Fresh Hop 2024

Three or four have shown up in the Belmont Station "New Releases" list over the past couple weeks.

Uptown got one or two. I haven't checked ABV or John's this week.

If I see some tomorrow I'll post details here.

 

It was Citra and it was glorious.

Last night was quiet after the Friday night shenanigans. Took it easy with just the Ft George Fresh IPA and pFriem FH WCIPA, both of which were excellent. I liked the pFriem a little more, though.

 

@John_M piqued my interest in this one, so I had to try it ASAP (after the obligatory first can of Cowiche Canyon yesterday, of course). This beer does not disappoint. My preliminary review below. Cheers NWBA!

4.39/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
16oz can (no packaging date visible, but recent and almost certainly only a few weeks old, if that) into a tulip. Pours a clear pale golden color with a frothy white head, patchy lace.

Aroma is a juicy blend of mostly citrus and pine—grapefruit and orange, some very “green” hop resin. This beer smells alive.

Taste has that same green hop character—abundant alpha acids on a balanced, relatively neutral canvas of pale biscuity malt with just the slightest degree of sweetness. Finishes crisp and pleasingly bitter. Deceptively simple.

Mouthfeel is likewise nicely balanced with a medium body.

Overall an understated, elegantly constructed fresh hop beer. This is what the season is all about. My only quibble is the classification, as I could easily see this as being an APA as opposed to an IPA—but those lines are pretty blurry so I guess either style is arguably accurate.

 

Got that one on my radar for when I hit Yakima this week

 

It’s pretty overwhelming to think of all the FH beers produced just by the 800+ breweries in Washington and Oregon, let alone the rest of the country.

 

Ooooomph. That was a tough one. Not sure if BSU’s RB is that good or the Cougs were that bad at tackling. The YAC. Jeesh. Probably a combo of both.

I blame myself really - after 2 FH Sticky hands I pivoted to non FH (Kiwanda Ale) beers. Should just killed the 4 pack.

Well, at least we can’t lose next week.

 

Occasionally it is good to be overwhelmed.

 

Definitely not complaining

 

Another FH beer that I picked up yesterday—as my review states, I’m just not sure fresh hops are best used in NEIPAs. Feel free to fight me over this statement. Preliminary review below. Cheers!

4.21/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
16oz can (packaged 8/28/2024) into a tulip. Pours an opaque, slightly dirty lemon drop yellow with a 1-finger head.

Aroma is bright and citrusy—grapefruit and acidic hop resin, lemon zest.

Taste leads off with that alpha-acid bite but quickly dials back on the anticipated subsequent bitterness, which is true to style but still somehow a bit disappointing. I’ve come to rely on that sharp resinous bitterness to cleanse the palate but it’s just not there with this beer. But it’s not the beer’s fault, this is a NEIPA and I guess that’s how it’s supposed to taste. So what we end up with here is a slightly one-dimensional citrus bomb.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied but again, that crisp finish is simply lacking. Again, true to style but somehow a little disappointing.

Overall this is probably not too different from previous versions of HFOFH. It’s a New England style fresh hop beer that just might not make the best use of its main ingredient. Good for what it is but maybe not a personal favorite fresh hop beer.

 

@derftron

There are 3 Single Hill fresh hop beers in the cooler right now at Beermongers: Fresh Luck, Northern Danger, and Six Sisters.

 

I think Jeanty is really that good. He put 200 up on the Ducks, too.

Reuben’s FH Hazealicious was just fine. Flavor was thin, but the burps were nice.

 

Weekly update. (new) stuff added in the last week:

Really good tier

• Great Notion - Fresh Hop Laser Wolf
• Reuben's - Fresh Hop Party Float
• (new) Reuben's - Fresh Hop Crikey
• Fortside - Fresh Cut
• Lumberbeard - Disco Weapon
• (new) Bale Breaker + Russian River - Green Rush
• (new) Obelisk - Fresh Hop Raking Light

Good tier

• (new) Single Hill - Skyfinder
• (new) Cloudburst - Make A Splash
• (new) Bale Breaker - Haze Harvester
• Reuben's - Fresh Hop Hazealicious
• (new) Fremont - Field to Ferment
• (new) Breakside - Double Wanderlust
• Block 15 - Sticky Hands Fresh Hop Edition
• Occidental - Fresh Hop Pilsner
• (new) Single Hill - Six Sisters
• Crux - Fresh is Best
• Sig - Pilscifer
• Matchless - Farm Harvest Fresh Hop Ale
• (new) Reubuen's - Fresh Hop Double Crush
• (new) Zoiglhaus - Fresh Hop Super Pils
• (new) Ferment - Fresh Hop Tettnang Italian Pils
• (new) Structures - Fresh Hop Junior
• Away Days - Deadline Day
• (new) Stoup - Fresh Hop Fiend (Simcoe IPA)
• Breakside - Fresh Hop Pilsner Hallertau
• Bizarre - Flowers of the Sky
• Great Notion - Fresh Hop Dune
• Zoiglhaus - Fresh Hop Kolsch
• (new) Fair Isle - Wet Hop Lager
• Ilk - Fresh Hop Strata Pale

"meh" tier

• (new) El Suenito - Lupulo Fresca
• Hell Bent - Early Harvest
• Great Notion - Fresh Hop Van Beer

 

I really enjoyed Gigantic's Sodbusted Simcoezilla last night. It's a little old school compared to most of the FH IPAs: much darker, a little heavier, and significant bitterness (relatively) on the finish. The Simcoes shine from start to finish. I think Gigantic also wins my "best label of the fresh hop season" award as well by turning Simcoe cones into Godzilla.

 

Looks like it got a real name (Elani), but I still don't know that I've seen it around

I think it's a combo, but, yeesh... Jeanty looks like the real deal.

I have been on record as whole heartedly agreeing with this statement. it just feels like it kind of wastes what they have to bring to the table

 

I think this is the first year I’ve really thought critically about this question—previously I think I tried to keep a more open mind about hazies just because it seemed to be the big new trend and I hadn’t tried all that many of them. I’m really probably more of a fan of FH APAs than FH IPAs—but if you are going to do an IPA then I think you should take advantage of all those alpha acids and resinous goodness that fresh hops provide in spades.

 

I picked up HFOFH this year based largely on a comment you made about it, I think in this thread or perhaps WNWBAYDN. I don’t think it’s bad by any means—I gave it a 4.21 after all (though I admittedly score most beers pretty high, because I tend to like most beers)—but if I’d taken the time to sample a glass I might not have bought the 4-pack. Or picked up hazy CC instead.

Also—decided to open this one just now. It’s good. Cheers NWBA!

 

It’s good but not Cowiche Canyon or Fresh Luck good.