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Local Fresh Hop Beers

Discussion in 'US: Northwest' started by sharpski, Aug 13, 2014.

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  1. sharpski

    sharpski Pooh-Bah (2,868) Oct 11, 2010 Washington
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I want to create a list of the NW's fresh hop beers. If you come across one, please list as much info as you can; brewery and beer name of course, but also ABV, style, the hop varietal, and the farm they came from. I know Two Beers already released their IPA (anyone know the hops used and where they came from?), and I assume @yeasterbunny will be producing Fresh Hop Workhorse and @Texwild producing Cowiche Canyon. Probably can count on McMenamins, Deschutes, and Double Mountain to produce at least one each, but if anyone knows the details, please shout 'em out.
     
    #1 sharpski, Aug 13, 2014
  2. distantmantra

    distantmantra Pooh-Bah (2,954) May 23, 2011 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Bale Breaker is doing Piled High Imperial Fresh Hop again, based on what I was told last month at the brewery. Draft only.

    I'm sure Old Schoolhouse will have theirs as well in bottles.
     
    #2 distantmantra, Aug 13, 2014
    Aleforme likes this.
  3. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,497) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Can't imagine fresh hop season without Double Mountain's Killer Red and Killer Green. They bottle both now, so you should see them available in Bend I would think. It goes without saying that you want to drink them both (but especially the green) as soon as they hit the shelf (if not sooner).
     
    #3 John_M, Aug 13, 2014
    Sanderson likes this.
  4. sharpski

    sharpski Pooh-Bah (2,868) Oct 11, 2010 Washington
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Had both Green and Red last year and tried to get my local to score a keg of Brass, but I'm still missing the trifecta. Nic, thanks for reminding me about Bale Breaker and Old Schoolhouse. I'm sure Crux will do Off the Fence (can you request a fresh hop version of Mosaic IPA? :-) ) and Black Raven will have something too. I probably started this too early, but more than speculation I'd hoped to keep this thread for actual sightings or news of announcements from blogs or the breweries themselves. I've got to do some homework in my own backyard and find out which breweries in CO are brewing them.

    Credit to Jeff Alworth for his fine work the past few years (and Bill Night before him), but I'm impatient and want to chase this stuff down myself.
     
    #4 sharpski, Aug 13, 2014
  5. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,294) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Are you looking for bottles only, or kegged stuff too? Pretty much everybody up here does at least one, your list could get huge.
     
    #5 BBThunderbolt, Aug 13, 2014
  6. BuckeyeOne

    BuckeyeOne Initiate (0) Mar 9, 2008 Washington

    #6 BuckeyeOne, Aug 13, 2014
  7. maltmaster420

    maltmaster420 Initiate (0) Aug 17, 2005 Oregon

    Anyone know what variety of hops Two Beers used? Most of the hops are just beginning to be ready for harvesting, so I'm curious as to what was available 2-3 weeks ago (giving them time to brew, ferment, and bottle).
     
    #7 maltmaster420, Aug 13, 2014
    sharpski likes this.
  8. sharpski

    sharpski Pooh-Bah (2,868) Oct 11, 2010 Washington
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Yeah, I want a huge list. :-)

    I don't think we as beer advocates do enough to promote this special side of beer. It's a cool story that ties beer to it's agricultural components and the farmers who make beer possible. For about a month a year we get to enjoy a more "raw" version of beer, more earthy and green. Brewers are rock stars, but a lot of credit is due to the people who grow and craft the ingredients, too. Short of brewing your own/growing your own hops, it's the best equivalent to getting to stomp grapes at a vineyard, a connection to the full spectrum from harvest to production to consumption.

    TL/DR: Fresh hop beers are really my jam.

    Sisters has a fresh hop festival already, but I've been thinking about what else I can do to promote the "style."
     
    #8 sharpski, Aug 13, 2014
    LambicPentameter, Orca and BBThunderbolt like this.
  9. SeaAle

    SeaAle Maven (1,369) Jun 24, 2012 Oregon

    Centennial according to the video they made.

