The transition into fall is officially fresh-hop time, and right now Slabtown is celebrating the season with four fresh-hop IPAs on tap, as well as the option to add a French-pressed fresh-hop infusion to a beer of your choosing. The brewery innovated a fresh-hop method (in the vein of Cryo Hops, developed by Yakima Chief Hops) that it’s been using exclusively since 2013. The fresh hops are first frozen on liquid nitrogen, then crushed to extract the lupulin—a fine powder that contains the hop’s essential oils, i.e., its flavor—from the flower, making a homemade cryo powder that avoids the dirt-like taste that can come with using the whole flower. “The process for making fresh-hop beers this way has definitely caught on with a handful of brewers in the Northwest, but it hasn’t become a major national trend,” says Breakside brewmaster Ben Edmunds.
Also of note: The team behind the beers includes three women, among them R&D brewer Natalie Baldwin (known locally as the former lead brewer at now-closed Burnside Brewing Co.), who oversees operations and beer development for the Dekum pub. Sadly, this is still unusual in 2019, so let’s give credit where it’s due.
