% and we're increasing the amount of new season Goldings hops we add to the brew. We've once again sourced the hops from the Kitchenham Farm on the East Sussex / Kent border.
One difficulty in brewing with the freshest harvest hops is that we are brewing "blind" - we have no analysis of the new crop and hence no idea what to expect from the new season's hops, in terms of bitterness, aroma or flavour. But that is also one of the strengths of Hop Harvest Gold - it is always going to be a unique seasonal. We won't be able to repeat the effort, and when it's gone, it's gone.
Our first brew this year was made on September 14th and it is now coming to market. Look for HHG in pubs from early October, and in bottles by the end of the month.
