Yosano - 2020 Fresh Hop Harvest

Just a few days ago, we headed out to the Town of Yosano in northern Kyoto to pick hops with the Yosano Hop Growers Guild. This is our fifth time brewing with local hops and we could not be happier to see the progress being made in the fields by the growing number of farmers who have joined the guild.

Our proximity to the hop fields and our good relationship with the guild means that we have the privilege of being able to conduct a true “wet hop” brew. We travel to Yosano as a team to pick hops in the afternoon and the following morning before transporting them back to Kyoto to use in that day’s brew. No processing, no drying, no ageing...from hop bine to brew in less than 24 hours! It doesn’t get much fresher than that.

To make this year’s brew extra special, we wanted to use our house yeast instead of the more schedule friendly dry yeasts we have chosen in the past. While this made aligning hop and yeast harvest timing more difficult, it makes the brew that much more special as it allows us to put more of a KBC touch on it than we have in the past. Additionally, we are using spelt for the first time, giving the beer a unique grainy character and further emphasizing the harvest theme of this brew.

More details to follow but look forward to this once a year special brew!