Fresh Hop Beers 2013, the Big List
Last updated: Sunday, 9/29, 3pm
It is that time again, when round trips to the fields result in delicate ales glowing green with the flavors and aromas of live hops. It is that month of the year when hopheads wander the streets besotted with flavors that can only come from undried hops, the fresher the better. In the past, we've had Bill Night to keep us up to date as these beery fireflies glow for a moment and then vanish--but like so many before him, Bill has slowly stopped blogging.
I can't possibly hope to keep up, but I will post the beers I hear of--and you can help by hop-spotting for me. Did you see (or brew) a fresh hop ale? Tell me the brewery, the beer name, and the hops, and I'll add it to the list (extra points for including the source farm). Some breweries have begun bottling fresh hop beers, but Oregonians know better. You can't capture that essence. These beers are made for draft, and they last no longer than a blooming flower. Their freshness dates are a matter of days, not weeks, so get 'em while you can.
Definitions
Because hops don't grow everywhere, certain breweries have taken to eliding whether their beers are made with undried, wet hops straight from the field, or the season's first, freshly-dried hops. That latter category already has a name: beer. It is a cheat and the beer should never be called "fresh hop." The beer must have been made with undried hops, full stop. Breweries have learned that it helps to use a dose of regular dried hops for bitterness at the start of the boil, with the fresh hops coming in later to add their own sensory phantasmagoria. That's cool--and even advised. I have found that this technique actually allows the fresh hops to exhibit more of their character. But no undried hops = no fresh hop beer.
The List
Note: it turns out tracking whether or not the beers are still available is a fool's errand, so just keep your eyes peeled. Stats, for those scoring at home: two cideries, 51 breweries; two ciders and 91 beers
10 Barrel
Goodin' Fresh, Chinook (Gooding--Idaho)
Alameda
Fresh Cent'd, Centennials
Amnesia
Mother Plucker, Amarillo
Anthem
Fresh Hop Cider, Cascade
Barley Brown's
Fresh Hop Pallet Jack, with wild, Mosaic, Citra, Cascade hops
Fresh Rye'd, Wild
Base Camp
Golden Hopportunity, Centennial
Double In-Tents, Centennial and Meridian
Hopoularity Contest, Cascade and Liberty
Beer Valley
Leafer Madness, Chinook
Many Farms Pale, hops from OR, WA, and ID
Big Horse
Sticky Green, Mosaic and Simcoe
Black Eyed PA, Centennial and Simcoe
Breakside
If It's Wet and Not Yours, Don't Touch It, Citra
Barrel-aged Wet Hop IPA, Citra
Brewer's Union Local 180
Little Green Man Pale, brewer-harvested Willamette
BridgePort
Hop Harvest, Fuggle and Tettnang (Annen Farms)
Burnside
Prime Meridian, Meridian
Freshy Oatmeal Pale Ale, Crystal
Cascade Lakes
First Street Fresh Hop, Sterling
Fresh Hop IPA, Liberty
Coalition
Green Pig, Cascade (Crosby)
Simply Dank, Centennial (Crosby)
The Commons
Fresh Hop Myrtle, Meridian (Goschie Farms)
Crux Fermentation Project
Cruxtennial Belgian Pale Ale, Centennial
Off the Fence, with hops grown on the brewery property
Crystal Zwickel, Crystal
Deschutes Bend
Cinder Cone Red, Tettnang
Hop Trip, Crystals
Crystal Cream Ale, Crystal (Weathers Farm)
Chasin' Freshies, Amarillo
Fresh Hop Pine Drops, Centennial and Amarillo
Crystal Pale, Crystal (Goschie)
Deschutes Portland
Oktoberfest, Willamette hops
Bitter, Tettnang
King Cone, Centennial and Cascade
Mirror Pond, Cascade
Saison, Meridian
Double Mountain
Killer Green, Brewers Gold (Sodbuster)
Killer Red, Perle (Sodbuster)
Killer Brass, Mt Hood (Sodbuster)
Falling Sky
So Fresh So Clean lager, Centennials (Goschie)
Nuggets of Wisdom, ?
Fort George
Fresh Hop Sunrise Oatmeal Pale Ale, Centennials
Fresh Hop Vortex, Simcoes
Hopstoria, Citra
Co-Hoperative, community-contributed hops
Full Sail
Pilsner, Cascades (Sodbuster)
Gigantic
Sodbusted Simcoe, Simcoe (Sodbuster farms)
Gilgamesh
Fresh Prince of Ales, unknown
Golden Valley
St. Paul Fresh Hop, Cascades
GoodLife
A different Season, with community-contributed hops
Harvester
Fresh Hop Meridian Pale, Meridian
Hopworks
Bitchin' Camaro, Crystals (Goschie Farms)
Fuggin' A, Fuggles (Leavy Farms)
Powell Estate IPA, Willamette and Cascades from the brewery's bines
Hop Valley
Citra Self Down, Citra
Humble Brewing
Larch Creek Harvest Ale, multiple hand-picked varieties (Larch Creek Farms)
Laurelwood
Workhorse IPA, Centennial
Fresh Hop Pale (Pale Project 21), Cascades (Crosby Farms) and Willamette (Goschie)
Free-Range Red, Cascade
Logsdon
Fresh Hop Seizoen, 40+ varieties 62
Lompoc
Harvestman Red, Crystal
Lucky Lab
The Mutt (all different varieties of hops)
McMenamins
Thundercone, Cascade (Sodbuster)
Migration
Glisan Street Fresh Hop, Meridian
Wild Style, Crystal
Better Off Fresh IPA, Crystal
Ninkasi
Total Crystalization, Crystal (Sodbuster)
Hop Fraiche, Sterling (Goschie)
Oakshire
'Bout-a-Hunerd, Centennial
Old Town Brewing
Freshtoberbrau Fresh-Hop, Cascade
Cents and Sensibility, Centennial
Pelican
Elemental Ale, Sterling (Goschie)
pFriem
Fresh Hop Mosaic Belgian Wheat, Mosaic
Pints
Seismic Upgrade Imperial IPA, Centennials
Oktoberfresh, Crystal
Crystal Lite Lager, Crystal
Reverend Nat's
Fresh Hop Hopricot
Unknown beer (using their own hops?
Oregon Session Ale, Willamette and Cascade
Drop It Like It's Hop'd, Centennial
Silver Moon
Hoppopotamus, Cascade
SoleraChubby Bunny, Simcoe and Citra
Stickmen
Single Malt – Single Hop (SMaSH), Cascade (Crosby)
Three Creeks
Cone Lick'r Fresh Hop Pale, Golding (Sodbuster)
Hop Wrangler Fresh Hop Red, Nugget (Sodbuster)
Upright
The Hop and the Abstract Truth, Golding
Fresh Hop IPA, Centennials (Crosby Farms)
Widmer Brothers
Dark and Dank Fresh Hop Lager, Santiam and Goldings
Bring the Boom Fresh Hop IPL, Citra
Session IPA, Meridian