     
    #9 SeaAle, Aug 13, 2014
    maltmaster420, fsck and sharpski like this.
  10. yeasterbunny

    yeasterbunny Initiate (0) Aug 25, 2007 Oregon

    We are planning to do well over 100 bbls of different FH beers this year, mostly draft only. We will do about a 30 case bottling run of two varieties, Red and Workhorse, for release at the pub and indi bottle shops in PDX around 9/10. Our first batch of the year, Workhorse with Centennial (Goshie farms), will be draft only and out 8/25. Besides that, we will have a Lager with Sterlings (~9/8), another Workhorse with Chinook (~9/8), a Red with Cascades (~9/8), and another workhorse with Amarillo (likely, ~9/15). Maybe others too! I get so excited for these beers and time of year. Cheers and good luck hunting 'em down.
     
    #10 yeasterbunny, Aug 13, 2014
    Kurmaraja, sharpski, fsck and 1 other person like this.
  11. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,497) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader


    I think it was several brewers ago, but I really enjoyed the fresh hop, organic goodness you guys made some years ago (2009, I think). Considering that the abv. was under 6%, it was just an amazing beer I thought. Don't know how realistic a wish this is, but I would love to see that beer (or something like it) again some day.
     
    #11 John_M, Aug 13, 2014
  12. Aleforme

    Aleforme Initiate (0) Nov 26, 2008 Washington

    My wish list of breweries that I would like to see brewing a fresh hop beer.....

    Boneyard
    Ft. George
    Ruebens Brews
    Crux

    I think people would go to war to get their hands on a Boneyard Fresh Hop.
     
    #12 Aleforme, Aug 13, 2014
    Kurmaraja likes this.
  13. TheeWalrusHunter

    TheeWalrusHunter Initiate (0) Aug 23, 2013 Oregon

    Fresh hop amateur question (maybe @yeasterbunny can chime in):

    When breweries create fresh hop beers, are they solely using fresh hops to dry hop? Are the hops in the boil not fresh hops?

    Follow up question, are there breweries that are using fresh hops in all additions?
     
    #13 TheeWalrusHunter, Aug 13, 2014
  14. distantmantra

    distantmantra Pooh-Bah (2,954) May 23, 2011 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Crux did fresh hop beers last year. The hops that Larry grows outside the brewery go into one every year.
     
    #14 distantmantra, Aug 13, 2014
  15. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,497) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Are they going to make Off the Fence again this year (if you know)? Last year's version was terrific... the only problem was that they didn't make enough of it. :-)
     
    #15 John_M, Aug 13, 2014
  16. distantmantra

    distantmantra Pooh-Bah (2,954) May 23, 2011 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I'm sure they'll do Off the Fence again. My parents are planning on taking their backyard hops down for it.
     
    #16 distantmantra, Aug 13, 2014
  17. yeasterbunny

    yeasterbunny Initiate (0) Aug 25, 2007 Oregon


    All those breweries make or have made FH beers.
     
    #17 yeasterbunny, Aug 13, 2014
  18. yeasterbunny

    yeasterbunny Initiate (0) Aug 25, 2007 Oregon


    there is no hard and fast rule I am aware of other then FHs are used. If there was, we'd break it anyway. There may be purists out there on the brewing side, I know there are on the consumer side, who think FH beers can only be called such if the brewer does it this way or that. My argument is if you drink the beer and you can't tell if it is a fresh hop beer or not, you are doing it wrong. When done right, FH have such a transformational character on the beer that there is no mistaking it.
     
    #18 yeasterbunny, Aug 13, 2014
    glkaiser, Orca, sharpski and 1 other person like this.
  19. yeasterbunny

    yeasterbunny Initiate (0) Aug 25, 2007 Oregon

    I haven't tried that beer as it was before my time with LW. What did you like about it? Organic? ABV? flavor? I don't have a plan to brew that this year but I'll take a look at the batch sheet. thanks for the recommendation. Have you tried any of ours in recent years? If so, what didn't you like as compared to the Organic one? cheers,
     
    #19 yeasterbunny, Aug 13, 2014
  20. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,497) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    "My argument is if you drink the beer and you can't tell if it is a fresh hop beer or not, you are doing it wrong. When done right, FH have such a transformational character on the beer that there is no mistaking it."

    Could not agree more. At the fresh hop festival, it's the first thing I look for when sampling the various beers (and unfortunately, there are always a few offerings where I am completely unable to tell that the beer was made with fresh hops). On the other hand, the one's that are "done right" as you put it, make attending the fest each year completely worthwhile.
     
    #20 John_M, Aug 13, 2014
    yeasterbunny and sharpski like this.
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