Fresh Hop Fiend: Chinook
Stoup Brewing Brewery & Taproom

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a slightly hazy, medium golden amber with a one finger white head with great retention and solid lacing. Aroma of pale malt, dank and piney hops, pine, catty dankness and a touch of grapefruit. Flavor is pale malt, piney and dank hops, pine resin, faint citrus, basement dankness; a bit earthy. Medium bodied with moderate creaminess, great mouth feel. This tastes distinctly different than the El Dorado/Chinook version from a few years ago. Much less fruit fruit character and more pine and various dank notes; mostly earthy in a pleasant way. The pine is the main component, but not so much pine needles as resin. I can see how this hop makes a good companion for other hops. As a single hop it is nice, but tastes like half of an IPA profile. This had one of the darker color depths and nice creamy feel for this year. My penultimate Stoup for this year with Idaho 7 waiting in the fridge. So far the various Stoups and the Pfriem fresh hops have been my top favorites, but everything was enjoyable and aromatic. I'm almost hopped out and ready for stout/barleywine season, but it's been a glorious ride.