Farm Harvest Fresh Hop Ale
Matchless Brewing
- From:
- Matchless Brewing
- Washington, United States
- Style:
- American IPA
Ranked #2,254 - ABV:
- 5.8%
- Score:
- 88
Ranked #20,227 - Avg:
- 3.94 | pDev: 5.58%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 6
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Sep 10, 2025
- Added:
- Sep 08, 2022
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
SCORE
88
Very Good
88
Very Good
Our annual fresh hop collaboration with CLS Farms is made with over 600 lbs of fresh Centennial hop cones straight from their fields to our stainless steel tanks. Look for big green floral notes, hints of lemon/lime and just a touch of refreshing cucumber.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by NickThePyro:
Rated by NickThePyro from Washington
4/5 rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Dec 16, 2024
4/5 rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Dec 16, 2024
More User Ratings:
Reviewed by NickSMpls from Washington
3.65/5 rDev -7.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.65/5 rDev -7.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Dark amber pour. Finger of frothy head. For a FH beer, the aroma is very light and indistinct. Taste is in the IPA style, hop forward with good finish. The Centennial hops are present, but don't "pop" out in front as you'd expect. Good beer, not a xtand out.
Oct 08, 2023
Reviewed by vurt from Oregon
3.68/5 rDev -6.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.68/5 rDev -6.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
This beer is an annual collaboration between Matchless Brewing of Tumwater, WA and CLS Farms of Moxie, WA (in Yakima County, the heart of hop country). Enjoyed on draft at John's Marketplace in Beaverton, OR. Served in a bulbous John's-branded pint glass.
Look:
The body is a deep orange-gold color and is slightly hazy. The head of eggshell white foam doesn't last long but leaves plenty of lacing after every sip.
Smell:
Old school NW IPA nose: pine and citrus backed by a good foundation of malt. The fresh Centennial hops show up as prominent grassy notes along with lemon and lime oils.
Taste:
Delivers the old school NW IPA promised by the nose. Starts with mildly sweet flavors of toasted multi-grain bread and a drop of honey. Hops start out lemony and a little grassy. Bitterness is strong from the get-go. The middle is more pine resin and lemon oil with a bright watermelon rind note of fresh hops underneath. Delightful! The rather hot finish is toasted bread crust, bitter orange marmalade, alcohol, and a hit of that intense, pure bitterness you get from licking the yellow lupalin powder you find in a fresh hop cone.
Feel:
Medium-bodied and somewhat oily, with biting carbonation and a light alcohol warmth. Drinkability takes a hit, but this beer isn't supposed to be a crusher anyway.
Overall:
Beers from Matchless have always been a mixed bag for me. I'm happy to say this is one of their better efforts. Very much an old school NW IPA: uncompromising piny/citrusy bitterness that lingers, with a heavier malt body than is fashionable these days. The fresh Centennial hop character shines through nicely, and yields hop burps of sublime beauty. Recommended.
Sep 25, 2023Look:
The body is a deep orange-gold color and is slightly hazy. The head of eggshell white foam doesn't last long but leaves plenty of lacing after every sip.
Smell:
Old school NW IPA nose: pine and citrus backed by a good foundation of malt. The fresh Centennial hops show up as prominent grassy notes along with lemon and lime oils.
Taste:
Delivers the old school NW IPA promised by the nose. Starts with mildly sweet flavors of toasted multi-grain bread and a drop of honey. Hops start out lemony and a little grassy. Bitterness is strong from the get-go. The middle is more pine resin and lemon oil with a bright watermelon rind note of fresh hops underneath. Delightful! The rather hot finish is toasted bread crust, bitter orange marmalade, alcohol, and a hit of that intense, pure bitterness you get from licking the yellow lupalin powder you find in a fresh hop cone.
Feel:
Medium-bodied and somewhat oily, with biting carbonation and a light alcohol warmth. Drinkability takes a hit, but this beer isn't supposed to be a crusher anyway.
