It’s fresh hop season once again, and my latest article for The Bulletin, naturally enough, is about the topic. This time around, I take a look at the fresh hop technique of flash freezing the hops with liquid nitrogen and then shattering them to expose as much of the lupulin and hop essence to the beer as possible—with Boss Rambler Beer Club here in Bend employing the technique on its first three fresh hop beers of the season.

Boss Rambler Beer Club was among the first to market this year and recently released three fresh-hop beers in cans that were crafted with an unusual approach — the fresh hops were flash frozen with liquid nitrogen, and then shattered before being added to the beer.

It directly exposes the lupulin glands to the liquid, the parts of the hop containing the oils, resins and acids, in theory allowing the freshest essence of the hop to permeate the brew.

For Boss Rambler, freezing the hops is also about timing.

“One of the main reasons we use this process is to get the finished beer out as quickly after the hops were picked as possible (versus brewing with them and waiting the 3+ weeks to finish),” said founder Matt Molletta via email. “Additionally, using the hops on the cold side (versus hot) give off different flavor notes which is unique and fun to explore.”

I’ve got my notes on that first beer, So Green! Fresh Hop IPA, along with brief impressions of the other two (So Fresh! and So Clean!).