Like last year, I’m posting my fresh hop beer review notes for all of the fresh hop beers I’ll be drinking this year, just because ’tis the season and all. I’m hoping to stay caught up on these in close to real time, so hopefully they’re of some use for anyone looking for how this year’s beers are drinking overall. Three beers to a post so let’s get going!

StormBreaker Brewing – Handfuls of Fresh Hops

This rotating fresh hop IPA was the first of StormBreaker’s many fresh hop beers to come out this year, brewed with Centennial hops from Goschie Farms. It’s 7.2% ABV with 72 IBUs, and the description from The New School’s post says:

Based on the recent special edition of their Handfuls of Hops rotating IPA series, this Handfuls of Fresh Hops was a tribute to StormBreaker Brewing regular Nick. Nelson Sauvin, Idaho 7, Citra and Kohatu hops provide aromas of citrus, tropical fruit, and flavors of stone fruit, with hints of lime and pineapple in the base beer recipe prior to the fresh hopping.

Appearance: Pale golden color, slight haze, with an ample and fine off-white head.

Smell: Bright, fruity, and musky/catty; passion fruit and citrusy notes. Some grassiness, but really it’s that bright pop of fruity and musk that stands out.

Taste: Here we go—green and spicy flavor with a peppery bitterness and a touch of mustard greens, some “heat,” not unlike chewing on a fresh hop flower. Some hop burn which may or may not be the Centennial hops. Tasty, comforting, lightly toasty malt. Herbal, minty, spicy.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with lingering bitterness and minty character that’s almost hop burn.

Overall: I don’t know if the aroma is “fresh hop” per se but the flavor definitely is. Good start to the season!

Deschutes Brewery – Killer Coleman Fresh Centennial IPA

The first fresh hop beer out of Deschutes’ Bend Pub is this one, Killer Coleman, featuring Centennial hops (obviously) from Coleman Agriculture. Since it’s draft-only, I picked up a growler to drink at home. It’s 6.4% ABV with 55 IBUs, and the brewery’s description (from my post on Deschutes lineup this year) says:

Fresh Coleman Farms hops added post-fermentation highlight this single varietal IPA. Floral with notes of cucumber and fresh-cut grass.

Appearance: Apricot color, unfiltered haze, with an off-white head.

Smell: Just-peeled fruit skins and a note of fresh-cut grass. Bruléed pineapple and a touch of fruity allium (like fruity garlic or onion greens, which sounds weird I know).

Taste: Fresh, almost “raw” green quality to this—cut grass, chlorophyll, slight nettles or milk thistle spiciness, pungent green hop flower almost like chewing a fresh hop flower (similar to StormBreaker’s Centennial above) though not quite as intense, and yes, some cucumber (skin). Some light hop burn, but it’s pleasant. Moderately caramel-sweet malts.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied and lively, with ample residual “green” notes lingering in the aftertaste.

Overall: Yum and fresh (one day old from when it was tapped), and I’m very happy with it!

StormBreaker Brewing – Fresh Hop Safety Meeting

This happened to be available on tap at one of Bend’s food cart lot taphouses, On Tap, and I was able to score a growler before the keg blew. Fresh Hop Safety Meeting is a dry hopped pale ale brewed with fresh Strata hops, with 5.3% ABV and 32 IBUs. The description posted on The New School says:

This 2020 Oregon Beer Awards medal winner was the byproduct of a meeting that could have been an email. This single-hop pale is designed to showcase the complexities and nuances of individual hops. Please enjoy Safety Meeting, guaranteed to be more worthwhile than an actual safety meeting.

Appearance: Golden yellow, bright, unfiltered, with an off-white head that didn’t last very long.

Smell: Subtle aroma, with floral and slightly sweaty notes and light cornflower. A bit of cut crass and some wildflower notes, but really it’s quite mellow in the nose.

Taste: Mellow flavor as well, with mild hay, light spiciness, some green melon rind, and brushed/crushed clover. There’s a residual bitterness that lingers, herbal, with a soft fruitiness but overall it’s fairly mellow and while some of that sweaty/musky character comes through, there’s not a lot of detectable fresh hop character.

Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-light body, clean finish.

Overall: It’s a good pale, but it’s not terribly “fresh” to me though there’s some green character here; obviously I’d love more fresh hop character.