Harvest Ale

Like a kid on Christmas morning. That’s how we describe the mood around here the day our freshly harvested Citra hops arrive from the Pacific Northwest. After all, it’s this precious cargo that lets us start brewing our Harvest Ale every fall. The addition of wet hops is what gives this beer its extra-vibrant flavor—which makes the long wait for those hops worth it. It’s just too bad harvest day comes only once a year.

 During the second week of September the brewing schedule is intentionally kept wide open in anticipation of our fresh whole cone hop delivery. This crop is harvested in the hop fields of Washington’s Yakima Valley. As soon as the hops are harvested they are boxed up and put on a truck. Less than 48 hours later they arrive at our door and we begin mashing in.

The reason we are so excited when these hops arrive is because these whole cone hops play an integral role in the recipe for our annual Harvest Ale. This hoppy pale ale is given vigorous additions of hop pellets during the boil as well as during the whirlpool stage. However, before the wort is transferred into the whirlpool it is ran through a 60 pound bed of whole cone Citra hops. As the wort passes through the hopback each Citra cone gets saturated and thus imparts its essential hop oils directly into what will become our delicious Harvest Ale.

This year Upland will brew 150 barrels of Harvest Ale, using 250 pounds of wet whole cone Citra hops as well as 500 pounds of Munich malt from local maltsters Sugar Creek Malt Co. Look for Harvest Ale in four packs and on tap at each of our Upland locations.  Drink Harvest Ale fresh, as hop aroma only has a finite amount of time before starting to fade. Cheers and happy drinking!