Fresh Hop 2024

Saw a $10.99 4pk at Costco today of an Ecliptic/Ruse/Bale Breaker FH IPA, but fridge is still over capacity so didn’t pick it up.

 

The Grand Fir FH IPAs this year are outstanding. Dougie Fresh and Green Pony Club are so good!

 

Finally joining the FH party—better late than never. Today swung through Fremont/Ballard and picked up the following 16oz 4-packs:

• 2 x Cowiche Canyon
• 1 x HFOFH
• 1 x FH Double Crush
• 1 x FH Crikey

Unfortunately my life these days precludes getting much of anything on tap, which I realize is where the real FH action is, but at least I can stave off total FOMO for a while. Cheers NWBA!

 

Mrs. vurt picked up a 4-pack yesterday. She enjoyed it. I hope to snag a taste the next time she opens a can.

 

Also, just stopped at Central Market Shoreline (now Town & Country) on my way to picking up Korean food for the family and randomly grabbed a 4-pack of Single Hill Fresh Luck (while most of my choices today were known quantities, I know nothing about that one—there was a big pile of random FH beers sitting out and I gravitated toward that one).

So all told, 2 dozen 16oz cans of FH goodness today. Will post highlights here.

 

Dougie Fresh! What a great name for a fresh hop beer! I hope the "Dougie" is a play on Douglas Fir, and that the beer is loaded with fresh piny goodness...

 

My FH spidey sense strikes again! I remember the first time I had Cowiche Canyon—probably the first year it was released and before it became kind of a thing—and it just hit me as a nearly perfect beer. Still feel that way about it. It’s the one FH beer I never fail to pick up. But maybe Fresh Luck will join that club soon. Will definitely post my thoughts here. And thanks for building up my hopes

 

Had to kick off my fresh hop season with a classic. It’s as good as it’s ever been. Cheers NWBA!

 

Bale Breaker Hop Harvester.
Very very nice. Top FH IPA

 

Whitney’s husband (and Grand Fir’s chef) goes by Dougie, so it could work on multiple levels.

 

It’s a fresh hop Wanderlust kind of night for Wazzu-Boise. First up the single, then the double. Both are delicious and arguably better than the first cans I opened last week. The Double Wanderlust in particular seems to have smoothed off some rough edges.

 

That’s the regular Breakside IPA. On the bottom it just says “IPA w Mosaic”

 

OK its Haze Harvester..i think my made up name is better though!

 

FH update. Been a few weeks…

Had quite a few but many in the “nothing special” range. However:

Living Häus has killed it. Herman, Cole, Dino, Scully are all excellent

Baerlic Splishy! is the definition of a NW FH IPA . Huge hope aroma and FH flavor

 

Do need some tips on finding single Hill FH cans. Haven’t seen any in PDX

 

It certainly requires a lot of attention to detail. It doesn't help that Breakside uses "generic" labeling for their fresh hop beers every year, which forces you to crack the code in the date stamp to determine exactly which beer you have in your hand. (That said, I understand and appreciate the flexibility that this labeling scheme gives them each year.)

Breakside made FH Wanderjack with fresh Strata hops from Goschie Farms last year. This year's version has fresh Citra hops. To me that's worth a separate entry, and it's why I called out the hop in the beer name. (Probably a good idea to include the year too.)