From farm to glass: The story behind our new Wet Hop West Coast IPA

Head Brewer Searlzy enjoying his latest creation.

Last year, YH Head Brewer Searlzy (pictured) and Co-Founder Rich embarked on a 48 hour, 1,300 km odyssey to the Victorian hop fields and back, followed by an all-nighter on the brew deck to deliver a super fresh ‘Wet Hop Cream Ale’ using Eclipse hops harvested that very morning. To this day, Searlzy and Rich’s ‘Eclipse-llent Wet Hop Cream Ale-venture’ still has plenty of traction as one of the great YH yarns, and the resulting beer lives rent free on the mental tap banks of many.

12 months later and the duo have embarked on their sequel, this time, hauling a boot full of the dank stuff back from the 2024 Aussie Hop Harvest to deliver a 6.5% West Coast IPA called ‘The Schooner Farmer’. Brewed and named in homage to the folks who grow our hops, The Schooner Farmer is available during this year’s Inner West Hop Harvest Festival and from select venues from May. We hit up Searlzy for all the juicy, aromatic details below.

YH: G’day Searlzy, can you tell us about this year's wet hop beer?
JS: This year we've chosen to do a big ole' West Coast IPA, aptly named ‘The Schooner Farmer’. We went with a purely Voyager Craft Malt grist bill, including some of what's known as 'Black Barley'. It's an ancient grain from Ethiopia which has a noticeably dark husk, whilst still having a white starchy endosperm. This gives a nice little earthy nutty note in the finished beer and adds some complexity. We've never used this malt before so it was really cool to try out. Hops-wise, we went with Vic Secret as the rockstar hop, with some US classics as the supporting cast. 

YH: What made you want to do this again?
JS: Well, considering the success of last year's Wet Hop Cream Ale, we wanted to continue on from that. We devised a method in applying the wet hops themselves through our mash filter. This gave us the opportunity to extract as much goodness out of the wet hops as possible. As far as I know, we are the first brewery in the world to do this. We love to innovate and try new things, so it was really awesome to get another go at this method and refine it even more. With what we learnt from doing it the first time last year, it went off without a hitch and I feel like we were able to dial this process in even further. The wet hops bring a really unique character to the beer. A super oily mouthfeel, and just overall a really special and fresh hop character.

YH: Why a West Coast IPA? Who's this one for?
JS: Anybody who likes hoppy beers, really. We chose a WCIPA so that we could really turn up the bitterness and let these wet hops do the talking. It's full on, but also very sessionable. For something so loud, it's actually really balanced.

The Schooner Farmer

YH: You said it yourself, last year's Wet Hop Cream Ale was a ripper, does this one have an epic journey attached to it also?
JS: I was really proud of last year's effort, but I gotta say that I think the Schooner Farmer will trump it. It's one of the best hoppy beers we've ever made here in my opinion. With every good beer, there comes a good story, and this is no different. This year, the whole production team drove down to the Victorian High Country in a big van. The day did not get off to a great start as the Uber I was in to pick up the hire car was rear ended at a traffic light! It certainly woke me up, and the neck was pretty sore for a few days, but everyone involved was luckily ok.

Once we were on the road, we had some epic yarns and an epic feed at the Sir George Hotel in Jugiong. If you ever get the chance, you gotta go check it out. An absolute classic Aussie country pub. We stayed in a beautiful old log cabin style house in Bright - such an incredibly beautiful part of the world, so green and lush. We had a really nice dinner and drinks the first night at Bright Brewery, and then were up early the next day to go for a hike. We ascended the Apex Lookout which gives awesome views over the town and other mountains. It was good to get the heart pumping first thing in the crisp alpine air. We then headed over to Rostrevor for our tour of HPA's farm. Obviously the harvest was in full swing, so it was all happening!

Searlzy filling his pockets.

YH: Sounds way less chaotic than last year… How did the crew enjoy the harvest?
JS: Most of our party has been to hop harvest before, but there's always just something so exciting about it. Everyone turns into excited little kids on a school excursion! The sights and smells are just overwhelming! It's a sensory overload and the location and vista just make it that extra bit special. Chatting with some of the workers out in the fields as we watched the bines cut down in front of us, all the while rubbing fresh cones straight off the bine was really special. It's easy to forget the time, effort and love that goes into producing this amazing plant. It is so intrinsically important for making beer, and we are so lucky to have such incredible hops here in Australia.

YH: Learn anything new down there? What's the latest goss on the hop bine?
JS: We got to check out a couple of really exciting experimental varieties, and even drink some beers made with them. We also got to hang out with some old friends from the industry, and make a bunch of new ones. The brewing community is so supportive of each other, especially in what is a challenging time for the industry. It's always a nice reminder of how collaborative and special our industry is, and how for the most part it is full of really smart and incredible people! 

YH: We hear you hauled back a bunch of hops for some other breweries in the Inner West. What's the plan there?
JS: Yep, we hauled back about 200kg for other inner west breweries who came and picked them up in as soon as we arrived back at HQ. I don’t think Richard's hire car will ever smell the same! The 40kg that we got was used swiftly, as we mashed in as soon as we returned. It was a very long day, and I didn't get out of the brewery until very late, but it was so worth it. As for the remaining 160kg, you’ll be able to taste the beers they landed in during this year’s Inner West Hop Harvest Fest.

-

Taste ‘The Schooner Farmer’ and other limited release beers from the likes of our mates at Batch, Grifter, Kicks, Mixtape, Philter, Sauce, Wayward, White Bay and Wildflower during the Inner West Hop Harvest Fest, taking place from April 24th - 28th. Beers will be on tap at the respective taprooms, click here for more details.