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Author Topic: Just for You tomschmidlin...  (Read 5760 times)

Offline blatz

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Just for You tomschmidlin...
« on: December 28, 2012, 11:53:05 am »
Quote from: sierranevada.com
Wet Hop versus Fresh Hop
Over recent years, there has been some confusion about the difference between fresh and wet hops. While it may seem like semantics, to us it’s an important distinction.

Wet Hops are un-dried hops, picked and shipped from the growing fields within 24 hours.

Fresh Hops are the freshest dried hops to come from the fields, typically within seven days of harvest.
Over 90% of the world’s hop harvest happens between August 31 and October 31, and these hops are used throughout the calendar year. Can hops possibly be the same on November 1, one day after harvest, as they are on July 25, nearly one year after growing in the fields? The answer is no. We think of hops like dry kitchen spices—the flavor of thyme or rosemary right after the jar is opened is far more intense than it is six months later. The same can be said for hops. There are ways to control the way hops age and to reformulate and readjust as some of the aromas fade, but there’s nothing like the magic of the first bales of hops as fresh as can be. That is the stuff dreams are made of!

I mean, they put it on the internet, it has to be right...

'Bonjour!'
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Offline nateo

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Re: Just for You tomschmidlin...
« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2012, 12:07:56 pm »
I mean, they put it on the internet, it has to be right...

'Bonjour!'

Historically, that was correct, I think. I read somewhere that IPAs were only brewed in the fall. With modern refrigeration, I'm not sure that still holds.
In der Kürze liegt die Würze.

Offline alcaponejunior

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Re: Just for You tomschmidlin...
« Reply #2 on: December 28, 2012, 04:15:31 pm »

I mean, they put it on the internet, it has to be right...


 ::) ::) ::)

Interesting though.  I've only had a couple commercial beers that claimed to be "fresh hops" but they were all very nice.  8)

Offline pinnah

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Re: Just for You tomschmidlin...
« Reply #3 on: December 28, 2012, 06:05:17 pm »
 :D.The Blatz does not forget.

I love me some fresh-n-wet hopping. ???
Not much better really.
I mean the combo
of green wetness with fresh from the oast plump and crinkly stank yella.
Hells yes.

A once a year beer for me to be sure. 

This year a fatter DennyRIPA with wet Mt Hood and freshly dried - 2 days - of homegrown Columbus.
I spoiled it, however, with a gob of two week old dried Zeus for as a massive dry hop. ::)

Heh.  Cheers to semantics that matter. Dry, fresh, wet.  Me likey. 8)

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Just for You tomschmidlin...
« Reply #4 on: December 28, 2012, 10:31:08 pm »
With all due respect, their explanation is a load of shiitake mushrooms.  They liken them to kitchen spices, and then totally ignore the standard nomenclature.  I liken them to spices too, which is why FRESH means the undried form of the spice.  WET doesn't mean anything - you can't buy wet basil at the grocery store, it doesn't exist.  Go to your spice merchant and tell them you want fresh sage, and by fresh you mean the stuff that was just dried. ::)

I love SN beers, but I refuse to drink the ones they label as having wet or fresh hops since they screw it up and do some BS gymnastics to try to explain their marketing.  No no no.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline jeffy

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Re: Just for You tomschmidlin...
« Reply #5 on: December 29, 2012, 06:05:08 am »

I love SN beers, but I refuse to drink the ones they label as having wet or fresh hops since they screw it up and do some BS gymnastics to try to explain their marketing.  No no no.

You are missing some pretty good beers.
Jeff Gladish, Tampa (989.3, 175.1 Apparent Rennarian)
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Offline weithman5

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Re: Just for You tomschmidlin...
« Reply #6 on: December 29, 2012, 06:54:49 am »
1. he is missing some average beers

2. wet hops are the ones i am dumping from my kettle
Don AHA member

Offline nateo

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Re: Just for You tomschmidlin...
« Reply #7 on: December 29, 2012, 08:28:33 am »
With all due respect, their explanation is a load of shiitake mushrooms.  They liken them to kitchen spices, and then totally ignore the standard nomenclature.  I liken them to spices too, which is why FRESH means the undried form of the spice.  WET doesn't mean anything - you can't buy wet basil at the grocery store, it doesn't exist.  Go to your spice merchant and tell them you want fresh sage, and by fresh you mean the stuff that was just dried. ::)

How would you differentiate between recently-kilned hops and hops that have been in storage for 6 months? "Wet" in hops means "not kilned." "Fresh" in English means "not stale or decayed." I agree their language could be a bit better, although I don't know how to make it more clear.
In der Kürze liegt die Würze.

Offline denny

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Re: Just for You tomschmidlin...
« Reply #8 on: December 29, 2012, 10:54:37 am »
With all due respect, their explanation is a load of shiitake mushrooms.  They liken them to kitchen spices, and then totally ignore the standard nomenclature.  I liken them to spices too, which is why FRESH means the undried form of the spice.  WET doesn't mean anything - you can't buy wet basil at the grocery store, it doesn't exist.  Go to your spice merchant and tell them you want fresh sage, and by fresh you mean the stuff that was just dried. ::)

How would you differentiate between recently-kilned hops and hops that have been in storage for 6 months? "Wet" in hops means "not kilned." "Fresh" in English means "not stale or decayed." I agree their language could be a bit better, although I don't know how to make it more clear.

Mr. Language Person agrees.....
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Offline punatic

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Re: Just for You tomschmidlin...
« Reply #9 on: December 29, 2012, 11:22:30 am »
There is only one success: to be able to spend your life in your own way.


