Portland Beer Week Fresh Hop Seminar 2021

I've spent a lot of time over the years obsessing about fresh hop beers, in fact fresh hops are the subject of the first post on the blog.  So I was not going to miss this year's "Fresh Hop Seminar & Tasting" held at Zoiglhaus this past Saturday as part of this year's Portland Beer Week.

Participants listened to tales of fresh-hop glory and misadventures told by Zoiglhaus's Alan Taylor, Von Ebert's Sam Pecoraro, and Ex Novo's Ryan Buxton.  We got tastes of a Tettnanger-hopped kölsch and an oktoberfest from Zoiglhaus, a Sterling-hopped pilsner from Von Ebert, and a Simcoe-hopped variant of Ex Novo's Eliot IPA.  In recent years Fresh Hop Eliot has been one of the standouts of the season.  This Simcoe one was the best fresh hop beer of the afternoon, and noticeably better than the Centennial-hopped Eliot I tried at Ex Novo a few days ago.

As a bonus/punishment, we also got to taste some unfermented fresh-hop wort that will be one of the next Zoiglhaus fresh hop offerings (an IPA if I remember correctly).  Now, how the heck did fresh hops get into someone's wort?  In the jargon being thrown about at the seminar, that is a "warm side" application of fresh hops, and I thought that everyone decided a long time ago that you get more out of your fresh hops on the "cold side".

That may indeed be true, but Alan has good reasons for choosing the warm side.  At the most basic level, he is working with German-style hops like Tettnanger which are not grown in as great quantities in Oregon as big IPA hops like all the C hops or Simcoe or Strata.  If you want fresh Citra hops, your supplier might tell you, "we're harvesting all next week, what day are you coming?".  But if you want fresh Tettnanger, the farmer might call you at 10 AM and say "we looked at them this morning and it was time to bring them in, how soon can you get here?".  Hence he is not able to have fermented beer ready for dry hopping, and it works better to throw the fresh hops into the wort.

That hop potion was intense -- most of us just had a quick sip, but at least one intrepid fellow at the seminar finished his entire two-ounce pour.  Alan explained that most of the bitterness would go away after fermentation, after some byproduct of the yeast attached itself to the alpha acids and dropped to the bottom of the tank (there was a technical term for this that I forgot to write down).

Check out the fifty-pound bag of fresh hops in the picture above.  Unforunately we weren't given the chance to roll around on it as though it was a big human catnip toy.  But Ryan had a good story about checking four such bags onto a Southwestern Airlines flight in order to brew a fresh hop beer at the Albuquerque Ex Novo.  Much cheaper than traditional shipping, and despite the size, they meet the weight limit for checked bags!

This seminar format is a refreshing change of pace for a beer event.  A few years ago I had a great time at the Sour Blending Symposium (part of Portland Beer Week 2012).  I was sad not to be able to make it to this year's Cask Beer Seminar.  But I definitely recommend checking out any beer week seminars in the future.

Final Thoughts on the 2012 Fresh Hop Season

Fresh hop season is the reason I started writing It's Pub Night a few years ago.  The first post here -- a copy of four emails I sent to my friend Lee which ended up as installments on his blog I Love Beer -- is kind of quaint reading five years later.  Highlights:

• Excitement over the fabulous first version of Full Sail's (really John Harris') Lupulin Ale (RIP).
• Visits to Roots (RIP), Laurelwood NW (RIP), and the New Old Lompoc (RIP).  Hopworks was not open yet (!) but I was mistakenly told that their IPA was a fresh-hop ale.
• Reports of new fresh-hop bottlings: Deschutes Hop Trip and Bridgeport Hop Harvest.
• I found around 12 fresh hop beers around town that year, and 4 more beers that I thought had fresh hops, but which I now know were made with 100% kilned hops.  Remember: dried hops are NOT fresh hops.

Now let's talk about the year 2012.  Here are some random observations from this year:

1. Best fresh hop strategy: Fresh-hop your flagship.

Look at the list of almost 70 fresh hop beers I tried this year (with approximate ranking from favorite to least favorite).  The standouts tend to be fresh-hop versions of already popular recipes:  Free Range Red (Laurelwood), Mirror Pond and Bachelor Bitter (Deschutes), and Total Domination (Ninkasi).  Makes sense if you think about it: the recipes are already proven winners, the brewers can make them in their sleep, and they probably have a good idea of which hops to add at what point in the brew.

2. Draft is better than bottled.

I often feel this way about beer, especially favorites: the draft version is noticeably better than the bottled one.  Current examples: Gigantic IPA and Oakshire Overcast Espresso Stout -- two fantastic beers which seem to suffer a little getting into the bottle.

