Advancements in hops keep coming and Roadhouse Brewing Co. has tag teamed up with a company called RipeLocker and hop growers at Oasis Farms to put a spin on their hazy IPA, The Walrus.
Per the press release, “RipeLocker has designed specialty containers for storing and shipping freshly harvested whole cone hops. Thanks to revolutionary CO2 technology, the atmosphere inside the containers can be regulated ensuring that the contents remain as fresh as possible. With these containers, craft brewers can extend the season for fresh hopped beers. Additionally, craft brewers located greater distances from hop growers will now have access to harvest fresh hops despite the additional transport time.”
“The Walrus has always utilized some of our favorite hops – Mosaic, Eldorado, Calypso and Amarillo, but for this wet hopped version, we utilized Mosaic and Idaho 7. The Idaho 7 certainly added a new level of tropical fruit and dankness to the beer that we usually don’t see when using pellets and other advanced hop products,” says Roadhouse Brewmaster Max Shafer.
If this technology passes more tests like this and is in the right price range, then it would really expand the definition of fresh hops.