Co-Hop (2025)
Trap Door Brewing

loads of fresh strata in this, its been a great season for fresh hop beer in the northwest, feel like i got into so much more of it this year than i was able to last year, always a joy! this is great. but does not compare to their fresher than fresh, which is less an indictment of this and more just reminding the world how truly epic that one was this year! this is simple on the grain side, lively feeling, low bitterness overall, and pretty darn repeatable as a pint, i think a fine expression of strata, which is a lovely hop but is showing up in everything now to the extent some of the early excitement around it has worn off, at least for me, turning into citra a little bit, which takes nothing away from this particular beer, not at all. very pale, not a ton of malt to this, but there is balance, new school west coast, where the hops really shine bright, here with lemongrass and mandarin orange character, coconut water, green melon rind, and a certain lushness i cant quite place, similar in nose and taste, equal intensity to both, a sort of candied hop potency in the center of it, weedy without the usual dankness, which is cool, like really good dab oil or something, resin, rosin, what are the kids smoking these days? anyway its a neat mix of fruity and herbal without being too much, and the freshness of the hops is very apparent. clean ferment, good quality base beer, nice dosage on the hops. im sad the season is coming to an end, but i am thankful for such a good one, and trap door was a big part of it, so glad to have their beer in idaho now!