Wet, fresh and green

I've only had a few green/wet-hopped beers. Some have been feisty and fresh in a "recently-mown-lawn-around-a-herb-garden" kind of way. Others have been unsuprisingly vegetal. With the possible exception of Thornbridge Halcyon, I've yet to find one that I'd go back to time and time again.

Maybe this year things will be different. I need to seek out a few, particularly any that involve wild hops such as Forager by Mayfields.

If you know of any excellent green-hopped beers in your neck of the woods, let mw know. I'm not averse to travelling if it means I track down a tasty green-hopped beer in its all-too-short season.

And for those of you who think green-hopping is a modern craze...

"Some use hops without drying in Brewing, even green as they are gathered, but by good Fortune there are very few who are so wise and fond of this Opinion, That the Fire exhales the fine Parts of the Hops; but where such are used, one ought to have at least half as many hops of the undried Sort as of the others".

From The Riches Of A Hop-Garden Explain'd, 1729, although the author (Robert Bradley) was quoting someone from a hundred years previous. The book is a treasure trove of hop lore; I'll be dipping into it and sharing more excerpts through the coming weeks.
 

Photo c/o The Mad Penguin at Flickr