Wet Hops

New hop products turn up the volume while making “fresh” a year-round flavor.

As usual, the recent Craft Brewers Conference was a chance for hop suppliers to unveil new products and projects relevant to brewers—pelletized wet hops, concentrated Nelson Sauvin, the arrival of Luminosa, the hop harvests Down Under, and more.

Fresh-hopped beers are becoming an increasingly viable option for breweries located far from harvest. Here are lessons from some wet-hop veterans on using the fresh, the green, and the unkilned.