Overall:
Beers from Matchless have always been a mixed bag for me. I'm happy to say this is one of their better efforts. Very much an old school NW IPA: uncompromising piny/citrusy bitterness that lingers, with a heavier malt body than is fashionable these days. The fresh Centennial hop character shines through nicely, and yields hop burps of sublime beauty. Recommended.
Reviewed by mactrail from Washington
4.15/5 rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.15/5 rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Just a slight haze in the amber brew and plenty of creamy foam in the Copper Kettle goblet. Quite aromatic with pine and citrus, and yes, that touch of cucumber. Lively mouthfeel with distinct malty flavor to start. Slightly sweet, just right in fact, for the hops to come. The aftertaste is just slightly bitter and fades to leave the flowery hops and malt. Overall this is a highly drinkable fresh hop brew with clean flavors. One of my favorites this year. From the 16 oz can purchased at Elizabeth Station. Dated 9/4/2023.
Sep 25, 2023
Reviewed by LiquidAmber from Washington
4.21/5 rDev +6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
4.21/5 rDev +6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a light to moderately hazy, medium golden amber with a fine three finger white head with great retention and solid lacing. Aroma of mildly caramel malt, citrus and tropical fruit hops, orange, mixed tropical fruit, light stone fruit and hints of dankness and pine; inviting. Flavor is pale malt, citrus hops, lemon, lime, mild mixed tropical and stone fruit and a hint of pine. Solid citrus and lightly piney bitter finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. My first fresh hop of the year and it's a nice one. This apparently uses Centennial hops and the flavor profile is spot on, with lots of lemon citrus, hints of light fruit and pine, and a solid finishing bitterness. This is one of my favorite single hop choices and it is used well here. Really getting authentic citrus flavors out of this one.
Sep 10, 2023
Reviewed by ExVashonGujy from Washington
3.75/5 rDev -4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.75/5 rDev -4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
This is a Centennial Fresh Hop beer, according to the brewery. Matchless also says that it's got a hint of lemon-lime, and a "touch of cucumber". Yeah, I can see that. I might not have put that name to it, but the cucumber touch is definitely there.
The appearance is lovely, Lots of bubbles and lacing that lasts and lasts and lasts. The smell is very muted. The taste is floral, with that little cucumber.
Good stuff.
Sep 19, 2022The appearance is lovely, Lots of bubbles and lacing that lasts and lasts and lasts. The smell is very muted. The taste is floral, with that little cucumber.
Good stuff.
Reviewed by snaotheus from Washington
4.03/5 rDev +2.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4.03/5 rDev +2.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
2022-09-07
16oz can served in a footed pilsner glass. Dated 2022-09-05. Got it in my weekly CSA box.
Pours a hazy amber color with about a finger of dense head and a lot of active carbonation. Smell is mildly honeysuckle and dankness, a little grain.
Taste is nice clean pale ale with little flourishes of fresh hoppiness. Moderately sweet doughiness, lemon zest, resin that really sticks to the lips and the somewhat vegetal somewhat citrusy fresh hop is accumulating rapidly as I sip.
Mouthfeel is light and dry in a cotton-mouthy resinous kind of way. Overall, this is quite nice.
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2024-09-22
16oz can dated 09/02/2024. Follows the pattern of grain syrup sweetness and floral honey overtones with cut grass and pine resin earthy bitterness. Good.
Sep 08, 202216oz can served in a footed pilsner glass. Dated 2022-09-05. Got it in my weekly CSA box.
Pours a hazy amber color with about a finger of dense head and a lot of active carbonation. Smell is mildly honeysuckle and dankness, a little grain.
Taste is nice clean pale ale with little flourishes of fresh hoppiness. Moderately sweet doughiness, lemon zest, resin that really sticks to the lips and the somewhat vegetal somewhat citrusy fresh hop is accumulating rapidly as I sip.
Mouthfeel is light and dry in a cotton-mouthy resinous kind of way. Overall, this is quite nice.
---
2024-09-22
16oz can dated 09/02/2024. Follows the pattern of grain syrup sweetness and floral honey overtones with cut grass and pine resin earthy bitterness. Good.
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