Pert Near Fresh Hop IPA
Crux Fermentation Project

This beer pours a nice golden color with a cream head that stays for a while. The aroma is fruity and sweet. Very mild hop bitterness. Smooth easy drinking beer. BOD 9-7-2022 Rated 11-18-2022

Another selection from BeerNV on draft. Wasn't impressed with this as a fresh hop beer.

Pours a darker golden leaning into amber territory color wise. 1/3" off white head. The aroma doesn't smell fresh nor hoppy beyond perhaps a bittering hop notion. Got more of a dusty maltiboi vibe. We're vibin' but this beer ain't impressin' aroma wise for what it claims to be.

The taste is much the same, you get a more generic Centennial bittering hop C hop vibe, that's all good, I grow 'em, I like 'em. I can't get beyond the heavy seeming malt emphasis. I loathe fresh hop beers that have a bunch of other stuff competing with the hops. Show 'em off. So even though its a heavier malt bill, the Centennial still does a good job with its ibu aspect keeping the body/mouthfeel in a more brisk mood and its the best aspect of the beer IMHO.

I wasn't pulling anything in terms of tropical aspect here despite the commercial tug job. Nor did I find jammy berries to be any part of it.

16oz can. Bottom stamp reads 'CANNED ON '08/30/23 08:14 #TRUECRAFT'. This vintage features the Centennial hop (boasts vibrant citrus flavors with a whiff of soft pine).
Partly cloudy, deep gold colored body. Two fingers of off white head, which becomes a cap and high ring. Leaves behind strings and trails of lacing.
Aroma of tangerine, grapefruit, pineapple, berry, and pine.
Taste is orange marmalade, pineapple, berry, and a bit of pine. Very low bitterness but has a spicy note. Soapy and fruity in the aftertaste, with a lingering hop vegetal bite.
Slightly more than medium mouth feel. Soft texture. Very good carbonation.
Two plus months past the canning date before sampling may have taken the bloom off the rose for flavor as the beer does not taste extremely fresh. Still has very expressive nose and taste. The berry nose and flavor is impressive.

 

 

Had on tap at Bulldog Saloon Lynnwood, WA

16 oz can from Homebrewstuff. Bright amber pour, small foamy head. Aroma brings savory, spicy hops. Taste is mellowed by the caramel malts, with a small bitter trailing edge.

draught
IBU: 50
fresh hop
Medium golden orange color. Some toasted grain and medium toasted and caramelized malt aroma, with an aged tangerine peel side to the smell. A bit watery, low level of medium toasted malt and a bit sharp and thin tangerine peel flavor.

Mouth-feel has always been a puzzling characteristic to rate for me until this beer. This beer nails mouth-feel. This is likely my favorite beer ever from Crux and I’ve had several living in Bend. I wasn’t that familiar with McKenzie hops but am now a fan based on this fresh hop IPA. Glad I put back a 6-pack of another (very good) IPA I had in hand in favor of this 4-pack of 16 oz. cans. This beer gets better the more I drink it. On #2 right now. Full disclosure, Crux is not one of my favorite local breweries. I got this mainly because we’re at the tail end of fresh hop season and there won’t be many more before next year but I’m pleasantly surprised.

 

 

This is an amazing hop, it reminds me a lot of NZ varieties, particularly Nelson. There is a bitter finish but not too dry. Lots of papaya and honey dew, a mild mineral quality, a little sweet malt and honey. Pretty excellent, I wish I grabbed more last Cosco run, I don’t see it at my local grocery. Definitely worth seeking, I hope I grab more!

2022 Mckenzie hop version.

A clear copper with a dense, off-white head. The nose is dominated by a curious combination of crystal malt and fresh hops. Melon rind, soft fruit, a cooked citrus note are present. The palate is a really old school IPA with caramel and citrusy hops. Fruit cups, mild honey, melon are present. Drying, mild caramel on the finish. FH are most noticeable as the melon note. This one is growing on me.

*2021 Edition [16oz can] ft. McKenzie Hops
Look: Cloudy light amber in color with a frothy pure white head that explodes to the rim and slowly settles to a pillow, coating the glass with lacing
Aroma: Overripe mangos, passionfruit, marionberries, pineapple, some Cannabis, overripe nectarines, and bready malt
Taste: Mixed berries and some dank open things up as waves of ripe tropical fruit pour in – raspberries, boysenberries, mango, papaya, nectarine, and pineapple. Lots of ripe fruit throughout - even a light minty note, and closes with some sweet malt notes
Mouthfeel: Full, leaning chewy, medium-high carbonation, and a softer finish
Overall: I dig it. This beer is not only always solid to really good, but is guaranteed to be unique in profile and/or hop varietal and this is no different. McKenzie hops are new to me and bring a unique mix of berries, WAY overripe tropical fruit, light mint, and some dank to the table and this showcases all of it well. Tasty stuff and another great early fresh hop offering

Canned 8/25. Pours a light amber, smallish tight head. For a wet hopped beer, there is almost zero aroma. Ok taste. Middle of the road, at best. There's an earthiness to it that subtracts from the overall flavor. We've seen better from Crux and much better from others

A-deep amber, nearly clear minimal head
S-indistinguishable
T-more malt than hop, which is a bit of a disappointment from a fresh hop ipa
M-medium body, good and smooth with clean dry finish. The best aspect of the beer. Below average carbonation.
O-fell short of expectations. A good beer but not as advertised.

I'm so disappointed by this beer that I signed up for an account just to warn y'all of the 2020 version canned 8/25/20.

This isn't a fresh hop IPA. This isn't even an IPA. This is an amber ale. I can't believe the brewers, who absolutely know what a good fresh hop beer tastes like, canned and released this.

It smells bad. I can't get beer nerd and talk about aromas of this or that. It smells like it tastes.

And it tastes like a terrible amber ale. If you gave me this and said it was a 2 year old beer, I'd believe you. Centennial hops? They're not present here.

It's so flat I think that there was a hole in the can.

This is almost drain pour status. Terrible. Avoid at all costs.

16oz can (canned 8/25/2020) into a tulip. Pours a beautiful, clear golden amber color with a big sudsy white head that leaves behind some nice patchy lacing.

Aroma is really faint pale malt and hops. Not really the powerful fresh hop aroma I was hoping for. It smells fine, just kind of watered down and weak. I might classify this as a pale ale based on the aroma.

Taste, likewise, seems muted, especially for a fresh hop IPA. In fact the grainy, biscuity pale malt almost dominates the hops. Again it's not bad per se—it just doesn't taste like a fresh hop IPA. It doesn't have the lively alpha acids that literally tingle on the palate, that "green" taste that, for me anyway, epitomizes the fresh hop experience. As with the aroma, this strikes me more as a rather bland and average American pale ale.

Mouthfeel is balanced, medium bodied, with a pretty dry clean finish. Pretty standard but good.

Overall a pretty average normal beer but a very subpar fresh hop beer. Canned in late August, I have to wonder if the fresh hops used in this beer just weren't quite ready yet.

 

2020 version. 16oz can (dated 8/25/20) poured into 14oz teku. Poured a clean, clear orange-amber color with an inch of white head that had moderate retention and light lacing.

As expected, lots of bright hops in the nose, with just a touch of malt in the background.

Very much the same on the tongue, with just a touch of bite on the back end.

The body was just on the slight side of medium, smooth, and had a semi-dry finish.

Drinkability was pretty good, I could see drinking a few more while they're around.

Overall, a pleasant and solid brew. Try one if you see it.