Brews Report: Full Sail Brewing Celebrates the Hop Harvest with Fresh Hop Pilsner Brewed with Salmon-Safe Hops

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Full Sail Brewing Celebrates the Hop Harvest with Fresh Hop Pilsner Brewed with Salmon-Safe Hops

Located in the heartland of hops, every year the Full Sail brewers wait with thirsty anticipation for hop harvest and the chance to celebrate by brewing fresh hop beers. When the hops are at their peak, the Full Sail brewers truck out to the hop fields to collect the aromatic bounty. These seasonal wonders will go from field to brewhouse within a matter of hours and the magic begins. This year, Full Sail celebrates the season’s first hops with Fresh Hop Pilsner which showcases the Perle hop variety. “This beer highlights the brewer’s art as well as nature’s gift,” said Full Sail Executive Brewmaster, Jamie Emmerson. The hops were locally grown at Sodbuster Farms, which is a Salmon Safe certified hop grower.

Fresh Hop Pilsner is a hop lover’s delight, the freshly harvested Perle hops impart floral and sweet fruit notes to this special edition Pilsner. The beer presents a deep golden hue and white foamy head with a delicate floral and spicy nose. A pronounced malt body and slight sweetness complement flavors of mango, papaya, and spice that end with a crisp hop finish. Combined, this makes for a refreshing late summer brew. (ABV: 7.3% IBU: 54)

“As brewers we are always reliant on nature’s bounty, from the quality of the barley harvest to how the hops weathered through the Oregon summer. But no moment brings this relationship to sharper focus than our fresh hop beers. When we brew with fresh hops, timing is everything,” added Emmerson. “There’s such a small window of time to take advantage of these fresh hops. We need to get them into the brew within hours of picking while their oils and resins are still at their peak as there are distinct flavors and aromas that you can only get brewing with fresh hops.”

Full Sail’s Fresh Hop Pilsner is part of Full Sail’s Brewmaster Reserve series. It will be available in limited quantities August to October on draft throughout the Pacific Northwest and at Full Sail’s Brew Pub in Hood River. This special offering will also be available at various fresh hop beer festivals throughout the Pacific Northwest including the Hood River Hops Festival, the Yakima Fresh Hop Festival & Portland Fresh Hop Festival.

About Full Sail Brewing Company:
Founded in 1987, the independent Full Sail Brewery is perched on a bluff in Hood River, Oregon, overlooking the most epic wind and kite surfing spot in the world. Over the last 28 years, Full Sail has collected more than 300 national and international awards for their beers and sustainable practices, including over 150 gold medals, and was recently named Craft Brewer of the Year by Beverage World Magazine for their years of “sustainable stewardship, quality, consistency and operational ingenuity.” Among the company’s most popular brews are Full Sail Amber, IPA, Pilsner, Pub Series, Session Lager, Session Black, Session IPA and Session Series beers. At this very moment their specialists in the liquid refreshment arts are crafting barley and hops into your next beer. The Full Sail Brew Pub is open seven days a week. Swing by for a pint, grab a bite, tour the brewery, or just soak up the view.