Fresh Hop 2024

Just one or two

 

Bend’s Fresh Trop is quite a tasty Simcoe freshie. They described it quite correctly as the taste of that first breath of fresh Hawaiian air when you step off the plane. Nailed it.

 

Missed my weekly update yesterday, but you'll get it today. (new) items have been added since my last update on the 29th. I appear to be up to 59 different fresh hops this season.

"Wow" Tier:

• (new) Single Hill - Energy Cone
• (new) Barley Brown - Mitch
• (new) Stoup - Fresh Hop Fiend (Citra Italian Pils)

"Really Good" Tier:

• Great Notion - Fresh Hop Laser Wolf
• Reuben's - Fresh Hop Party Float
• (new) Holy Mountain - Cone & Cone
• Reuben's - Fresh Hop Crikey
• (new) Fremont - Hazy Cowiche
• (new) Fremont - Cowiche Canyon
• Fortside - Fresh Cut
• (new) Fremont - Head Full of Fresh Hops
• Lumberbeard - Disco Weapon
• Bale Breaker + Russian River - Green Rush
• (new) Occidental - Beer Further
• Obelisk - Fresh Hop Raking Light

"Good+" Tier:

• Single Hill - Skyfinder
• (new) Von Ebert - Fresh Hop Volatile Substance
• (new) Silver City - Centennial Wet Hop IPA
• Single Hill - Fresh Hop Lateralus A
• Cloudburst - Make A Splash
• Bale Breaker - Haze Harvester
• Reuben's - Fresh Hop Hazealicious
• Fremont - Field to Ferment
• (new) Wandering Hop - Twine Cutter
• Breakside - Double Wanderlust
• Block 15 - Sticky Hands Fresh Hop Edition
• Occidental - Fresh Hop Pilsner
• Single Hill - Six Sisters
• (new) Holy Mountain - Fresh Hop HBC 1019
• (new) Cowiche Creek - Grown4U
• Crux - Fresh is Best
• Sig - Pilscifer
• Matchless - Farm Harvest Fresh Hop Ale
• Reuben's - Fresh Hop Double Crush
• (new) Reuben's - Fresh Hop Nosegrab

"Just Good" Tier:

• (new) Varietal - Freshclimber
• (new) Trap Door - Fresh Glowed Up
• (new) Wandering Hop - Fresh Hop Googly Eyes
• Zoiglhaus - Fresh Hop Super Pils
• (new) Machine House - Fresh Hop Strata IPA
• Ferment - Fresh Hop Tettnang Italian Pils
• Structures - Fresh Hop Junior
• Away Days - Deadline Day
• (new) Fremont - Pike
• (new) Machine House - Fresh Hop Simcoe Bitter
• Stoup - Fresh Hop Fiend (Simcoe IPA)
• Breakside - Fresh Hop Pilsner Hallertau
• Bizarre - Flowers of the Sky
• Great Notion - Fresh Hop Dune
• (new) Matchless - Fresh Fluff
• (new) Matchless - Easy Being Green
• (new) Grains of Wrath - Built for Speed
• (new) Machine House - Fresh Hop Strata Pale
• Zoiglhaus - Fresh Hop Kolsch
• Fair Isle - Wet Hop Lager
• Ilk - Fresh Hop Strata Pale

"Meh" Tier:

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

 

I had that one on Sunday, and I have to say I didn't care for it. I suspect the featured hop is not for me, as I also didn't care for a Perry Street beer that also used it.

 

I've not seen any form of Cowiche Canyon. The place that got it in last year (and charged a dollar per ounce) was unable to get a keg this year, and I've heard nothing of any other place locally getting any kegs in.

 

This might be my favorite packaged FH beer of this year. Ridiculously easy drinking stuff, and a relative bargain at $3.99 per tallboy.

 

FWIW. Here our some categories/rankings of mine.

The “damn I need to buy more of this asap and put it in an IV” category.

Single Hill Energy Cone
Single Hill Six Sister
Fremont FHFOD

The “damn this is mighty fine” category

Bale Breaker and RR Green Rush
Ecliptic, Ruse, and Bale Breaker Solar Cycle
Single Hill Lateral A
Block 15 FH Sticky Hands

The “ really good” category

Single Hill FH Skyfinder
Breakside FH Wanderlust
Great Notion FH Dune

The “it’s FH and that’s good enough for now” category

Bale Breaker Haze Harvester
Great Notion FH Easy Lift

Still on the hunt for Citra Slicker. And might grab that Breakside Mosaic offering. After that, plan on calling it a season.

