The Hop Back

Green Hopped

I have been invited along to the last brew at Macs Wellington today. Fittingly they have chosen a rather special brew to finish brewing operations in Wellington before they rip the brewery apart and send it down to Christchurch. Today they are brewing Brewjolais the annual green hopped beer. Early this morning a van will have set off for the Nelson hop fields via the interislander ferry. The van will be loaded with freshly picked green hops and will then speed its way towards the brewery again via the Interisalnder. Meanwhile the brewers will have been busy brewing the beer getting it towards the crucial point where the fresh resinious green hops will come into play. At 5pm I will head down to the brewery at which point the van should be arriving and the brew will be nearing the end of its boil, the hops will go into the hopback the wort will run through it and some marvelous aromas will be enjoyed. That’s if everything goes to plan. Fingers crossed.