Flower Phaze is back!

Vermont is pretty bloody good at growing things. Maple, apples, corn and an almost alarming quantity of zucchini. Hops, however, aren't something most people immediately associate with the Green Mountain State, but that wasn't always the case.

Before hop growing shifted west, Vermont was one of the biggest hop-producing states in America. The industry eventually disappeared and today roughly 99% of American hops are grown in the Pacific Northwest. A few people down in Starksboro reckon Vermont deserves another crack at it.

Champlain Valley Hops started farming in 2018 on an old dairy property in the Champlain Valley. Today they've got 37 trellised acres, making them the largest hop farm in New England. The farm sits on terraces of well-drained soil above the valley floor, which helps with one of the historic problems of growing hops in Vermont, moisture. They use wide plant spacing, drip fertigation, cover crops and integrated pest management, then harvest, dry, pelletize and package everything themselves on site.

Every year during harvest, Champlain Valley Hops offers fresh hop cones straight from the bine, picked and ideally thrown into a brew within hours. Fresh hops are a completely different beast to the pellets brewers use for most of the year. They're full of delicate oils and fresh plant character that start disappearing almost immediately after harvest, so there's a tiny window once a year where you've just got to get them into some beer.

Flower Phaze starts with our Phaze IPA recipe, everything remains the same except we supplement the recipe with fat quantities of fresh hops. This year, freshly harvested Crystal hops from CVH were added to the whirlpool. Crystal is an old-school American hop originally bred as an alternative to Hallertau Mittelfrüh and is normally fairly subtle, with woody, grassy, spicy and light citrus character. Champlain Valley's Crystal is pretty different, leaning towards fresh peach, grapefruit and soft floral character, with a bit of chamomile underneath it.

The result is 2026 Flower Phaze, our favorite hazy IPA with a fresh Vermont twist. The locally grown Crystal brings its own little bit of Vermont terroir to the beer, expressing peach and grapefruit notes that you just don’t get from the same hop grown in the Pacific Northwest. Those flavors sing along with the juicy citrus and tropical character of Phaze, while the fresh hops bring that unmistakable green fruit character that tightens the palate and keeps you reaching for the next sip.

Flower Phaze is a available at the taproom for a limited time 💚