Fresh Hop 2020

What Fresh Beast from Breakside is another hit.

My super snobby observation over the past few weeks. FH beers really pop within the first 48ish hours. The hop flavor is bursting. Past that, they begin to taste like normal IPAs (with some exceptions of course). Still delicious, but the beers I have had right after canning or kegging have stood out far more than those that are 3/4+ days old

 

Not a fan of that beer at all. BIG fan of that phone cover.

 

Just back from Bend and a stop in Yakima on the way home. Weather was wonderful today, of course, just as we left town after a week in the smoke. Oh well. Have a boatload of FH beers to enjoy now, and since others are ranking, figured I'd throw mine in. (Note: I have not had any of the Seattle offerings yet, and I've only had one of the three varieties I got in Yakima today.)

Top tier
1. Sunriver Green Initiative (I am very sad I'll miss the Citra FH, because this was wonderful. I got a growler fill earlier in the week, then was thrilled to discover they had four-packs when I went back for another fill later.)
2. Bend Strata FH
3. Ruse FH Translator
----
Second tier—still very, very good
4. Single Hill Ecstasy of Green
5. Bend Fresh Trop Simcoe
----
Third tier—not bad but not necessarily seeking it out again
6. Sasquatch FH Mouth Pillow
----
Fourth tier—I appreciate the effort, but really not for me
7. Riverbend Millennials Hate Centennials
8. Crux Pert Near

 

The Sunriver Green Initiative is one missed last night. My local tap house ( Westside ) had it..well i would never have known if the bar keep told me they sold out in a few hours as i drank the Ruse FH..she wanted to know about how it tasted.
By the way if your in Salem visit Westside taphouse they have the best list.

 

BTW, my friend was at Great Notion Georgetown and picked up some Ripe just an hour ago. I assume it’s the fresh hop version, as they haven’t released the regular version in a while.

 

Just walked down to Growler Guys and picked up crowlers of:

• Fort George FH IPA
• Hellbent FH Strata
• Reuben's FH Crikey

I would have liked to bring home more but I need to save room in the beer fridge for Cowiche. The guy said they currently have about 13 fresh hop beers on tap.

Will enjoy at least one of these, and report my findings, while cheering along with the artificial crowd at CenturyLink this evening.

 

yup,

https://www.thegrowlerguys.com/on-tap-location/seattle-washington/

 

I checked that list last night so I could try to narrow down my selection. Fortunately they added Crikey since then, as that was one I really wanted to try (just opened it a minute ago). I had also wanted to try Pleasure Race from Mirage but they couldn't do a crowler/growler fill on that one, and I didn't have time to hang around and try a glass.

Crikey is striking me as pretty dank and resinous on the nose, but a bit lighter on the palate. Still really tasty. I am liking the fact that a lot of local breweries are sticking with the more West Coast style instead of going all hazy on us.

 

Made a stop at Chuck's on 85th, but they really disappointed me with available fresh hops. I think I got a bottle of Silver City's fresh hop and some oktoberfests, and these two from their taps.


Mirage's Pleasure Race (on tap at Chuck's, but no to go option) is really nice. Very, very orange juicy.


Most recently, this is Matchless' CSA Fresh Hop. If you want a pale ale (not an IPA), this is a pretty good fresh hop. Not popping like some I've had, but pretty good.

 

Varietal FH Italian Lager......did not translate very well canning as it just tasted off.

 

Mirage’s Pleasure Race is freshly cut grass and lime Skittles. Best Centennial FH I’ve ever had.

 

Finally got around to having fresh hops this weekend after I spent much of the week last week gathering them. Of the ones I've had, here's how I rank them:

Stoup FH Centennial/Sabro IPA
Wander 400 Cents FH Pale Ale
Reuben's FH Crikey IPA
Stoup FH Strata IPA
Holy Mountain FH Strata IPA
Lucky Envelope FH Strata IPA

The LE was a bit of a waste of time and money TBH. The rest were very good and that order could change depending my mood, time of day, etc.

 

I definitely will not be drinking 75 fresh hops like I did last year, but that's ok. The world is messed up right now. So far after having 10, I'd rank them:

1. Mirage - Pleasure Race
2. Holy Mountain - Strata Fresh Hop IPA
3. Fremont - Idaho Gem
4. Fremont - Field to Ferment
5. Ex Novo - Perle Haggerd
6. Ex Novo - Eliot FH IPA
7. Level - NWIPA
8. Matchless - CSA
9. Level - FH Oktoberfest
10. Crux - Pert Near

I've got FH Ripe, Ft. George FH IPA, Matchless Stratafresh and FH Crikey on deck, and will for sure be getting a six pack of Cowiche on Thursday. Have Cone Wars Strata (Best of Hands) and each of SIG's Strata FH IPAs coming soon. Need a four pack of Wetwired whenever that drops, too.

 

Had the two FH beers on tap at Bend Brewing yesterday (strata & simcoe), both were great with lots of FH character. I preferred the simcoe but I think Ruse Translator is still my favorite of the season.

 

Sorry, that Stoup above is just Centennial. There's not Sabro. I was confusing that with Fremont FtF.

 

I like this.

So far, I think my top three (in order) are:
1. Fremont's Field to Ferment
2. Mirage's Pleasure Race
3. Silver City's Wet Hop Tropic Haze

#1 and #2 are neck-and-neck; #3 is clearly behind them.

 

Looking at the Cowiche Canyon page.

Availability: September 22

Should I expect a line?

Will it sell out tomorrow?

Should I order it online?

 

My experience last week with Field to Ferment: It was available for online "to go" orders around 4 PM. I ordered online, drove up and picked it up and drove home. There were two other people there at the same time picking up their own orders. Easy peasy, and convenient, except for the drive.