HOW A
BEER Born IS
Story & Photos by: CATIE JOYCE-BULAY
From a twinkle in a brewer’s eye at hop harvest to the final concept, some beers are years in the making. Throw in a pandemic and other wrenches, such as can shortages and you get Sebago Brewing Company’s “Pressed for Time,” a juicy New England IPA that first hit shelves this past April. It started with a hop – Idaho 7, to be specific. Sebago head brewer Rusty Packer first fell for the hop known for its juicy tropical and stone fruit characteristics at Crosby Hops, a fifth-generation hops farm in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, during their 2019 hops selection. He visited during their harvest when breweries were invited onto the farm to sample that season’s hops first-hand. There, brewers could
42 summer / fall | 2021
discover what they were looking for in a process known as rubbing – literally rubbing the hops cone between two hands to release its aromas and brewing potential. Packer was struck by the unique aromas of this hop. “There were six or seven brewers in this room rubbing this hop and there were immediately 20 different descriptors that were beyond ‘citrusy, pleasant,’” Packer said. “The little hop cones were releasing aromas like cotton candy, tropical fruits, and different types of citrus. And, it was just like, ‘We gotta make a beer with this at some point.’” The first beer they made with Idaho 7 was a single-hop IPA, but it wasn’t hitting that “wow factor” Packer
had experienced during the rub, so it was back to the drawing board for what would be Sebago’s first full distribution release since 2019’s Haze Fwd, another New England IPA. “I knew I wanted something new, but also, I’m deep into the dad life here so I wanted something that I could stay between the lines and enjoy myself,” he said. “Hitting 7% [ABV] all the time doesn’t quite cut that.” Packer continued to tweak more than four iterations, brewed on the pilot system – a smaller brew system breweries use for experimentation that Sebago patrons got to sample in the taproom. The evolution of that brew included changing up the yeast strain to London 3, a popular strain for
