More fresh hop beer reviews from this season’s catch, as I continue to document the various ones I drank this year. I’m getting close to finishing this series out, so bear with me.

Kings & Daughters Brewery – Fill Your Cup Fresh Hop Soft IPA

Portland’s Kings & Daughters is trying to pioneer a new IPA substyle—the “soft IPA” —essentially a hazy IPA with a lot of adjunct grain proteins (wheat, oats) to emphasize the “soft” and billowy mouthfeel. Fill Your Cup is a fresh hop rendition of the concept, brewed with fresh Luminosa hops from Indie Hops.

Luminosa are described as having “bright fresh” fruit character, and Indie Hops says, “Peach-mango lemonade, candied orange peel, boysenberry, papaya and guava can all be found.”

Fill Your Cup is 5.3% ABV.

Appearance: Pale yellow and opaque—wheat fog (almost slurry?). Thick white head.

Smell: Floral and fruity, a bit herbal, with daisies and yarrow. Fruit is kid of non-descript, a little green, a little tropical.

Taste: An herbal zing with some peppery greens and a lightly spicy mango flavor. Some fresh green notes but not a lot to differentiate from a standard fruity hazy IPA.

Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-full body, lots of fluffy proteins, a bit of an herbal, mellow finish.

Overall: It’s a “soft” hazy, not necessarily obvious as a fresh hop ale.

Block 15 Brewing – Fresh Catch Fresh-Hopped IPA

I always enjoy Block 15’s beers and Fresh Catch is always a winner. I believe this year’s editions of Fresh Catch showcased Strata hops (which is this one) and Amarillo hops; for the Strata, the Untappd description says:

This unimaginably Fresh-Hopped IPA was brewed with newly harvested Strata, picked up from Crosby Hop Farm. Mere hours later they were added to our custom “hop back” tank, capturing the fresh hops’ aroma oils. The result is a bold, resinous trophy catch bursting with hip bites of ripe orange and tangerine.

It’s 6.5% ABV.

Appearance: Copper colored, unfiltered, with a good off-white head.

Smell: Fragrant with musky melon, sage, diesel(ish) notes and catty-dank. Bruised greens that have a light minty note.

Taste: Nice pop of fresh herbs that has a menthol-like cooling character, with wild lettuce, milk thistle, chlorophyll. Really nice fresh qualities over a solid malt body and IPA base. Good pop of fresh character.

Mouthfeel: Minty and cooling medium body, with residual character that’s pleasant.

Overall: Quite tasty with a lovely fresh quality.

Grains of Wrath Brewery – Fresh Hop Built For Speed

Another fresh Strata hop ale (have I mentioned already how many Strata-hopped beers there were this year?). GOW’s standard Built For Speed is a northwest IPA described as, “Light, dry bodied west coast IPA with flavors and aromas of bright tropical fruit, pine and loads of dank grapefruit.”

I’ve not had regular Built For Speed to compare; the fresh hop version incorporates fresh Strata and clocks in at 6.7% ABV.

Appearance: Paler gold color with good clarity; fizzy white head that fell quickly.

Smell: A melon fruitiness with some allium notes similar to Mosaic hops, cut grass, some forest floor duff. Not a lot of pointers to “fresh hop” particularly though.

Taste: Spicy herbal flavor that’s more “fresh hop” like I’d expect (based on the aroma), with green peppercorn, nettles, raw turnip greens, maybe a hint of carrot greens. Solid level of bitterness and savory-minty feel on the palate into the finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied, clean and dry with lingering spiciness.

Overall: Pretty good in flavor, aroma didn’t project “fresh” but it’s a tasty one.