AHA Life Member #33907

Offline pinnah

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Re: Just for You tomschmidlin...
« Reply #10 on: December 29, 2012, 07:21:14 pm »
Colorado is all over Fresh Hops=wet and undried hops. To list a few:

  -New Belgium - Fresh Hop Ale.  Probably the best wetnfresh commercial IPA I have ever had.

  -Left Hand Brewing - Warrior IPA.  "Fresh Hop Ale" made with all Colorado grown hops flown in fresh.

  -Great Divide - Colorado Fresh Hop IIPA.  You guessed it...freshly picked and rushed to brewery Colorado hops.

   -Tommy snotknocker - Colorado IPA Nouveau - Fresh hopped ale...Colorado freshly picked hops

AND the GABF awarding medals in the "Fresh Hop Category".....

Seems Sierra Nevada is facing a bit of marketing quandary.
But heck, they only started calling Celebration a fresh hopped ale a couple years ago. ::)
That dude should loose his job. 
Because the tschmidlin folks aint buying due to beersematical protest.

Don't let the marketing stubbornness cause you to not Celebrate the season.  Yum.  ;)
Cheers.


BTW, I got into some 2013 Ruthless tonight.  No quandary there.   :D
Seems like the added more Rye this year. yackyack


Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Just for You tomschmidlin...
« Reply #11 on: December 29, 2012, 07:36:55 pm »
With all due respect, their explanation is a load of shiitake mushrooms.  They liken them to kitchen spices, and then totally ignore the standard nomenclature.  I liken them to spices too, which is why FRESH means the undried form of the spice.  WET doesn't mean anything - you can't buy wet basil at the grocery store, it doesn't exist.  Go to your spice merchant and tell them you want fresh sage, and by fresh you mean the stuff that was just dried. ::)

How would you differentiate between recently-kilned hops and hops that have been in storage for 6 months? "Wet" in hops means "not kilned." "Fresh" in English means "not stale or decayed." I agree their language could be a bit better, although I don't know how to make it more clear.
My initial response is, how they differentiate between recently kilned and 6 month old hops is not my problem, they don't get to rewrite definitions to suit their purposes.  "Wet" in hops only means "not dried" because that's how they and some other misguided fools use it, that doesn't mean it's right.  And sure, fresh has the definition you give, but not when applied to food like fruit and herbs.  Can I get some wet strawberries on my waffles?  What does that even mean?

But they could use a word like "new" to denote that they have opened a new package.  Or call them "first harvest" hops, or come up with some other flowery marketing stuff to describe it, that's what the marketing nobs are for and it's not my forte.  But they don't get to boggart words like "fresh" that already have definitions in this context and give them new ones.


I love SN beers, but I refuse to drink the ones they label as having wet or fresh hops since they screw it up and do some BS gymnastics to try to explain their marketing.  No no no.

You are missing some pretty good beers.
I miss good beers all of the time ;)
Tom Schmidlin

Offline nateo

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Re: Just for You tomschmidlin...
« Reply #12 on: December 29, 2012, 08:02:51 pm »
And sure, fresh has the definition you give, but not when applied to food like fruit and herbs.  Can I get some wet strawberries on my waffles?  What does that even mean?

I don't think the definition of "fresh" that you use is as restrictive as you think it is, even when talking about fruit: "Get fresh dried fruits and nuts like whole almonds, walnuts, papaya chunks or pistachios and pine nuts."
http://www.pureandnaturalspices.com/

Just google "fresh herbs" or "fresh spices" and tons of people use "fresh" as an adjective to describe quality, not moisture content.

Now, if they were making "Belgium beer" I would be pissed.
In der Kürze liegt die Würze.

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Just for You tomschmidlin...
« Reply #13 on: December 29, 2012, 08:40:33 pm »
And sure, fresh has the definition you give, but not when applied to food like fruit and herbs.  Can I get some wet strawberries on my waffles?  What does that even mean?

I don't think the definition of "fresh" that you use is as restrictive as you think it is, even when talking about fruit: "Get fresh dried fruits and nuts like whole almonds, walnuts, papaya chunks or pistachios and pine nuts."
http://www.pureandnaturalspices.com/

Just google "fresh herbs" or "fresh spices" and tons of people use "fresh" as an adjective to describe quality, not moisture content.

Now, if they were making "Belgium beer" I would be pissed.
You know what, if they want to call them "fresh dried hops" they would get no complaints from me.  In that case, "fresh" is modifying "dried", not "hops".  The hops are "fresh dried" - not a problem.

FWIW, I both binged and googled "fresh herbs".  I checked every link on the first page of each (ignoring the ads) and I didn't find one that referred to fresh herbs as ones that were already dried.  Some of the spices pages use it as a quality indicator.

My point is, "fresh" already has a definition with respect to hops - the undried form.  You don't make up a new use for a word (wet) just so you can redefine fresh, that's dumb.  Seriously, give me some examples where the word "wet" is used in a food context.  The only one I can think of is a wet burrito, but then the hops don't have sauce on top, do they?  But that's all I can think of when someone says they use "wet" hops.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline fmader

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Re: Just for You tomschmidlin...
« Reply #14 on: December 29, 2012, 10:13:59 pm »
Wet, dry, fresh, stale....gold jacket, green jacket. Aside from the dispute on nomenclature, I do have an issue with these so called "wet" hopped beers. I did try Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest Ale and New Holland Hopivore this year...Both claim to be "wet" hopped. Both are pretty decent beers, but if they are "wet" hopped to showcase the hops that have been harvested in the last 24 hours, why are they so caramelly? I would expect them to be hoppier rather than as malty as they are. Again, both are solid beers, but different from what I would expect from something that is brewed with freshly harvested hops.
Frank