Fresh Hop 2020

not sure if there is, I had it at their big facility in Bend

 

Pretty sure Chasin' Freshies was the only packaged Fresh Hop from Deschutes this year.

 

FtF just arrived today at the Bend Costco

 

Kegs of Cowiche have been showing up on our side of town this week. Ah well.

 

Just picked up an Old Schoolhouse Fresh Hop IPA and Single Hill Skyfinder. Drinking the Old Schoolhouse now. It's the end of October. I think I will probably just finish off what I have and stop investing in more new fresh hop beers after today.

I managed to try 20 new-to-me fresh hop beers this season, which is probably a personal record (though I've never really tracked it before). Cheers!

 

A couple more FH highlights:

Stormbreaker Kaiser Saison - herbal and citrus hop character to balance out the phenolic yeast, has some banana and clove that makes me think it's more in the French saison style. Doesn't scream over the top FH but still well made.

Fort George Rock Paper Sterling - now this one is in your face FH. Fruity and spicy, super dry, cracker malt. Almost tough to call this a Pilsner because the hops are huge and green, but who cares, it's excellent.

 

Speak the truth, John, I promise I won't tell - were the parks the destination or the excuse for a trip to BB?

 

BTW, do they do crowlers at BB? Our plans for Thanksgiving happened to have us mysteriously driving by Baker City as well. It seems like it'd be a nice spot to stop, grab a bite,, have the kids stretch their legs, gas up and maybe fill up the cooler so that I'm able to rid myself of a perishable thirst as soon as we reach our destination.

 

Tonight Bend Brewing Fresh Trop. At Westside. Like above probably my last FH of the season. Nice but lost some of it's lustre.
Overall it's been a fantastic FH season.

 

A couple more new ones tonight-

Wolf Tree Tumornator FH Triple IPA: says made with Citra, Mosaic, and Centennial. Decent aroma, especially the Centennial and Mosaic. There's some good hop flavor but it's buried under a ton of sweet caramel malts, and comes across as almost a bit oxidized.

Ninkasi Centennial FH: If your idea of FH is literally chewing on hop cones, then this one's for you. Straight orange rind and bitter pith, grass clippings, and no malt to speak of.

Migration Straight Outta Portland: This one is a winner. Grapefruit, melon, pine resin, a bit dank. Big Strata energy comes through in the nose. Good bitterness and that green FH edge.

 

I’ve had 44 unique fresh hop beers this year. Might be a couple stragglers next weekend.

 

FIF-TY!FIF-TY!

 

Heh. Highly unlikely. I don't drink during the week and that would require me to buy six more. I have no more uniques in the fridge at the moment.

 

MOAR!!!

 

Can I just say I'm on the Cowiche Canyon train now? I almost passed on it because I wasn't interested in a 5 week old fresh hop beer, but im glad i didn't- it blew my mind. 2021 and its hop harvest can't come soon enough!

 

Drinkin’ a Skyfinder fresh hop hazy IPA from Single Hill in Yakima. This might just do it for me in terms of new FH beers in 2020. It’s been a good run.

And yes, Cowiche is definitely fading now.