A Norfolk brewery which produces around half a million pints a year is set to launch a green hopped beer at its first Hop Harvest Party.
Grain Brewery, based in Alburgh, South Norfolk, will launch Fresh Hopped Beer (FHB) later this summer when it hosts a new event to mark the end of the hop harvest season. The brewery’s Taproom, which opened earlier this year, has become a go-to location for locals, visitors and beer enthusiasts thanks to its range of beers and fun and joyous atmosphere. Following the brewery’s popular drive-thru during lockdown, owners saw more demand to open on a regular basis and now open every Friday and Saturday 12noon – 7pm.
The Hop Harvest Party will be a first for the brewery and a chance for people to sample Fresh Hopped Beer straight from the cask. FHB will be available alongside a selection of Grain beers from traditional cask bitters to hazy IPAs and everything in between. Fresh hop bines will decorate the brewery, a hop tea will be available and there will food served by the Flying Chef.
Live music will be performed by the Sugar Beatniks in the afternoon, who perform folk and Americana and in the early evening, Grain favourites, The Butcher’s Dog will perform a semi-acoustic set.
Hop workshops will take place in the brewhouse during the day, will be free of charge and available to book via the online shop. Visitors will see how hops are used in beer brewing and can experience the aromas of the different varieties from around the world.
Brewery owner Phil Halls said: “The grain harvest is a big thing to brewers, especially when we are surrounded by fields of the best brewing barley in the world, but it always happens when we are far too busy to celebrate it.
“So, this year we are celebrating the hop harvest, which happens in September when the hops are picked from the bines before being dried out for the following year’s beer. It is also our only opportunity to brew a beer made with green hops, fresh from the bines, before they are dried.
“The green hops for a single brew will fill the boot of a car, and we have less than a day to get them from being picked and into the beer before they start to degrade. It is especially tricky as our hops come from Gloucestershire.
“Using the hops fresh gives a different aroma and flavour to the beer, more like freshly cut grass and flowers. We’re looking forward to seeing what comes out of the fermenter.”
Grain Brewery is known for their timely and popular brews and earlier this year they saw its cask beer served the traditional English way in the Belgian city of Leuven, the home of Stella Artois. The team later teamed up with Belgian brewery Braxatoruim Parcensis to create a Belgian-inspired beer Stangers No More.
Mr Halls said: “Grain has been brewing both traditional and modern beers for seventeen years, from lagers to imperial stouts and everything in between.
“Housed in barns at South Farm, it is at the heart of the rural community of Alburgh, which is now becoming known for its quiet lanes for cycles and many footpaths through the surrounding fields within the Waveney Valley.
“The Taproom at the brewery fulfils the role of local pub to the community, as well as being the place to try Grain beers at their source. The brewhouse is always open for a nose around when the Taproom is open each Friday and Saturday.”
The Hop Harvest Party will take place at the Taproom on Saturday 23rd September 12noon – 8pm. To find out more about Grain Brewery and their beer visit www.grainbrewery.co.uk
