A LEDBURY brewery has started producing a range of green hop beers using ingredients from local farms.

Ledbury Real Ales is using hops freshly picked from the bines, rather than those that are dried in a kiln, grown on farms within a five-mile radius.

Using locally grown hops is crucial as it is important to get the hops from the field to the brewery as quickly as possible to capture all of the delicate oils from the flowers before they begin to oxidise.

The company aims to have them in the brew within 60 minutes of picking and the use of fresh hops allows the beers to be full of the freshest flavours and aromas. But similar to cooking with herb, more green hops are needed in beer making – six times as many – as the dried version.

To showcase the different varieties to the fullest, the brewery will be using its Ledbury Gold recipe instead of the normal First Gold and Fuggles hops. It says the fresh green hops will allow the vibrant flavours to shine.

Today (Saturday September 9) it is planning to collect Early Bird Golding hops for its first brew, which will be ready to drink on Friday September 22.

The Ledbury Real Ales green hop beers are brewed in limited quantities, so beer lovers should look out for them in local pubs soon if they want to try a new taste.

• The brewery was established in early 2012 by Ant and Kate Stevens, who focus on producing a small range of high quality cask conditioned real ales. All the beers are made from hops grown in Herefordshire and Worcestershire with other materials sourced locally where possible. The beers are sold mainly within a 15 mile radius of the brewery allowing Ant and Kate to create a local product for a local market.