Harvest ale, fresh hop, wet hop—no matter what you call it, this most seasonal of beers is all about the celebration of hop harvest. At River St. Joe, our version is made entirely with freshly harvested organic hops from Flatwater Farms. The hops make their way from 20 foot tall bines in the hopyard into the brew kettle in a matter of hours! On the way they pass through “The Wolf”—our 70’s era hop harvester, which separates the flowers (cones) from the bines. The whole cones make one last stop on the sorting table before they are walked next door to the brewery where a kettle full of warm wort awaits. See it all for yourself in the video below!

We hope you can make it out to the farm to try the end result—our Harvest Fresh Ale. It’s as fresh as fresh hop gets!

The hop harvest truly takes a village and a beer like our Harvest Fresh Ale wouldn’t be possible without the incredible efforts of Marc, Andrew and the rest of the talented team at Flatwater Farms working hand-in-hand with River St. Joe brewers Brandon and Danny. The hops thank you and we thank you!