Fresh Trop Simcoe
Bend Brewing Company

 

On tap at the brewery.

Look: Clear dark orange, almost amber, with a nice-looking off-white head that coats the glass’ rim with lacing
Aroma: Mango, papaya, passionfruit, peach, some melon, blueberries, and pine, along with some subtle malt sweetness
Taste: Damn, straight up resinous pine sap/needles on top of the freshest tropical fruit salad you could make come together to kick things off, as waves of berries and more pine follow. Pine holds through the middle until tropical fruit returns to close it out along with a big hop bite
Mouthfeel: Full, slick, medium-high carbonation, and medium to medium-high dryness on the finish
Overall: It’s been two years straight for me striking out on getting the chance to try or buy this beer until just now and it did not disappoint. A ridiculously tasty tropical fruit and pine bomb that even at two weeks out is still bursting with fresh hop flavor (aroma has subsided some). Plus, I love this base/non-FH beer already so figured I’d dig the fresh hop version. Recommended

 

 

Purchased from the New Seasons Market near Orenco Station. Can stamp: SIMCOE 091820. Poured into a nonic half pint.

Appearance:
Bright gold with a head of snowy white foam that persists to the bottom of the pour. A filigree of sticky, attractive lacing coats the inside of my glass.

Smell:
Fresh cut ripe mango, some peach, yellow grapefruit peel, and the signature "cattiness" of Simcoe hops. Tangy and fresh and vivid. Marvelous.

Taste:
Crisp, unobtrusive malt underneath layers of citrus, stone fruit, and hop resin. Bitter and clean. Slight undertone of dusty herbs and a cantaloupe muskiness. Big citrus tang in the finish with long-lasting bitterness. Again: Marvelous.

Feel:
Medium light body with moderate carbonation. Small bubbles. Finishes very dry and lights up the bitterness receptors on the back of the tongue.

Overall:
Get your catty/tropical aroma with a fresh and snappy grapefruit peel bitterness right here, folks. Fresh Trop was one of my favorite fresh hop beers of last year, and this year's version is another winner.

 

Can from Uptown Market.

A clear light copper with a dense white head with good retention and lacing, this is solid. Nice Simcoe nose of mildly catty peach and tropical fruit. Palate Is bitter and clean with a mild fresh hop flavor. The clean, bitter hop flavor here hides the fresh hop aspects, with Simcoe notes of kiwi, melon and orange present. Drying, mildly bitter and with a nice fresh hop character on the finish.

a tasty wet hop ipa here, looks like they have done it with a few different varietals, but it was simcoe on tap when i was in, and it was quite good. sometimes i wonder about wet simcoe in a single hop context, like ive noticed it having a particularly skunky complexion, especially this year, but this beer really doesnt have that, and taste more like i know simcoe to be in pellet form, more of a grapefruit character, and very oily in the feel, almost sticky, which i love in a wet hop beer. aside from the hops, the rest of this seems really simple, just a basic two row type malt base, nothing really too advanced there, and with a mostly clean fermentation profile, it really is all about the hops. i get a slightly brassy or metallic thing at the end, a little honey thing too, but it all works with the hops, which pop with pink grapefruit, tangerine, and heady weed aromas and flavors. there is a nice palate coating texture to this from the hops, which really make it stand out as a wet hop beer, and the burps are delicious. somewhat of a simple beer overall, but a good showcase of the fresh simcoe and i like the little bit of bitterness it finishes with. itd be fun to try this next to some of the other varietals they do...