#hopicana

[whatchudrinkin]

And then there were none.

Well, no. We skipped a few freshies this year. There’s only so many fresh hop beers you can try in a month. We found almost twenty different canned and bottled options, and they are still being released. But harvest season is over, and there’s a chill in the air. It’s about time to switch to something darker. In the meantime, here are ten more freshies to hold you over.

Hopicana is Old Town Brewing’s hazy fresh hop hazy. Hopicana is juicy, full of orange and mango. Fresh mosaic hops give it a melony flavor and a zesty tingle. If you want a real good, balanced hazy, Old Town knows what’s up.

Double Mountain were pioneers in fresh hops, but their signature pair, Killer Green and Killer Red, are tasting less bombastic than in past years. KIller Green features fresh Simcoe and Brewer’s Gold hops. It’s really bitter. It’s spicy like arugula, but only only presents a tiny zest of citrus. Killer Red looks almost identical in the glass. Which goes to say the two bases, an IPA and an IRA, are not so different. Killer Red is full of fresh Perle and Centennial hops, but the darker malt dominates. It’s toasty. The bitterness is more aggressive, like dandelion greens. The only fruit note is a raspberry. Both beers are nice, but a little old school.

Machine House Brewery from Seattle specializes in old school beers, session strength English ales served on cask. Their Fresh Hop Simcoe Session -- very creative name -- is only about four percent alcohol, but packs in the hops. You really get the orangy notes of Simcoe with the bite of pith in the finish. The middles is very green, like kaffir lime leaves.

Gigantic Brewing also stuck with Simcoe for their fresh hop pale ale. The Simcoe Awakens is the seventh beer they’ve made with fresh Sodbuster Farms hops. Gigantic draws out more dankness from their Simcoe. It’s got a greener flavor, more pine. The citrus notes are still their, but taste less ripe. Under all the hops, it the bones of a nice pale ale, too.

Stormbreaker Brewing’s Handfuls of Fresh Hops is almost offensive. The scent is overpowering. It’s not sweaty. But it’s not exactly dry. There are oranges in their. There are flowers. But they are rotting or something. Sarah liked it though, so what do I know.

Thundercone was probably the first fresh hop beer I ever tasted. McMenamins gets a lot of flack for being old and ubiquitous, but they can make a real nice beer. This year, Thundercone feature fresh Simcoe hops. It’s got a really fresh, green scent. It’s a little orangey. It’s a little bitter. It’s just like putting your face in a freshly opened ziplock full of hops. Very nice.

Rogue grew their own hops for Coast Haste. It’s got that Mosaic quality everyone seems to love. It’s got a lot of haze. It’s melony. It’s juicy. It’s very on trend. A little too heady for for my taste. They could lose a few points on the ABV. Good for Rogue though, doing something new.

Crux named Dr. Jack for the breeder of America’s favorite hop, Cascade. But for some reason it doesn’t taste at all like its namesake’s creation. Dr. Jack the beer is weirdly juicy. Cascade shouldn’t be juicy, right? It’s odd. It’s sweet. I don’t like it.

Bale Breaker Brewing is located on an actual Yakima Valley hop farm, so they ought to have access to some good fresh hops. As the name implies, Citra Slicker features Citra hops. It’s billed as a collab with Cloudburst Brewing of Seattle-land. Citra Slicker is fresh as hell. Green with absolutely crushing amounts of citrus. It’s the perfect place to end the season.

[whatchudrinkin]

A Fresh Hop Odyssey

In the Northwest, the period from Memorial Day to Halloween -- give or take a week or two depending on the weather -- is fresh hop season. It’s the one time a year when brewers can throw hops straight from the bine into their brew. The rest of the year, brewers use hops that have been dried to preserve them. Fresh hop cones begin degrading the second they’re picked. Within a few hours they already show signs of rotting. Within a few days, fresh hops turn to compost. 

The limited viability is what makes fresh hopped beers so hard to make, and few brewers outside hop growing regions attempt them. But in Oregon and Washington, so near the Willamette and Yakima Valleys, fresh hop beers are an annual tradition. Every brewery from Alameda to Zoiglhaus is throwing fresh hops into any beer they can. 

The first beer to hit shelves this year was Hopworks Totally Chill Hazy IPA with fresh Centennial hops. I don’t think the haze really let the fresh hops shine. There was an odd sort of oniony note on the nose, but it turned into tropical fuzz on the tongue. But I feel like the subtle fresh hop aromas were buried under layers of sweet bready malt.

Our bottles of Double Mountain’s Killer Red faired better. Also hopped with fresh Centennials, Double Mountain drew out more fall flavors by adding fresh Perle hops, too. Cranberry and fresh chopped wood on the nose. Pine needles and spruce meets citrus rinds on the tongue. The red ale base adds a nice toast note underneath without getting in the way.

When Sarah got a whiff of Stormbreaker’s Handfuls of Fresh Hops, she winced. She said it smelled “questionable.” It smells like pot. It’s infused with pungent  Centennial and Amarillo hops. It’s raw and rough. It’s very herbal -- basil, thyme, arugula. It tastes like the bitterest greens. It’s not a subtle beer.

For a change of pace, we moved back toward the fruity end with Hopican from Old Town Brewing. Hopicana is a hazy IPA with fresh Mosaic and Citra hops. It smells like fresh strawberries. The flavor is woodier -- cedar and grapefruit. The body is full and juicy with a vanilla sweetness. But again, I thought all the malt covered up the freshness.

At this point, I should probably mention we didn’t drink all these beers in a single sitting. Freshness is incredibly important to fresh hop beers, so the best way to sample them is as soon as they hit the shelf, or even better the tap handles. But I digress.

Back at Double Mountain, Killer Green was ready. This IPA is chockfull of fresh Simcoe and Brewer’s Gold hops. It’s a straightforward IPA. The old pine and grapefruit aromas spread out across the palate. It definitely tasted fresh.

But nothing is as fresh as Gigantic’s Sodbuster VI: the Return of the Simcoe. It tasted incredible. In a word: herbaceous. Handfuls of garden fresh basil. Bunches of fresh cut flowers. Fresh squeezed grapefruit juice. Perfection.

Mazama Brewing’s Green Magic canned some of the same sorcery in a smaller package. Fresh Centennial hops meted out a constant low level of deliciousness. It’s exactly how a pale ale should taste. Balanced unassuming, but with a depth of character that only reveals itself through multiple glasses. 

Next up, Field to Ferment from Seattle’s Fremont Brewing. Again, Centennial hops take center stage. It’s green and plant-y -- spicy herbs, notes of cedar. Nice, but missing a bit of fruitiness.

The last beer of our 2018 fresh hop odyssey brought fruit in spades, but was about it. Hop Bot is Gigantic’s all Citra fresh hop ale. It’s got a nice citrus note, but also a load of berries. Blueberries, under ripe raspberries, maybe a red currant. Whichever berry it is, it tastes seedy and leafy. Not bad, but I think I’m convinced now, I only really like the old hops.