Brewers in race to make special green hop beer
acole@thekmgroup.co.uk It may be made to drink at your leisure but micro brewers in Linton faced a race against time to produce a special beer made with green hops.
The Musket Brewery in Loddington Lane has created its aptly-named new brew Flash in the Pan as part of Kent Green Hop Beer Fortnight.
But the process has to be done in double-quick time as the hops must be picked and brewed within 12 hours.
Normally, hops are dried first, but advocates of green hop beer believe it produces a distinctive flavour – one which should be celebrated.
Tony Williams, from the Musket Brewery, said: “It is quite pertinent that it has to be done in that particular time. You’ve got to follow the recipe. If you leave it too long, they go a bit limp and can go mouldy.
“This is also about celebrating the harvest. It’s unique to Kent.”
He raced from Faversham with the hops freshly-picked at 7am to the Linton base to start the process. The micro brewery is producing in the region of 40 fir- kins (large barrels) of the brew from 24kg of green hops, and will be launching Flash in the Pan on Monday.
Fifty per cent of the UK’s hop crop is still grown in the county.
The fortnight includes a range of events around the county, including the West Kent Green Hop Beer Festival from Friday, October 2, to Sunday, October 4 at the Poacher and Partridge pub in Heartlake Road, Tudeley.
For more details on the fort- night, which runs from Friday, September 25, until Sunday, October 11, go to www.kentgreenhopbeer.com
See next week’s What’s On for a feature on Kent Green Hop Beer Fortnight.