SEATTLE, Washington – Normally, brewers located within one day of driving distance from where fresh hops are grown rush to pick up fresh hops within hours of harvest and plan to brew within twelve hours after pickup. Brewers located beyond one day’s driving distance are forced to air freight the hops. RipeLockers proved to not only prolong and preserve the bright aroma, taste, and quality ofthe delicate freshhops stored inside its chamberafter harvest but also replaced the need for the use of costly next-day air shipping of this valuable commodity by brewers located farther away from the farms.
In collaboration with Virgil Gamache Farms (VGF) in Yakima, Washington,360 pounds of their unique brand of freshhops called Amarillo® were harvested and immediately stored in RipeLockers for over a week. These fresh hops were then shipped via refrigerated truck toBarebottle Brewing Company in San Francisco, California tobrew their annual Amarillo® Fresh Hop IPA.
“Seeing the vivid, emerald-green depth of the RipeLocker ‘fresh’ hops was astounding. Despite being picked 7 days earlier, they looked – and smelled – better than fresh hops we received within 12 hours of being harvested,” exclaimed Lester Koga, Co-Founder of Barebottle Brewing Company.
Growers can significantly increase their margins by shifting volume from dry to fresh markets. Micro-brewers can drastically reduce delivery costs and have extended access to fresh hops after harvest periods.By using RipeLockers to store hops immediately after harvest, fresh hop growers can maintain the high quality for up to six weeks. With this technology, the period to purchase fresh hops is lengthened, and brewers have more time to obtain fresh hops well after the harvest stage and avoid costly overnight air freight.
“Our technology simply works on all perishables as it’s based on the science of slowing respiration, transpiration, and suppressing decay. The opportunity to prove it on fresh hops was an exciting challenge as to-date fresh hops shelf-life has been defined in hours not weeks,” says George Lobisser, CEO/Co-Founder of RipeLocker.
About Barebottle Brewing Company
Barebottle Brewing Company was co-founded by Lester Koga, Michael Seitz, and Ben Sterling, three friends and former classmates at Cornell Business School in Ithaca, NY. After moving from Ithaca to the Bay Area in 2007, the three began homebrewing, became certified beer judges, and began winning medals at homebrewing competitions. Barebottle brews innovative, award-winning beers inspired by the San Francisco Bay Area using local ingredients wherever possible, and partners with local homebrewing groups to develop new beers using a competitive method.
About RipeLocker
RipeLocker has patented a radical innovation designed to disrupt existing postharvest technologies and processes of preserving the life and freshness of perishables. The company’s dynamic, low-atmosphere chambers are used for storing and shipping fresh produce and flowers to extend their after-harvest life by weeks, often months. When RipeLocker chambers are used, shippers and retailers reduce food loss and consumers benefit from a better taste and longer shelf-life. RipeLocker, founded in 2016 and based in Seattle, WA, US, is a science-based and data-driven company. It continues to conduct efficacy trials of its RipeLocker chambers for a variety of different crops with the largest growers in the world.
For More Information:
https://www.barebottle.com