OnTap Magazine

Wet hop cones aren’t just popping with flavour, they’re also bulky and tricky to work with. Unlike their dried counterparts, wet hops are six to eight times the weight and a lot more volume, which means you’ll need to adjust your processes and plan your brewing setup. At Soul Barrel, we’ve embraced the challenge by using a hopback, a small vessel post whirlpool with a basket that filters out the cones before the wort goes to the fermentor. This system lets us capture all the green, fresh flavours while keeping the process manageable. Steep bags also work well, or you can add the cones directly to the whirlpool, as long as you have a method to separate them from the wort afterward. For quantities, when brewing Soul Barrel beer, we typically use 6-12g/L of wet hops in the whirlpool or hopback for a balanced, lime-forward profile that is fresh without being overwhelming. This can account for all or most of the hot side hop bill and bitterness. Timing is critical, too. Adding wet hops early in the boil strips away much of their delicate character, so we recommend saving them for the whirlpool or later to preserve those fresh, citrusy aromas. Dry hopping with wet hops is another option but remember to have a plan for removing the cones after contact time. Finally, don’t shy away from blending wet hops with traditional dried hops or pellets. A mix of the two often yields the best results, allowing you to amplify the beer’s hop-forwardness while layering with the complex, green flavours of wet hops. TACKLING THE WET HOP CHALLENGE Wet-hopped beers are a celebration of the annual hop harvest. The keys to success are, picking and brewing on the same day, planning for the unique challenges of working with fresh cones, and building your beer recipe around complementary hop flavours. When done right, you’ll create one of the great wonders of the beer world: a beer that captures the agricultural spirit of the harvest and delivers it fresh to your glass. At Soul Barrel, we revel in the joy of wet-hopped beers. They’re a testament to the terroir of beer, representing a small time and place and growing conditions. These limited releases are worth the effort of seeking out. Remember, wet hop beers are also among the most delicate, as these flavours fade fast, so drink them fresh! THE FRESHNESS OF HARVEST OUR DISTRIBUTORS IN AFRICA: BEVPLUS (PTY) LTD 13 MICHIGAN STREET, AIRPORT INDUSTRIA, CAPE TOWN 7490, SOUTH AFRICA T: +27 21 820 9500 | E: info@bevplus.com www.bevplus.com DEMATECH (PTY) LTD 13 MICHIGAN STREET, AIRPORT INDUSTRIA, CAPE TOWN 7490, SOUTH AFRICA T: +27 21 385 0483 | E: info@dematechsa.com www.dematechsa.com