Fresh Hop 2020

I know, I am.with you. We are the shitty step child of cascadia. Half our residents really want us to be so cal, even while all of so cal responds, "isn't it Oregon that far north?".
Another quarter seems convinced we're in Appalachia and limits their craft beverage consumption to Mike's Harder Mango flavor.
And then there's the quarter that realizes we are clearly the southern frontier of cascadia, unfortunately the brewers (while seeming to mostly fall into that camp) also remain convinced it is also sometime between 1997 and 2003, so we get amazing new beers like this citra pale ale! [Note: the beer I was gonna link isn't even in the database, so the link is to the regular version. But they made an all citra version just last year!]

 

Well i liked the brews in Crescent City ..so we just annex Del Norte to Oregon and send the fresh hops in! LOL

 

Ya Port o pints is my.favorite spot up there. Have you ever made it down to Humboldt? We are definitely just on the Oregon side of the line in my opinion, once you hit Mendocino you are in decidedly California like territory.
We have one brewer that uses local hops but they are either cluster or cascade, both of which he grows.and dries. Or, the coolest ones, they are wildcrafted hops from right near the ocean that he believes are fuggles and assumes were planted by an Irish family that had a homestead on the property around the turn of the 20th century.

My guess is that some of the Sacramento brewers probably do fresh hop stuff since that is the only area in the state that still has commercial scale hop.ranches.

 

I sampled a couple fresh hop beers from Cellarmaker when I visited their tasting room just about 2 years ago. One was a pale ale called Questionable Origins #8, which had "wet Strata hops from farm to kettle under 24 hours." The other was an IPA called Live and Wet Die, which was "brewed with as much fresh Mosaic as we could fit in the tank."

Don't know if they still do fresh hop beers, but they seem like the kind of place that would make the effort.

 

Yep Cellarmaker usually has a few options. Green Knuckle is another they've made the past 3 years, I think with Citra

 

No FH that I am aware of in the TC. Usually Fremont rolls in, but since no one has talked about enjoying one from them, I’d imagine they are not out yet.

Saw this on my favorite local brewery’s FB. Not sure if they are implying something is in the works. Hope so.



Also, I was checking out Balebreaker’s website looking for info on my favorite FH from last year Citra Slicker. The following is a copy and paste from their site.

• Fresh Hops! Keep an eye out for our next 100% Homegrown Beer Release, our very first estate wet hop beer. We grew 100% of the things in that can, and we’re pretty damn proud. Coming mid-September.
• That’s not all for fresh hop season – our annual collab with our friends at Cloudburst Brewing, Citra Slicker, will be ready for you to enjoy by the beginning of October. Plus, to celebrate, we’ll be selling Citra Slicker themed buffs. If we’ve gotta mask up, we might as well rep our favorite wet hop brews at the same time. PLUS we’ve heard a rumor (well, okay, we started the rumor) that Piled High Imperial Fresh Hop Ale will be back in growlers in late September. Fresh Hop Ale Fest will be taking place in our homes (and hearts) this October, so we’ll be sure to have plenty of wet hops for you to enjoy on your couch.

 

Great Notion is releasing FH Ripe cans today, but decided not to send any up to the Georgetown location. We're stuck with more fruited sours. Yay.

 

what am I missing

 

Does Hopworks Fresh Hop Ace Of Spades make distro to Southern California?

 

Just finally got my first fresh hop last night, Crux's Pert Near on tap at Malt & Vine, and it was disappointing, similar to...

...except without the tapline excuse.

Bought a can of Fresh Hop 2020 from Breakside as well, will drink this weekend.

Anxiously wringing my hands, waiting for more to show up...

 

picked up a can of the Ferment FH IPA.

Had the Baerlic last night as well as the Ft George. Baerlic was very good, and very unique. bought another can today just to make sure it tasted how I thought it tasted.

Ft George FRESH was good, but nothing spectacular. will try another can of that as well at some point.

 

Popped by Loyal Legion last night and was greeted by 4 fresh hop offerings: 2 from Breakside (including an outstanding pilsner) and 2 from Level. Breakside Fresh Hops are truly wonderful. I have a can of the Fresh Kids staring me down every time I open the refrigerator that will be no longer be an issue in a few hours.

 

Every year I find myself a little disappointed in Crux's fresh hop offerings. Pert Near last year was uniquely meh.

I just opened a Mirage Pleasure Race and holy shit this thing is delicious. Canned yesterday, loads of centennial. Love this.

 

Just picked up my first fresh hops of the season:

• 4 x 16oz Pert Near
• Crowler of Matchless CSA Farm Harvest
• 16oz Hopworks Fresh Hop Ace of Spades
• 16oz Hopworks Fresh Hop Singing Bird

Also grabbed an Icicle Enchantments (not FH). Waiting to pick up a pizza so haven’t tried any of these yet, but just having these cans in my possession has improved my outlook considerably.

 

Fresh Cascade Wanderlust at Breakside Milwaukie on tap and in cans dropped today.

 

One take

https://www.balebreaker.com/blog/fresh-hop-timing

 

Having Sunriver's first FH, Green Initiative and it's good! A lot more fresh hop character than Pert Near. This one was made with Strata from Coleman

 

Future Primitive released Centennial for Millennials today. The Beer Junction has a keg on so I picked up a crowler. They call it an IPA but it's 5.7% and drinks like a pale. Loads of fresh green Centennial character; really good.

 

Grabbed a couple cans from Dekum tonight. Fantastic as always. Couple other Fresh Hop beer notes:

Baerlic's FH Punk Rock time was one of my favorites last year and didn't disappoint. A really good beer.

Little Beast Greenkeeper Pale Ale - Just a ridiculously large amount of hop flavor for a Pale Ale. Not surprised that somebody thought it was an IPA instead, but I thought it was quite good.

Crux Pert Near - I just don't understand why Crux makes this beer. It's just not very good. Some of their later FH beers are much better.

Ferment FH Strata - So I know I said that fresh hot beers don't work quite as well in juicy IPAs, but this actually was pretty decent. Great hop nose and and flavor that remains throughout the beer.

Next week is when the avalanche hits, so mentally prepare yourself.