Fresh Hop Project 2015

My info came from Rick the general manager. If I had money on it, the truth would be somewhere in the middle. In any case I'm very sad to see them not brew something this year. I loved their citra fresh hop last year.

 

I'm drinking my crowler of Buoy Fresh Hop IPA from GG, now...seems like the 6.7/60 beer on their menu. It's my favorite Buoy, yet! I prefer those stats most often, & it is fresh on the palate like a pils.

 

Speaking of Fort George (in a non-fresh hop way):

The wife and I were surprised to see a lot of Overdub IPA in the upstairs cooler. We were thrilled to find out it had been canned less than a week ago. Oh my yes.

 

Grabbed a growler of pFriem's FH pale (all Equinox) from GG...yeah, real fresh & great! The snifter of Nelson sure looked gorgeous, anyway.

 

Sniftin' Payette's Fression Citra freshie @ Imperial...light & fresh Citra-y!

 

Went to the Pine Box for the first time with a couple others for their Fresh Hop Fest on opening (October15). We spent a good 8 hours there and tried 33 of the 40 they had on tap. My favorites were: 3 Magnets-Eldorado/Amarillo Pale, Barley Browns-Hop Truck Crossing, Breakside-Mosaic, Georgetown-Mosaic Cousin Eddie, Outerplanet-Liberty,Cascade,Chinook,Centennial, and Silver City-Citra. Accoustics could be much better but it was a great time! Went to the Pie Bar afterwards...highly recommended!!!

 

Damn, I've been ignoring Ft. George Fresh IPA in the grocery store all season. Finally bought a 4pk and its delicious!

 

If you are near a keg of pFriem's FH Equinox, do yourself a favor & enjoy the shit outta it. It's really trying to crack my top tier, a day after I filled on it.

& to speak to the idea that FH may not bring as much bitterness...it's heavy on the tongue-smack, as much as any pale I've had.

 

I hear they usually do their usual all-Equinox APA only @ the brewery...must cross fingers next time in the H.R.

 

whenever you're north of 30 beers in a sitting, the acoustics always get worse. doesn't matter where you are.

 

8 hours at Pine Box? Holy crap! That sounds like work.

The Ft George Fresh is excellent again. I really like how it lacks the overly bitter and dank. Taste the fresh hops without a heavy/funky aftertaste.
The Reuben's was pretty good too. Haven't gone out of my way to try very many this year.
I think there are just too many to pick from and I get overwhelmed having to chose.

 

I ended up at Odin's new-ish brewery down in Tukwila on my way back to Seattle after work. Their fresh hop pale was on, so what the hell. Overheard one of the employees say it was Citra, but I never would've guessed that. Pretty standard pale but it was distinctly fresh hop-y.

 

Rounded out a gallon of pFriem's FH Equinox from GG (worried I would blow the keg, honestly)...if it ends my FH consumption (as I refuse to pay $6.50/bomber of Deschutes Chasin' Freshies Lemondrop @ Freddie's), I'll be happy. It's like Wanderlust Light, minus the dank.

 

At least 8 cases left of Fresh (canned 9/30) @ Whole Foods on Couch in PDX. Get it! This beer dropped the nose in a week, but it's still great.

 

Please excuse the rant that's about to ensue...

Salem got FOUR FUCKING CASES of Fresh IPA. Total. All of them went to b2. No one else got any. The beer guys I talked to at four other local package stores either got zero, or Maletis "accidentally" delivered Overdub or Vortex instead of Fresh. Meanwhile, a friend in Bend picked up eight 4-packs last weekend. And it sounds like it's (quasi-) turding it up in Portland. I'm really getting tired of Salem being the red-headed beer stepchild of the Willamette Valley. Hey breweries & beer distributors - We drink beer down here too! This is just one example, but there are many others.

Sorry, but I had to get that off my chest. Feel free to call me an entitled beer geek or whatever. Back to your regularly-scheduled fresh hop thread. #firstworldproblems

 

I'm not sure where else in Portland this showed up, but by my own observations, Whole Foods downtown got the most. Based on their display and what was left on Wednesday, I'd guess 16-20 cases. I am not sure what Belmont got, but they may have gotten about the same. Beaumont Market had some (no display, just shelf), and I did see it was available at Growler Guys yesterday. That's all I saw. I never saw any at any of the Fred Meyer locations that I frequent (that could mean they just sold out).