Yakima Fresh Hop
Columbus Brewing Company

I found the feel to be excellent dangerously crushable. The hop flavors were definitely bursting and not even close to subtle, very piney and resinous with citrus twinges, really good west coast style.

 

Look - nice clear copper color with a really nice lasting white head
Smell - so piney
Taste - bitter and piney
Feel - medium body and carbonation
Overall - fairly standard class ipa but just not to my liking

 

 

I got a 4pck of this beer from my local beer store just around the corner. It poured a clear copper with white head that is leaving some lace. The scent had dank melon like notes. The taste was nicely balanced and easy to drink with stone fruit peel and subtle pine presence. The mouthfeel was medium in body and had good carbonation. Overall it is a solid beer.

 

 

 

Clear copper color with a two finger head (if you pour aggressively) with decent retention. Plenty of fast rising bubbles are visible. Aroma of very fresh hops, notes of pine, nectarine, herbs, biscuity, caramel malt is also present in the aroma. The taste is very faintly sweet accompanied by plenty of bitterness. The flavor is awesome. Fresh whole hop Mosaic! I might be in Hop Heaven. I love Mosaic hops but I'll confess I did not detect them as the flavor of this beer. I had to look it up. Once I saw that it was Mosaic everything began to fall into place in the flavor profile. Berry profile - yep. Mango and nectarines - yep. A bit of citrus and a bit of pine - yep. Earthy, herbal and spicy - yep. I love Mosaic hops but they taste a bit different when they use whole fresh hops. This beer is delightful. I will be buying it until my beer store runs out. Mouthfeel is full with soft carbonation, finish is clean and ever-so-slightly sweet. Overall, I love Columbus Brewing. Bodhi and Columbus IPA are two of my favorites. This is right up there with those giants!

 

10-23-2020
I had been starting to forget what an AIPA should be, and this one reminds me that they should be over the top hopped, bitter, and most importantly, unique. This one, though maybe not the only brew with this particular hop profile, is unique amongst my recent experiences.

It pours a deep golden with fine bubbles. The aroma is skunky hops. The taste is bitter hops with little malty flavor poking through, and the finish is bitter but clean. You could drink it with any food without it getting in the way, but it is skunky, bitter and hoppy.

Recommended. A good, somewhat unique AIPA that we get delivered extremely fresh to carry outs in our area.

11-9-2021
Here is ia year later, and these come in 16 oz cans for $4.63. I won't raise my ratings, but it seems better in the can. Freshness is nicely preserved.

 

 

10/9/20: Pint glass poured from a tap at Pecan Penny’s, Columbus, Ohio.
L - dark yellow, almost orange.
S - not getting much aroma from this beer. Maybe it’s because I’m in a barbecue place… slight slight hint of hops.
T - fresh like it just came from the breast of the beer goddess. Very nice blend of Piney bitter and tropical hops. The freshness really comes through
F - fairly light mouth feel, medium carbonation. Really just right for the style
O - A really great beer. CBC does IPA’s so well and they do wet hops extraordinarily well. Can’t wait for the Taproom to re-open…
10/11/20: 12 oz bottle poured into a pint glass. Notable differences:
Smell is definitely more prominent. Notes of pine and citrus

Best I can tell this beer goes by a few names. Untappd has both Super Fresh Hop (as it was listed at the Sierra Nevada Single, Fresh, Wet & Wild Festival) and then this Yakima Fresh Hop that look the exact same dark amber hue as each other and both of which are 7% alcohol. Rocks a 1/2" off white head. Aroma was caramel and tropical fruit, less citrus than those.

Taste, hey pretty much another banger from Columbus. While not as awesome as Bodhi or their regular ipa, this one brought a nice tropical fruit and caramel vibe, not a very often appearance together, you can do tropical hazy or tropical west coast, but tropical crystal malt ain't something you come across all that much. I think we're 3/3 in terms of good Columbus ipas. Isn't Fat Heads from Ohio too? Not too shabby. There is even a light toffee note alongside the caramel. Really one of the maltiest and yet danky humid equator like fruit beyond the bright tropical descriptors.

 

 

 

12oz bottle dated 10/12/18 poured into a Teku
A: Orange with a one finger head
S: Fresh, earthy, floral, tropical fruit and citrus
T: Same as the nose, full-flavored with the fruit up front and the earth following
M: Full-bodied, bitter
O: was even a bit better a few weeks ago but did’t get to the review then; delicious

 

 

 

L: Gold, transparent. Gorgeous head with nice lacing. Good retention.
S: not giving me much in the nose. Just a few, plain floral notes.
T: Floral notes absolutely pop! They are followed by a bit of grapefruit and a strong lingering pine.
F: perfect balance of a bit of bite on the tongue but smooth down the throat
O: First Columbus hype beer that has not disappointed. Will gladly see more of these to my shelf. Outstanding.

