For this latest installment of my fresh hop beer mini-reviews (getting close to finishing the series for this year, one more post to go!), I’m considering a local beer, a Hood River brew, and a Seattle beer. Let’s get to it.

Zero Hour Hazy Fresh Hop IPA – Sunriver Brewing

Sunriver put its hazy Zero Hour into cans, featuring fresh Citra hops from Coleman Farms in St. Paul, Oregon. I have a note in my comments about Cashmere hops as well, from the label, but it’s not clear if fresh Cashmere was used or not. The Untappd description simply reads, “Made with malts Premium 2 Row, Malted Wheat, Flaked Oats, and Carafoam; dried Citra hops, and fresh Citra hops from Coleman Hops.”

At any rate, it’s 6.8% with 40 IBUs. The packaging date was September 25, and I drank it on October 8. My notes:

Peach colored, opaque haze, fleeting white head. Big fruity, juicy aroma, with stone fruit and pineapple and a touch of guava. Hint of grassy chives as well. Flavor goes to a tropical hazy profile with some pineapple core, spicy greens with a bit of allium, some sort of… “fruit stem character” is how I’m envisioning it, but more like sugarcane or lemongrass than woody stem. Tasty and fresh though it’s more “hazy” to my palate than “fresh hop.”

Top Ferment Fresh Hop Amarillo Pale Ale – Ferment Brewing

There wasn’t much info about this beer from Hood River’s Ferment Brewing other than it’s 6% ABV and was brewed with fresh Amarillo hops. Ferment itself has gained a deserved reputation for well-brewed beers so I was happy to see this in cans. Top Ferment was canned on September 28, and I drank it October 16. My notes:

Copper colored with gold highlights when held to the light, easy white head. Herbal and lupulin aroma, with notes of orange marmalade, orange peel, and pollen. Has a good gently spicy flavor with green leafy notes, both herbal and savory. There’s a nice pop of freshness and overall it’s a bit understated and not totally in-your-face. Good malt base and it’s well attenuated for a dry-ish finish.

Fresh Hop Simcoe Bitter – Machine House Brewery

Located in the Georgetown area of Seattle, Machine House is one of the more interesting (to me) breweries from the area because they are a cask brewery that focuses on “high-quality beers of all styles within the British tradition.” I discovered the brewery by accident years ago during one of the Great Pumpkin Beer Festivals, and I’ve been happy to occasionally run across its bottled beers.

I was awfully surprised to encounter a fresh hop ale from Machine House, Fresh Hop Simcoe Bitter brewed with hops from the Yakima Valley, and made sure to grab the bottle. As the label says, it’s an English-style bitter, with a nice sessionable 4% ABV. There’s no packaging date that I can find on the bottle, but I drank it on October 18. My notes:

Golden color, haze from bottle conditioning, decent white head. Green fresh aroma note, chlorophyll, some greet fruit, sorrel. Some really nice toasty malt aroma as well. Flavor packs a big spicy/peppery kick, and bitter greens. Emphasis “green” with some light vegetal notes, and stems. Earthy, medium body, nice bitterness with fresh notes.