Fresh Hop IPA
Old Schoolhouse Brewery

 

2020-10-10
16oz can served in a big snifter. There is a stamp on the bottom of it, but I cannot read it. Bought it yesterday at Bottleworks.

Pours a clear yellow-amber with a small to medium head and nice, fine, slow carbonation. Smell is lemon and floral hop aroma, not particularly aromatic.

Taste is lemon, pine, a little floral.

Mouthfeel is a little watery and thin, but nicely effervescent. Overall, pretty nice beer.

This is not a hazy IPA by any means, but it's not entirely clear neither. Nice soapy white head that settles in to some large bubbles across a dusting of white. Quintessentially 'beer' appearance.

Nose has a nice burst of juicy fresh hops, though they're more blended and don't give a really specific profile. Just kind of a pleasant throwback IPA aroma with just a little nudge from the fresh hops.

Good burst of earthy pine and citrus with a warming rich nectar-like character from the fresh hops. Strong but not harsh bitter pithy and somewhat piney finish.

Take a solid old school WCIPA and add just a dash of FH character and that's what you've got here. That's extremely my jam.

 

 

 

Really nice. I had it at the source, in Winthrop, after an arduous but glorious hike among the larch trees in the North Cascades. Perhaps I was primed to enjoy it more, as a result, but even if I was, it's still an objectively lovely fresh hop beer.

Best beer I've ever had. Hands down. My favorite IPAs in distribution (for taste reference) are Hopworks from Hub Brewing (Portland, OR) and Lucille from Georgetown (Seattle, WA). Best combo of crispness, aroma, bite and smoothness ever found. Only available at OSB in October.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

22oz bottle into a tulip. Pours a clear coppery straw color w/ a frothy white head, good retention, sticky lacing.

Aroma is bright and fresh, dank and sticky. Tons of grapefruit rind, hop resin, some pine. Smells great.

Taste is a good balance between biscuity pale malt and resinous sticky hops. Citrus and pine, but mostly citrus. Lots of alpha acids give it a sharp bitter finish. Pure hop essence in a glass.

Mouthfeel is clean and slick with a lingering aftertaste.

Overall a very tasty, enjoyable fresh hop IPA, and I believe better than last year's. About as good as they get.

 

22oz bottle into a chalice. Less than 2 weeks old.

A: a slightly orangy yellow with a thin whispy white head that quickly flattened out without leaving any lacing. looks aiight.

S: gym locker, socks, dank pine. It's not necessarily my bag, but it is compelling.

T: bruleed grapefruit, grapes, pith, bitter and dry. Hints of greatness, but quickly fleeting.

M: thinner than I expected, no buzzing of the tongue as with some other full on piney IPAs, which creates more mouthfeel. A little hot for 7%. Quick and dry.

O: I'm a huge advocate of their Ruud IPA and Imperial IPAs (they've beaten some crazy heavy hitters in numerous blind taste offs at my house), so I was very excited for this one. That said, I'm not blown away by it. The balance is off, and some of the 'off' like characteristics that sometimes sink fresh hop beers are taking it in a weird direction for me. I'm sure someone else could love it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a nice opaque orange colour with a light tan coloured head. Bits of lacing. Smells of bright citrus notes, floral hops, and mango...with a subtle maltiness on the back. Taste has a nice assertive bitter hop bite, juicy citrus notes, hints of pine, resin, pineapple, and caramel. Creamy, medium body, nice carbonation, clean finish. Great drinkability.

I thought Old Schoolhouse's Imperial Stout was quite nice, and this was a nice treat as well. I have two more Old Schoolhouse IPA's in the fridge, and I'm looking forward to them!

Bottle opened on 10.18.12.

A - Pours a clear, darker orange with a one and a half inch foamy light tan head. Good retention.

S - Nice pine, grass, and subtle citrus.

T - Lots of grass, pine, and dark oranges.

D - Creamy smooth and good carbonation.

O - Very nice fresh hop. I have been let down by some of the Fresh Hop releases this year, but I was pleased with this one.

Poured into a Black Raven pint glass. Pours a light to medium golden amber with a fine slightly off-white head with good retention and lacing. Aroma of citrus and piney hops, pineapple and tropical fruit. Flavor of herbal and piney hops, citrus, grapefruit and sweet malt. Finishes with a nice long lingering resinous hop aftertaste and bitterness. Nice balance of hops and malt. Medium bodied with good carbonation. A very nicely done Northwest IPA. I'll put this in my fall rotation.

 

Hated 22oz bottle (Yeah, I know, small brewery, limited space etc.) poured into 10oz goblet. Poured a lightly hazy orange-amber color with about 1/2 inch of white head that had low retention but good lacing.

The aroma was certainly hop forward, lots of citrus and pine, with a few floral notes floating around in the back, and no real malt presence. The flavors were the same combination of hops, but the malt base showed through a bit more on the finish.

The body was typical of the IPA family, solidly medium bodied. Drinkability was very good, if I had had a sixer, i would have drank 3-4 in a row and still had a few left. Overall, I'm not sure how the base recipe differs from their Ruud Awakening IPA, but this is a nice brew. Worth checking out next year when it's hop season.

 

 

A: Poured bright, transparent deep orange with good carbonation leaving behind a nice white cap, good amount of bubbles, great lacing and moderate head retention

S: Fresh citrus, freshly cut grass with a green vegetable note

T: Immediate green hop taste, like these hops just came off the vine. Notes of some vegetable, citrus fruit basket of light orange peel, very light and underlying passion fruit, the finish is clean, a tad oily but not really slick, light hop bitterness and there is a light booze sting

M: Medium bodied, well carbonated, a lit bit of oil, bitterness and citrus, vegetable sticks to the palate, Juicy and fresh.

O: Very well done. Next to Killer Green this is one of my favorite Fresh Hops.