A Final Fresh Hop Tour

I have been negligent of fresh hops. So busy, in fact, that I let my own fresh hops wither on the vine.  So it was that I took an opportunity last Wednesday night to do a little impromptu fresh hop tour with the Beerax himself.

We stated at the mecca of fresh hops: Descutes Portland Pub.  Deschutes has arguably the most consistent success with fresh hops and they go all in, with no less than six fresh hop beers on tap that rotate continuously through the season.  Jeff's favorite Fresh Hop Mirror Pond was no longer available, much to my dismay, and his other big rave, Chasin' Freshies, was (a week later) a bit too long in the tooth which says a lot about how ephemeral fresh hop beers are.  They just don't last.  Chasin' Freshies had lost that aromatic fresh hop flavor and, to me who is very sesnitive, just tasted like fusel alchohol.  There was a fresh hop porter, which was actually quite nice, but not what punters are generally looking for in fresh hop season.  Hop Trip was very good but my favorite by a long shot was Flagline which at 4% ABV is a wonderfully tasty sessionable fresh hop ale (note the name had just changed to something else which escapes me: something road perhaps...whatever, look for the 4%).  Tremendous. 

We then meandered to Gigantic where "The Most Interesting Beer in the World" was loosing it freshness as well. Still good, but no longer great.  The risks of waiting too long to go and get fresh hop beers.  We ended up at the Laurelwood Westmoreland pub where the Fresh Hop Red was no longer available.   Trying to decide on a replacement was a challenge with a server who knew nothing about beer and seemed very bemused that we would want to know what hops were used in the beer we chose.  She didn't have any idea and went to find out - with no luck.  Apparently the pub knows nothing about the beer they serve.  Methinks a staff training session is in order.

So the moral of my story is not to wait too long to go and seek out fresh hop beers.  There are still some good ones out there but they are quickly fading.  And if you do find one, ask for a taster first to see how well it is holding up.

Fresh Hop Roundup

A little late to this, but I have been busy with exploits that shall yield many intersting blog posts whenever I find time to write them - stay tuned.  I have been lax with the news of fresh hop beers, one of my favorite craft beer products, but I have now had enough that I am ready to give a short synopsis.  It is not a completely useless endeavor, I think there are still a number of them on tap and in the bottle so there is still time to get your fix in quickly before the winter ale season begins in earnest.

So let me start by saying I was a savvy consumer of the fresh hop beers this season and I did not make it to a fresh hop beer festival this year so I have not had a single fresh hop beer I didn't like.  But even though my sample has severe selection bias issues, might I be bold enough to suggest that the NW craft beer community is really starting to get it in term of brewing with fresh hops?  Perhaps.

While this might be true, my experience is that the best of the best come from the reliable top-quality brewers in the state.  In my book, Double Mountain lead the pack: this years killer green was amazing, a real hop bomb that was perfectly balanced (in the NW usage of balance) and yet the fresh hop characeter shone through but not in an aggressive way. I think it is the most accomplished fresh hop beer I have ever had (picture below from the Skamania Celebration of Beers event).

Many beer cognoscenti chose the Deschutes' Fresh Hopped Mirror Pond as their favorite (see, for example, Bill's much more thorough round-up) and though I agree with its excellence, it is not, for me, as transcendent ad Double Mountain's Killer Green (ed. note: I did not have the Killer Red this year).

Other winners: I thought, as always, Full Sails John Harris did an amazing job, this year the one I sampled was the one using Tettenanger hops - fantastic.  Another great one this year was Lucky Lab's The Mutt, which was surprisingly complex and well-rounded given the unknown provenance of the hops therein.  I think the Lab is getting pretty expert at The Mutt now and I really enjoyed the result.

Once again the good folks at the Great Northern Brewery sent me a sample of their Frog Hop beer and once again it was one of my favorites.  They go for a very light body to accentuate the fresh hops which are used gently but to perfection.  One reason for my love of this beer is that they use locally grown hops in the Whitefish Valley - which is what the fresh hop beer is all about: local, seasonal, fresh.

