I'm not quite sure how this is going to turn out, but I'm willing to try anything once. This next experiment starts with a request from my friend Billy Jack to come help him pick some hops. I don't know about you, but that's not something I've ever done before so of course I was in. Over a couple of beers at Rail HopN, we wondered what those hops might do to a batch of honey.
Sunday, September 19th I met Billy Jack and a few others at Mary Olson Farm in Auburn, WA. This 60-acre Farm is on the National Register of Historic Places, and is the most intact 1880s family farm in King County. The City of Auburn purchased the land in 1993 restore the Farm and intends to restore the Farm and its environment to use as a living museum, attracting school groups and members of the general public. One of the features is an heirloom orchard with apple, cherry, plum and pear trees and, more importantly, some Noble Cluster Hops that date back to the late 1800's.
Billy Jack will be using the hops we picked for another great beer at Rail HopN. But I picked a few myself to put into some honey. I have no idea how it will influence the flavor, but I'll taste in a couple days and see. What I really like is the use of very local hops that are part of the whole Kent/Auburn/Sumner/Puyallup valley hop growing tradition.
If the experiment works, this might be a limited edition honey I would offer to those on the mailing list. Stay tuned for more as the flavor develops.