PS…marriage is fine. It was all tongue in cheek. Besides she is still on the hook for another 32 years according to the (50 year) contract.

 

Enjoying a Single Hill Hop Sabotage out on the patio—I grabbed only one of these the other day at Bottleworks along with the four-pack of Energy Cone. This is quite good as well. Cheers NWBA!

4.24/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
16oz can (undated, but 2024 and presumably packaged in September) into a tulip. Pours a slightly hazy pale golden color with a 1-finger white head. Standard IPA fare here.

Aroma is big C-hops, mostly citrus and pine with some more subtle tropical notes in the background. A touch of lemon peel.

Taste is assertively bitter and acidic up front—fresh hops on full display. Grapefruit rind, resinous pine. Pale neutral biscuity malt does its job in the background, holding things together.

Mouthfeel is consistent with other Single Hill fresh hop IPAs I’ve had this season—just the right body to feel satisfying with a clean, crisp finish.

Overall another great fresh hop beer from Single Hill. I haven’t noticed a huge difference between the various FH beers I’ve tried from them (a side-by-side blind tasting might prove otherwise), but they’ve all been very good. Hard to find much to critique here.

 

Moving on now to Fresh Hop Double Wanderlust with Crystal. Enjoyable but not top tier—but as my review states, this is also probably the oldest FH beer I’ve had this season and that could easily be a factor, especially with the relatively high ABV. Cheers NWBA!

4.06/5 rDev -8.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
16oz can (packaged 8/16/2024—ancient! Says “Double Wanderlust w/ Crystal” on the bottom of the can) into a tulip. Pours a slightly hazed pale golden color with a white sudsy head.

Aroma is bursting with tropical sweetness. Less citrus and pine than peach and maybe mango. Almost has a Belgian candi sugar sweetness. Doesn’t immediately say “fresh hops” but let’s see how it tastes.

There’s a definite balance between the bitter and sweet here—maybe because this beer is almost 2 months old and it’s a double IPA, it’s already starting to fall apart a little. It’s good, no doubt, but I have to wonder if the fresh hop character is starting to fade. Under the sweetness there’s a clear sharp bitterness, more resinous than the aroma.

Mouthfeel is slicker and a bit more chewy than most of the fresh hop beers I’ve been having in the 6.5% range. Lingering aftertaste.

Overall I think this might have been a little better fresh—but I’m also not sure the bigger malt bill works so well with the fresh hops. The sweetness and malt forwardness seem to be almost in conflict with the hops, masking them, and don’t let them shine through.

 

That Hetty Alice strata FH is a banger!

 

pFriem’s Fresh Hop WCIPA also delivers the goods. Back to back winners. These are shelfies in Portland?

Mind. Blown.

 

I debated adjusting my score slightly upward to compensate for the fact that it wasn’t truly fresh by fresh hop standards—but then decided the beer was still less than 2 months old and should be reasonably close to when it was packaged. I did enjoy it, but I think I’m starting to gain a more refined understanding of what kinds of beers (style, ABV, etc.) tend to work best with fresh hops. Nowhere near the level that some folks on here are at, but not bad for a hayseed from Missouri.

 

Yes, even saw this one in Safeway.

 

To quote Brittney… “oops I did it again!”



Last FH Beerrun, I swear.

 

Having a Matchless Fresh Fluff out on the patio on this lovely fall afternoon. The final new-to-me FH beer of the season, though I did see a couple new listings on Bottleworks’ inventory that might tempt me to drive down to Wallingford.

Had a Citra Slicker earlier but I already reviewed that one last year—very good as usual. Cheers NWBA! Go Hawks!

4/5 rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
16oz can (packaged 9/23/2024) into a tulip. Pours a murky golden color with a 1-finger white head.

Aroma is fruity and sweet—a blend of orange and peach mostly. Floral. Seems a little bit muted compared to other recent fresh hop beers I’ve had, but what I pick up smells pretty good. In a word, fragrant.

Taste is more lemony than orange, with a hint of sharp bitterness up front but then the acidity just kinds of dissolves on the palate. Honey on the finish. Hard to describe, but it feels like there’s an invisible film or barrier in the beer that keeps the true nature of the hops from being fully experienced—like looking at a painting through a thin layer of frosted glass. It takes you 90% of the way there and then refuses to close the deal. Like other hazies, this beer is a tease.

Mouthfeel is balanced but just a touch on the watery side. Still, drinkable and refreshing.

Overall an OK fresh hop beer but again I’m not convinced that hazy/NEIPA is the best canvas for this very special ingredient. Constantly leaves just a little something to be desired.