Fresh Drops Fresh Hop
Pinthouse Pizza Craft Brewpub

quality stuff here, a great year for fresh hop beer for me, more diversity than ever, truly awesome. this is fresh simcoe, but i think it changes every year in this beer, and its fantastic, a very modern build to it, easy drinking but punched up and bold, a bunch of other hops and hop products in here too though, which in a way takes away from simcoe, but in another way beautifully enhances it, and it seems like this is the way of the future, lots of notable breweries took this approach this year, and im fine with it, there are limits to fresh hops alone, and this really is dynamic and still very obviously a fresh hop beer. unfiltered looking but still glowing, airy white head on it an inch high, great carbonation throughout, a visual absence of any richer malt, this is real pale and basic in terms of grain complexion, a smart call for letting all these wonderful hop elements do their thing. i get white wine fruitiness through the entire drink in aroma and flavor, sauvignon blanc maybe, sliced open white grapefruit, subtle pear and fruity sativa nuggets, green skittles, mowed lawn, and some concentrated hop intensity, high thiol character, very bright and fresh, less bitter and woodsy than i think i usually expect from simcoe, but there are lots of layers to this, light coconut, meyer lemon, and juniper too, and it kind of comes in waves. bold enough to where like, years ago this might also be green and vegetal and seem overdosed, but with the evolution of available hop products and some know how in the brew house, this can push the max out point much farther and still yield clean and pleasant beer, which is what this is, so kudos for that. zesty and teasing tropical, but drier at the end and tidy on the fermentation overall, just some oils there at the end on the tongue. really cool mix of fresh hops and hop products from other varietals, this was probably a fun one to dream up and make, a treat to drink on!

 

 

 

Great appearance that is vibrant yet cloudy in color (not opaque-orange but clear-ish yet still hazed). Exceptional head-retention.

Smell is gnarly. As hop-forward as you could want.

Taste is crisp, sticky, with a sweet-ish finish. A bit more dank and I’d be completely sold.

Sharp feel. Some hop burn, but not at all overwhelming.

Im at PHP again and this is available in four-pack sales - do I buy it again? Yes.