 

 

 

 

Bottle dated 10/11/18. CBF pint.

A: pours a bright, slightly chill-hazed gold with small streams of carbonation and one finger of foamy off-white head that retains very well. Lacing in sheets as it goes down the glass.

S:fresh out of the fridge a sweet, bright, sharp, tangerine and pineapple citrusy-ness permeates the air for six inches around my glass.

T: off-sweet, slightly piney arrival; floral, pithy, piney, bready, sweetness with a drizzle of light honey. Quite balanced, crisp. Light floral bitterness lingers, but only barely.

M: lighter end of midweight, but with a chewiness, and mild carbonation, leading into a very crisp, clean finish.

O: Surprised they say this is 70 IBUs; seems more like 45-50, relatively speaking. Interesting mismatch between the citrusy/tropical nose and the floral/sweet/piney taste. I like it a lot. Really clean, crisp finish, without ever feeling light or watery. Does not taste 7.5% at all, and I am a little concerned I could blow through several of these with ease. CBC does hoppy beers very, very well, and this is another triumph of perfect execution.

 

12oz Stubby

Big ol' thanks to Dave for a couple of these guys. This beer is what all IPAs should aspire to look like. It's bright golden on the pour and flashes some brilliant polished copper when out of the light. The clarity is exceptional, I can watch the Buckeyes lose to Purdue through the lens of this beer. The foam is a bit off white and ultra creamy. Two fingers of head on the pour slowly settles to a thick mound that leaves sheet lacing in its wake. This stuff looks mouthwatering.

This beer explodes. It's a face full of grapefruit and spice off the bat. There's a strong forest quality, not necessarily pine, though pine is there, but an overall dank, woodsy character. There's a sturdy malt backbone that helps give some semblance of balance to this one. Bread crust and a drizzle of caramel make up that malt base. This stuff really morphs with each whiff, grapefruit dominant at times and woodsy/spicy at others. I like this very much.

The flavor follows the nose right on. Pithy grapefruit hits upfront and is met in the middle with that caramel backbone. Bread crust pops up briefly but the hop profile is taken over by loads of spice. It's dank and piney with a strong spiciness on the finish that lingers into the next drink. Caramel and a bit of toffee whisper on the swallow as well. This stuff is delicious with a hop profile that won't quit.

The body sits squarely at moderate in weight but the carbonation is vibrant and tiny enough to add a near perfect frothiness. Those bubbles awaken the tongue and the building, lingering bitterness beats it into submission. Th finish dries up after a few brief seconds and leaves you wanting more immediately. Absurd drinkability.

Yakima Fresh is another outstanding beer from Columbus and one of the best new wet hop beers I have had in a handful of years. It's loaded with both bright and dank hop character. This thing straight up oozes hop cones. The malt base is sturdy enough to handle the hopping and complimentary enough to make it no kind of afterthought. This is some good drinkin'. Thanks, Dave!

This is a good Fresh Hop ale! Great dank taste and awesome hoppiness. Nice to sip for a long time. Looking to get a four pack toon as it is out on the shelf at present.

 

8 days old.

Very, very good but maybe a little over exaggerated in hype on here.

Pours a bright hazy orange

Smell is pretty lackluster to be honest

Taste is remarkably fresh. Like maybe the freshest beer I've ever tasted, it's hard to even describe. Finishes with a lingering white cane sugar taste.

Feel is status quo.

Overall quite nice. I had fatheads hop stalker on draft earlier today though so perhaps that's why this doesnt quite seem like the greatest wet hopped beer ever.

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2 weeks later update to say this beer kind of sucks. I clearly rated on my expectations. This beer has made me turn my nose up at drinking on 3 occasions since trying to drink it. I seriously thought I was just off and under the weather with an aversion to beer. Nope. Any other decent beer hits the spot. This one just makes me struggle to finish every time. Hard pass next year.

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2021 update.

10-25-21 canned on date having on 11-1-21. Aroma is vibrant grassy and fresh as fuck. Taste is very, very, very sweet for an IPA. Extremely fresh, grassy, oily and again sugary. Downright crushable and goes down way too easy. Only found a few wet hopped beers this year but this one takes the cake for 2021. Wonder how it holds up in a few weeks as I noted that it went to shit in 2018.

 

 

 

 

 

Bottled 10/09. Received in trade with an Ohioan.
Appearance - a goldish bronze that would be clear if it wasn't for the sea of particulates. Slight foam/lacing.
Smell - hoppy scent with a citrus/pineapple dank bittersweetness that fresh hops seem to bring.
Taste - maybe faded after 6 weeks in the bottle, but still well balanced-citrusy and mildly bitter. Maybe it would have slapped me harder in one and or both of those when fresher, but I ain't complaining.
feel - excellent, because it's balanced, crisp, light, and smooth.