Deschutes Brewery has been making Hop Trip since 2005, making this year’s the fourth iteration of the fresh hop ale. Which also makes the Brewery one of the old hands in the still-young "fresh hop" category. This year’s version is really good—as I wrote in the Brewery’s Fresh Hop Tasting review, "they’ve had several years now to fine-tune the recipe and I think they’ve really got it dialed in."

I’ve reviewed all the previous versions since 2005, too.

• Hop Trip 2005 review
• Hop Trip 2006 review
• Hop Trip 2007 review

Not much more to say, other than jumping to my notes. This year’s Hop Trip is 5.5% alcohol by volume, and is still available. I’d recommend grabbing a few.

Appearance: Bright and clear, honey-amber colored with a thick, fluffy head.

Smell: Light, effervescent (if you can call that a scent), very green and fresh, but not overwhelming. Twigs, stems, leaves, resin…

Taste: Hop punch is here (rather than the nose). Bitter with a pleasant vegetable character—leafy green veggie. Maybe radish greens? A similar spiciness, too, in the middle. Very bright and fresh and light on the tongue. The malt is all in the background, a bit toasty.

Mouthfeel: Nicely medium-bodied and crisp—refreshing and finishes clean with a pleasant sticky bitterness in the aftertaste.

Overall: A lovely fresh hop this year, super drinkable.

On BeerAdvocate, it scores an overall grade of A-. (Still no RateBeer.)