Fresh hopped beers are among the most distinctive seasonal offerings in the craft beer industry, delivering intense, vibrant aromas and flavors while evoking a strong connection to the hop harvest. While these beers offer unmatched sensory impact and marketing appeal, they also come with their own set of challenges: sourcing and transporting unkilned hops, dialing in dosing rates, timing additions for maximum aroma, and building recipes that make the hops shine.

This seminar delivers a practical, brewer-focused playbook for getting the most out of fresh hops. Hear firsthand perspectives from growers, brewers, and researchers, covering everything from hot-side vs. cold-side applications to storage and shipping logistics. They share lessons learned from a collaborative brewing trial with four Oregon craft breweries, where each brewed paired beers—one with freshly harvested hops and one with dried hop controls—evaluated for sensory qualities and consumer response. You see the data on what drinkers actually notice, prefer, and expect from a fresh hop beer.

Whether you’re gearing up for your first harvest-season brew or refining an established program, gain actionable strategies to streamline logistics, optimize recipes, and tell a compelling story that sells. By combining real-world brewing insights with consumer research, this session equips you to not only brew an outstanding fresh hop beer, but to make it a sought-after seasonal event for your customers.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply brewing techniques that maximize the positive attributes of fresh hops while minimizing quality drawbacks to create appealing, high‑impact fresh hop beers
• Manage procurement, storage, and handling practices that protect fresh hop quality from field to brewhouse
• Leverage consumer insights to shape fresh hop beer offerings, build demand, and strengthen market presence