Brewing beer is a rush – especially when the cones come off the bines at Ontario’s hop farms.
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Brewing beer is a rush – especially when the cones come off the bines at Ontario’s hop farms.
Beer made with freshly harvested hops rather than dried and pelletized hops is a special treat.
Cones harvested from bines in September at farms such as Hayhoe Hops of Aylmer are rushed from fields to craft breweries where brew teams work their magic. So keen were the folks from Wellington Brewery in Guelph, they made the trip to Elgin County to personally pick up Cascade and Comet hops straight from the bine.
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The result is Fresh Off the Wire, a West Coast-style pale ale with strong flavours of grapefruit and tangerine.
In Chatham, Sons of Kent used fresh Sasquatch hops from Redman Farms in Kingsville for a small batch pale ale christened Backyards. Sons of Kent added the hops in the brew kettle stage hours after they were harvested. At last check, Backyards was still available to Ontario residents through the Sons of Kent online store priced at $4.50 for a 473 ml can.
In Woodstock, Upper Thames used fresh Cascade hops from the bines of Tavistock Hop Company 30 kilometres from the brewery. Branded as Tavistock Harvest Ale, it’s described as having strong melon and citrus aromas with apple fruitiness.
Looking to get fresh hop flavour in an ordinary beer at home? Try infusing beer with a fresh cone by dropping one in a French press filled with beer, press the hop cone down and pour the beer. Or taking a cue from the lime-infused cerveza, plop a hop or two into your glass.
I kid you not. Some do it.
NEW AND NOTED
The autumn trio is complete at Powerhouse Brewing in London. The Powerhaus series released in conjunction with the three weekends of festivals at 100 Kellogg are a kolsch, marzen and berlinerweisse. They’re available at the brewery.
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Fans of cerveza, radlers and charitable causes will want to check out an offer from Railway City in St. Thomas. For each case – sale priced at $50 – the brewery will donate $5 to the Children’s Health Foundation and Fight Like Mason Foundation. Each case also comes with a $10 taproom voucher.
There are two versions of saisons in the fridge at Caps Off in downtown St. Thomas. Straw Hat is 6.3 per cent alcohol while Another Straw Hat measures 6 per cent.
They’re into bootlegging at Neustadt Springs. Tapping into the building’s long history, they now have Bootlegger Bubbly, a seltzer made with moonshine.
Hammock Dreams is a new cream ale with a light malty flavour from Upper Thames in Woodstock.
New to near beer is Four Fathers of Cambridge with the launch of Formula 4 the Driver non-alcoholic beer. Four Fathers has also expanded its craft beer offerings for the OHL Kitchener Rangers, now with a cream ale, IPA and light lager branded in support of the hockey team.
Sour fan? Red Barn in Blenheim re-released Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Sour. Brewed with rhubarb from several gardens in Chatham-Kent and strawberries from Manitree Fruit Farm, it’s one way to keep summer vibes alive.
The Chi-Cheemaun made its maiden voyage between Tobermory and Manitoulin Island in September 1974. To mark the ferry’s 50th anniversary, Tobermory Brewing crafted a light lager and christened it for the Chi-Cheemaun. Featured during a special anniversary sailing, it’s also available at the brewery.
Wayne Newton is a freelance journalist based in London.
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