Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low 64F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Though my heart is heavy as we start bidding farewell to summer, this time of transition has ushered in one of my favorite seasons in the beer world — the hop harvest. The hop harvest is a fleeting time of the year because farmers must act quickly when the cones are ready, due to the window of prime quality being a small one.

Careful observation of the plants is crucial, and time is of the essence.

One aspect that makes the hop harvest so special is that it facilitates brewing wet-hopped beer. The rest of the year, breweries are generally using dried hop pellets, powder or oil. During hop harvest, breweries get to use freshly harvested, whole-cone hops to make delicious harvest brews.

At my employer, Stormcloud Brewing Company, the day we brew our Harvest Tripel is hands down the best smelling day in the brewery.

I spoke to one brewer and asked what makes a harvest beer different from any other beer. Their response was simply just the word “vibrancy” and having enjoyed my fair share of harvest ales, I couldn’t agree more.

During last season’s hop harvest, I had the opportunity to visit local hop farm Michigan Hop Alliance, located right up the Leelanau Peninsula in Omena. It was surreal wandering the towering aisles of bines (yes, with a ‘b’) yet to be pulled down, surrounded by a green jungle of my favorite brewing ingredient as a gentle breeze danced the heavenly aroma to my nostrils.

I was fortunate enough to be given a tour of their operations, an intricate series of moving parts and machinery run by a hardworking team of individuals.

From separating the cones from the bine to seeing them dried in a kiln, then setting aside some cones while the others get pelletized was just incredible.

I’ve always loved hoppy beer, but seeing the hard work getting poured into it upped my adoration even more.

Two weeks ago, I had the chance to do a homebrew version of a wet hopped beer.

With a bucket of fresh Michigan Bitter Gold hops and a brand new recipe, a few friends and I decided to tackle a different take on a harvest ale, which are more often than not Pale Ales. We decided to brew a Harvest Saison.

Saisons are a historic farmhouse Belgian beauty, originating in southern Belgium in an area called Wallonia. They are typically highly carbonated, dry, and have some yeast-derived spice.

We thought this would play really nicely with the fresh Michigan Bitter Gold, hops known for their tropical, melon and stone fruit notes. The beer is done fermenting and we just bottled it on Sunday, and it is now bottle conditioning. I cannot wait to try the fruits of our labor, and of course the labor of the hops farmer.

I know many breweries in our region take advantage of this special time of year and brew harvest ales. If you quaff any, I would love to know what you think.

Additionally, if you are curious about how our homebrew turned out, shoot me an email.

Amy Martin is the marketing manager at Stormcloud Brewing Company in Frankfort. She is a member of the North American Guild of Beer Writers and is on the Governing Committee of the American Homebrewers Association. Contact her at amy@stormcloudbrewing.com.

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