Chipping away at my review notes; almost halfway through the fresh hop beers I’ve tried this year so far (though I’ve still got more to try). Here are the next three!

Crux Fermentation Project – Pert Near Fresh Hop IPA

Crux was the first Central Oregon brewery to release a fresh hop beer with Pert Near (as usual), and this year the brewery used a new hop, McKenzie. I included a bit about Pert Near and McKenzie in one of my recent articles for The Bulletin, and had sent some questions about it:

What led you to select McKenzie for a fresh hop IPA? Had you tried any test batches with it or sampled beers brewed with it prior to this release?
Valley Bound was the first beer we brewed with the McKenzie hop when it just had a number (C148). I think we tapped this for Zwickelmania in 2020. Party of Clowns, which we just released again, also has some. We wanted to change up Pert Near this year and the McKenzie hop was an early harvest so it worked out well. Plus, we really like the hop and working with the guys at West Coast Hop Breeding.

How did you use the hops with Pert Near– any hot side additions, or was it all cold side (dry hop)?
All hot side (hop back) this year.

Answers were from Jason Randles, Crux’s marketing manager. Pert Near is 6.9% ABV with 50 IBUs. Packaged on August 26, I drank it on September 21. My notes:

Darker copper/orange, mostly clear. Fruity aroma with woodsy berry (wild currant, huckleberry?) with a bit of forest floor earthy-spice character. Spicy, forest notes extend into the flavor along with compost-y tropical fruit and a mintiness, eucalyptus-like. There’s a character I’d call “dank” but less in the cannabis sense and more like… damp mossy tree bark and dark cherry and hints of tobacco. It’s good and interesting, definitely a unique hop compared to others I’ve tried so far.

Sasquatch Brewing – Fresh Hop Don’t Be Scared IPA

There’s not much information about this fresh hop west coast IPA from Portland’s Sasquatch. What I do know is that it’s 6.6% alcohol by volume, and the fresh hops are Amarillo. There was no package date on the can; I drank it on September 21. Notes:

Hazy dark gold color. Big green aroma with some sweatiness, lightly catty, lupulin powder (like how your sticky resinous hands smell after picking fresh hops), green fruit. Flavor is more of a “raw” green character—lots of resin, stems, wood(ish) bitterness. Grapefruit rind and oil. Good big hop presence here with some hop burn (more of a spiciness than a real heat). Even as it warms, there’s just a big resisny green presence, probably the most of any I’ve had so far (in the bitterness, stemmy character, etc.).

Silver Moon Brewing – Hydrosphere Fresh Hop IPA

Silver Moon sourced Strata hops from Coleman Agriculture for its annual fresh hop IPA, and based on their social media description, 300 pounds of Strata went into the whirlpool (for a batch size, I believe, of 20 barrels); then another 600 pounds for dry hopping.

It’s 6.7% ABV with 70 IBUs. No package date on these cans either; I drank it on September 22. My notes:

Golden-copper color, decent clarity. Aroma is pretty low, especially compared to the others, with a sweet fruitiness that’s tropical but indistinct; pineapple, ripe papaya, coconut maybe. Solidly bitter with spicy-minty notes with coconut husk, green fruit peel. Eucalyptus-like spice/hop burn at the back of the throat, otherwise it’s fairly clean with a smooth finish.