In fact, the Frog Hop was my inspiration for the Green Crown, which is what Jeff named our first attempt at a fresh hop beer.  We had no idea what to do, so I went for a light pale ale recipe, mostly two-row pale malt, with a little crystal and a hint of wheat for mouth feel.  Then it was all Cascade: wet home grown hops in the worth for a dose of first wort hopping, dry cascade for the bitter charge and then a bunch (completely unmeasured - we just dumped a bunch in until it seemed good, and then dumped a bit more...) fresh hops at the end.  From the picture below you can see from whence the name Green Crown came.  I am usually pretty critical of the beer I brew, but this one was a huge success - a wonderful light body upon which the fresh Cascades dance their little dance on your tongue.  Even Jeff, who deesn't think much of fresh hop beers in general, calls it a big winner. 

I still have a few in my basement and to my surprise they are aging extremely well: I think the grassy notes have faded just a bit but the rest of the fresh hop sensation remains.  A fitting end to the season.

I can also attest to the fact that the fresh hop beer craze has hopped the pond.  The Dark Star craft brewery in Sussex did their own fresh hop ale this year with English hops:

This is super cool, unfortunately it was all gone when Jeff and I visited.  Note that at 6.5% it is an absolute alcohol monster relative to most English beer.  

Let the winter beers commence!

Growing Your Own: Fresh Hop Brewing

The hops, after a disappointing (but expected) first year with no blossoms, flourished this year and produced a bumper crop.  So I finally got a chance yesterday to brew my very own fresh hop ale with my very own (organic!) hops.  The problem is, of course, that I have no experience using fresh hops and the whole endeavor is pretty new, so there is not a lot of collective wisdom out there about the use of fresh hops.

Nevertheless, I forged ahead.  I am a huge fan of fresh hop ales, but I also know how hard they are to make well.  Most fresh hop festivals have as many failures as triumphs.  One thing I have settled on is that dry hops should be used for the bitter charge.  There are some who would argue that this then makes the beer not a true fresh hop ale, but I disagree.  The point of the fresh hops is not the bitterness but the green earthy note they impart to the beer.  And bad beer is bad beer, so using the very hard to anticipate fresh hops as the bitter charge increases the risk of a bad beer significantly.  In fact, I am confident that my beer will be quite enjoyable no matter what I have been able to extract from the fresh hops.

 I decided on a very simple recipe - a light colored pale ale (no, not a redundancy) hopped exclusively with Cascades, both dry and wet.  My brewing compatriot came over at 10 and we began the harvest of the hops at 10:30 while the strike water was heating up and by 10:45 we mashed in and continued to pick the hops.  Just for kicks I threw a couple of handfuls of wet hops in the mash at vorlauf for some wet hop first wort hopping.  Then the dried Cascades at the beginning of the the boil with a big bunch of wet hops at the end.  Having no idea how much to add I just grabbed handfuls and dumped until satisfied.  Something about that lack of precision - in a process defined by precision -  seemed fitting to the whole fresh hop beer ideal.  All went well and the beer is now fermenting happily. 

It'll be interesting to see how long the beer will last.  We will have five gallons of the stuff and I expect the fresh hop note to be ephemeral - I wonder how long it will take for the beer to either lose its character or become stale and unpleasant.  Those with experience are encouraged to chime in to prevent me from wasting beer.   

The whole endeavor feels very Portland to me - backyard hops cultivating, home-brewing, and making a northwest pale ale.  It was also a very cool experience regardless of the outcome.   

Fresh Hop Fest in My Backyard

I am happy to report a bumper crop of Cascade hops in my backyard.  Now it is time to harvest and brew.  This will be my first ever attempt at a fresh hop beer.  I am of the opinion that fresh hop beers are best when dry hops are used as the bittering hops and the fresh hops are saved for the aroma.  I do not think this in any way creates somehow an ersatz fresh hop beer. I am, in general, a big giant fan of fresh hop beers and appreciate them even with their green and grassy warts.  Beer's connection to the earth is never more apparent, and the beer itself never more fresh tasting, than with fresh hop beer. 

All that said, it seems to be a real challenge to brew good ones.  Most fresh hop beer fests contain a few great ones, many so-so beers, and quite a few total failures.  I don't expect much from my first try.

