HELENA — The Lewis and Clark Brewing Company began their brewing process for their annual Fresh Hop Neighborhood IPA.
2020 marks 17 years the company has been creating the IPA. It originally started by teaching locals how to grow hops in their backyard and has grown to an annual tradition that has collected over 2,000 lbs. of different types of hops from different communities.
According to the brewery, making the IPA is one of their most labor-intensive projects. In addition to collecting hops from the community, they hand-pick each individual hop from their own garden, wrap them into a bag, and have to boil them similarly to a tea bag.
Despite the hard efforts, the owner says he is proud to continue the Neighborhood IPA to bring positivity to the community.
“I think we’ve all been through a crazy year and if you can focus on something positive, this is something positive,” says Max Pigman, the owner of the Lewis and Clark Brewing Company. “This is about people coming together to share ingredients that go into a beer that we can all enjoy."
The Fresh Hop Neighborhood IPA is expected to be ready within the next two weeks.
