Fresh Hop 2024

And to finish off the night. Citra Slicker.
Excellence

 

That was going to be my last beer at Nebulous Taphouse tonight, but instead I ambled up to Breakside Beaverton in search of a beer that wasn't on tap anymore.

Ah well. I still want to try that Boneyard/Bale Breaker beer.

 

Actually, the problem is there's empty space where FH beers need to be. Perhaps the friend's bringing more to solve his problem?

 

If your spouse isn't a big drinker, and you aren't having marital problems this time of the year, you aren't doing FH season right IMO.

 

Thanks for the reminder to book now for some marriage counseling sessions next Sept-Oct.

 

I would like to add my voice to the chorus of praise for Green Rush. Great stuff. Cheers!

 

How was it? Saw some of your UT checkins but want to hear your impressions of the festival setup and any related brewery visits.

 

Varietal Hop Grind at Community Pint:

Lots of citrusy hop flavor.
Straddles the line between juicy and "traditional" NE hazy.

 

I would humbly counter: If your spouse isn’t a big drinker, and you are having marital problems this time of year, you aren’t doing marriage right IMO.

But yes, striking the right balance isn’t easy.

 

Here’s a question that just popped into my cynical brain: I suspect any “guidelines,” if any, that constitute what can be considered and marketed as a fresh hop beer are pretty loose—it’s not like some regulatory body is checking to make sure 100% fresh hops are used in every beer marketed as FH. So … how do we know? With the preponderance and variety of FH beers these days, let’s just say I’m skeptical that no one is using 90% dried hops/pellets/extract and 10% fresh hops and then labeling it a FH beer. Look no further than terms like “organic,” “free range,” and “all natural” to understand the source of my skepticism.

 

Very much enjoying Stoup Fresh Hop Fiend with Citra, paired with the second half of Seahawks-Giants. Quite tasty.

I agree. But I also know that not everyone is all that discerning and, like Agent Mulder, just “want to believe” they are drinking a Northwest fresh hop beer. I am a strong believer in the power of psychology and also know how logistically challenging it must be to make a properly brewed FH beer. So the temptation must be pretty strong (especially for less ethical breweries) to cut corners and get that “fresh hop” language on the label, and assume that most people will never know the difference anyway.

 

I grade FH beers from 0 to 3 stars, and 0-star beers are more rare than 3-star beers.

Ilk All That Citra is a 0-star beer.

 

I'm no expert, but obviously I've probably been to more beer festivals than the average American.

I haven't been to Yakima's Fresh Hop Festival since the last year that it was downtown. It's much more inconvenient now, though maybe I should have given the shuttle a chance instead of just ubering ($10-20 each way from Tru by Hilton at Yakima Airport, ~15 minute wait, apparently very busy because of the festival), but that was probably still a better option than the ~1.5 hour walk.

I had a VIP ticket, so my experience is probably skewed positively. Line was orderly and reasonably fast (I showed up about 5-10 minutes after doors opened, achieved entry in about 15 minutes). Ticket and ID checks walked down the line instead of waiting for people to enter; there were some weird delays that I didn't understand but whatever. No metal detectors, which struck me as a bit odd.

Lots of room. Lots of people. VIP section had a few "exclusive" fresh hops (which mostly I can find around, but weren't in the non-VIP section). A few "exclusive" food trucks (which didn't seem special, and still had long lines). I liked the live music, I think they've played the festival before and I think they dig the atmosphere.

It's hard to knock a fresh hop beer festival when you love fresh hops as much as I do. Sooooooo much I wanted to try (though again, *mostly* stuff I can find around, probably the biggest problem for me was the propensity to top off my 8oz glass instead of stop at the 5oz line. I appreciate it, I can't dump it out, but whoof.

Most of the lines were quite short (there was a huge line at Cloudburst at opening, even with just VIPs).

Staff pouring were all friendly, knew something about the beer, mostly (maybe all) were employees of the brewery.

On the way in I stopped at Cowiche Creek (one fresh hop and one other beer and lunch and fresh hop ice cream) and Wandering Hop (one fresh hop). I loved Cowiche Creek, their beer was pretty good but the location is just awesome. Wandering Hop was familiar, I think I went there once years ago before a prior fresh hop festival -- they had four fresh hops. A worthwhile stop, if I had had more time before the festival started it would have been better.

Stopped at Dru Bru on my way home, I always forget how beautiful the view is from there.

Any more specific questions?

 

As also posted in WNWBAYDN, I screwed up. This was Fresh Hop Fiend with Krush, not Citra. Distracted by the game. I just didn’t want anyone going out looking for FH Fiend Citra as I don’t even know if Stoup made that version this year. Cheers

 

So what were your top 3 beers? Cowiche Creek is probably in there. Was VIP ticket worth the extra $?