RALEIGH, NC—After several years spent cultivating their own hops, Mims Distributing Company, a beer distributor that services a nine-county area in and around the Triangle region, has announced the debut of Carolina Wet Hop IPA. It’s the first beer brewed with hops harvested from the distributor’s hops field. Produced in partnership with Carolina Brewing Company, Carolina Wet Hop IPA will soon be available to select local retailers for a limited time.

Carolina Wet Hop IPA is a single batch brewed with more than 22 pounds of Cascade hops from Mims Distributing’s hops field adjacent to its Ebenezer Church Road location. Four pounds of Willamette hops from Dragonfly Farm in Franklin County add to the craft brew’s earthy and piney aroma. Carolina Brewing Company adds Pale, Carapils and Caramel malts and extra nugget hops for bitterness.

A separate Cask Ale, also brewed from the Carolina Wet Hop IPA batch, has dried whole cones of Mims Distributing’s Cascade hops and Willamette’s Dragonfly hops, which undergo a secondary fermentation to ensure maximum flavor. The company will open the cask with Carolina Brewing later this fall in celebration of their partnership.

Inspired by partner brewery Sierra Nevada, who grows its own hops in Chico, Calif., Mims Distributing started growing hops in its own field in 2011 with the goal of partnering with a local brewer to produce a craft beer truly local to the Triangle. The brewery chosen by Mims Distributing, Carolina Brewing Company in Holly Springs, N.C., has brewed more than a dozen year-round, seasonal and special brews since 1994.