Two Stratas and a Centennial in this batch of fresh hop beer reviews. There certainly seem to be a lot of fresh Strata brews this year (and there’s more to come). Let go—

Sunriver Brewing – Fresh Hop Bondi Fresh Hop IPA

This is the fresh hop version of Sunriver’s Bondi Beach Party IPA, brewed with fresh Strata hops. The description I pulled from Untappd says:

This version of our award-winning Bondi IPA features freshly harvested Strata hops, provided to us by our friends at Coleman Agriculture in St. Paul, OR. These amazing freshies drop huge notes of ripe tropical fruit, strawberry jam, and freshly harvested cannabis.

It’s 6.2% ABV with 50 IBUs.

Appearance: Golden color with a nice clarity. White head.

Smell: Fairly mellow aroma with similar markers to others in this year’s Strata hopped beers: musk, melon rind, wildflowers.

Taste: Bright with a peppery-fruity profile up front, featuring some honeydew, bitter melon, comfrey, maybe some cucumber skin. Some chlorophyll for a “green” essence with a a light tobacco or even cannabis herbal pop.

Mouthfeel: Medium body, and a nice and clean finish.

Overall: Quite good, with a great fresh character.

Ruse Brewing – Fresh Hop Karma Terminal

Portland’s Ruse Brewing has made quite a name brewing hazy, New England-style IPAs, so it’s no surprise that it’s also offering up fresh hop hazies as well. Fresh Hop Karma Terminal is brewed with fresh Strata hops, and the Untappd description says:

Karma Terminal was brewed with an equal blend of rolled oats, spelt and malted white wheat. After that, we added a ton of hot side @indiehops Strata from Goschie Farms] before dry hopping it with Mosaic and Galaxy.

It’s 7.3% ABV with no IBUs listed.

Appearance: Pale golden and opaquely hazy. White lacy head.

Smell: Fruity notes with some pineapple, tropical fruit, a bit muddled with the fruit and a bit of hoppy spice. Nothing particularly “fresh hop” about it (it comes across to me as a standard hazy).

Taste: Tropical fruit salad with a big hop burn-y bitterness, spicy and “hot” with peppery greens, nettles. There’s a touch of melon rind, tomatillo, but again nothing “fresh” that stands out from an otherwise hop-burn-hazy.

Mouthfeel: Medium-full body via the hazy protein elements, spicy at the back.

Overall: It’s okay as a hazy, but not noticeably “fresh” to me.

Double Mountain Brewery – Killer Red Fresh Hop IRA

Fresh hop ales from Double Mountain are always ones to look forward to, and the brewery released four this year. Killer Red is the fresh Centennial-hopped India red ale of the bunch, and the description from the press release says:

Killer Red is the first fresh hop beer we make each year with the first Centennials off the bines at Crosby Farms, the hops arriving within two hours of being harvested. Piles of the fresh hops are heaped in to the secondary for a massive dry hopping, giving this IRA aromas of Northwest rain forest, tangerine, and ripe grapefruit. Balanced, smooth and wonderfully aromatic, and a lovely rusty hue.

Killer Red is 7% ABV with 85 IBUs.

Appearance: Amber-orange, translucently hazy, right off-white head.

Smell: Caramelly and piney, pinecone, earthy forest floor, malty-bready notes. Slightly peppery/mustard-like.

Taste: Really nice pop of fresh piney-spicy notes, with savory herbal character and a nicely minty, cooling quality. Wet pine forest. Solid malts without feeling heavy and it allows the hops to shine.

Mouthfeel: Medium body, almost medium-full, with lingering (winter)green mintiness.

Overall: Vibrant and super tasty, this one is especially good this year.