Any and all advice is appreciated.

Fresh Hop Tastival at Oaks Park Beer List

The Fresh Hop Tasitival's beer list is out and it looks incredible.  A virtual one-stop shopping list.  The problem is...how to choose.  One place to start is with Bill at It's Pub Night who has done the yeoman's job of seeking out fresh hop beers all over town and making some recommendations.  

As for me I am looking forward to John Harris's Lupulin, Double Mountain's Killer Green, Ninkasi's two offerings, Duschutes Fresh Hopped Mirror Pond (both thanks to Bill's recommendations), Upright's farmhouse version and especially Cascade's Fresh Hop Porter. Also, can't miss the Mutt for old times' sake (though Bill says it is especially good this year).

Now I do take issue with Silver Moon however - Hoppapotamus?  Really?  Perhaps you think that your spelling gets around my little (TM) - think again.  My lawyers will be in touch.

Enjoy!

Fresh Hop Beers

I spent yesterday evening at the Pilsner Room with my personal guide through all things beer, Jeff Alworth, sampling a variety of fresh hop beers, starting with John Hariss' Lupulins. Last year John (seen here) created a masterpiece using Amarillo hops. Those hops are unavailable this year and so he used the same recipe and made three different beers, one hopped with Mt. Ranier, one with the ubiquitous (and delightful) Cascades, and one with Nuggets. Jeff and I both were super high on the Nugget variety as we felt the typical Cascade floral notes were quite subdued in that one. We also had Deschutes fantastic Hop Trip, Double Mountian's excellent offering, Killer Green and, for a change in style, Hopworks' Octoberfest which is also excellent. What a great night. I have to say, I liked the Deschutes fresh hop ale the best, followed closely by John's Nugget variety and Double Mountain's Killer Green. However, that said, the best beer I had yesterday was a pint of John's sublime Prodigal Sun IPA that was being served on cask. Yum.

Speaking of Amarillo hops, John, who stopped by our table for a chat (his brewery is on the other side of the glass wall and there was some sort of Full Sail thingy going on because I spied Irene Firmat and Jamie Emmerson - he apparently doesn't realize one m is enough - and general noshing at a shrimp cocktail spread) told us that the reason there are no Amarillo hops available is that it is a proprietary hop and there is not that much in cultivation. Apparently it started as a wild variant that was discovered on a hop farm and cultivated.

Anyway, this is supposed to be beeronomics and as much as my gastronomic adventures are surely fascinating to all of my devoted readers, let's try and turn my drinking into field research so I can write-off my tab.

So what's the deal with all of these fresh hop beers? Perhaps it is just a way to keep brewers from getting too bored, but I think there is more. In many markets, limited editions, special varieties, alternate versions are thought of as a way to increase demand. The idea is roughly this: for customers that have a strong demand for a product may regularly consume, say, one six-pack of Full Sail beer a week. They may switch from pale to amber and so on, but their demand does not change from week to week. You may be able to increase demand for these consumers from time to time by a special variety that will not last. (It may also be the case that they will just forgo the regular six-pack for the special variety and no new demand will be created). Creating buzz with new products is also useful to get the uninitiated to try a company's beers, to create or solidify a reputation for quality and creativity, and create another opportunity to get people to try 'bigger' beers and thus create more demand.

By the way, in economics the private incentive for firms that have products of multiple varieties is to produce too much relative to the socially optimal amount. Why? Well, the closer you get your product to the idea variety of a consumer, the more you can charge a consumer for that product. But variety is expensive for producers, so overall the costs (and thus prices) overall will rise due to this variety.

John had an interesting insight when I mentioned the recession proof-ness (s0 far) of craft beer. He observed that it may be the bottling breweries that are the recession proof part of the craft brew scene for the supermarket six-pack is not seen as that much of an extravagance, while brewpubs are more vulnerable because a night out in a brewpub where you pay $5 for a pint is probably much more of a splurge for many people. We, I am afraid, will have a long and deep recession in which to test this theory.

So hurry to the Pilsner Room to get your Lupulins before the recession really sets in...