With fresh hops, it's even more true that you'll get more of the distinctive flavor on draft.  A good example is Double Mountain's Killer Red, a must-try, stunningly good beer the last couple years.  The bottles I brought back from Hood River contained very good beer, to be sure, but not the mind-blowing elixir that flows from the taps.  Talking with Stan Hieronymous before the Hood River Hops Fest this year, he mentioned how much hop flavor escapes into the headspace of a bottle: volatile compounds which easily escape from the beer and vanish into the air when the cap comes off.  Yet another reason to drink local, wherever that happens to be.

3. Some people still don't get it.

I had a little aneurysm last week when I read Kris' report on Concordia Ale House's "Fresh Hop-A-Palooza".  Nothing wrong with the blog post, but Concordia's list of beers for their blind tasting showed an utter disinterest and lack of respect for the fresh hop style:

• Of 10 beers on the list, 2 were not at all fresh hop beers: Sierra Nevada Southern Hemisphere Harvest and Rogue OREgasmic Ale.  To add injury to insult, these two beers came in 3rd and 4th place in the people's choice voting!  Sickening.

• 3 of the 10 beers were incorrectly named on the list: Ninkasi Total Crystallization (should be Crystallation, but I'll give them a pass on that, I often make that mistake myself), Deschutes Little Freshies (Chasin' Freshies), and New Belgium Trip VII.  Kris says she learned that the NB beer was actually Trip X -- I hope not, since that was last year's fresh hop Trip.  This year's is Trip XIV.

• We're already at a 50% confusion level.  That makes me think the glass is half empty, so I have to question whether Concordia really laid their hands on fresh hop versions of 2 other beers on the list: Everybody's Head Stash, and the vaguely labeled "Hales Fresh Hop".  Now, if they have Hales Harvest Ale, that is made with 100% dried hops, even though the label in years past has deceptively said "fresh hop".  There were a couple of Hales entries at the Hood River Hop Fest, but what is in Concordia's keg?  And while there was a fresh-hop version of Head Stash this year, is that what the dingalings who screwed up everything above really were pouring?

• To sum up, between 20% and 40% of the beers in this supposed fresh hop showcase had no fresh hops -- including the 3rd and 4th place winners.  Another beer -- the 2nd place winner, by the way! -- might be from last year's crop.

The Sierra Nevada thing really galls me.  Here's a quote from SN's own description of the beer: "Like our Celebration Ale, the fresh hops in this beer are dried right after being picked".  Oh great, DRIED FRESH hops. (See also my rant on the subject from a few years ago).  Now, for the sake of argument, suppose you accept SN's lame posturing that the first kilned hops of the season are fresh, even though they are dried.  Even then, Southern Hemisphere Harvest was brewed months ago, when the hop harvest occurred in the Southern Hemisphere.  Not the ideal timeframe for the fresh flavors.

Too bad to end it on a rant.  Really it was a great year for fresh hop beers, and some of them are still rolling out.  But you better move fast, it's almost over.

Fresh Hops: STOP CALLING THEM WET HOPS

Sometimes ignorance is bliss.  Now that we are aware that some breweries -- most notably Sierra Nevada -- label certain products as "fresh hop beer" even though every hop in the beer has been dried, beer lovers often ask for clarification on whether a beer has "wet hops", and brewers often label their beers as such.

Stop it.  STOP IT!  Stop using this term "wet hops" which was only invented to give a cover to those who wanted to jump on the fresh hop bandwagon, but for whatever reason, did not want to mess with sticky, rapidly wilting fresh hops.  Stop giving cover to people who want to deceive, simply in order to elbow in on a beautiful thing.

I have ranted about this in the past, but let me state again some of the reasons "wet hops" is a ridiculous turn of phrase.  First of all, what other fresh agricultural product do you have to call "wet" to make sure someone knows you don't think it has been dried?  If you go to the grocery store and ask for fresh parsley, or fresh ginger, or fresh garlic, they will point you to the produce aisle.  Try telling them you don't want wet parsley, you want fresh-dried parsley.  And by the way, where is the wet ginger?  I'm making a stir-fry, should I put in dried garlic, fresh garlic, or wet garlic?  I see that you have fresh cucumbers and fresh lettuce on sale, but I was really hoping to make my salad with wet vegetables, not fresh-dried ones.

How about fresh fish?  Can that be dried?  Milk?  Eggs?  Better ask for wet fish, wet eggs, and of course wet milk.  On Valentine's Day you better remind the florist that you want wet roses, because a dried bouquet might convey the wrong message even if the vase says the flowers are fresh.

Furthermore, freshly-picked hop cones are not wet anyway.  Think of the roses I just mentioned -- they are vibrant and tender, but they aren't wet, and neither are hops.  You can't squeeze water out of them -- a potato is wetter than a hop.

Finally, crowdsourced wisdom at Twitter brings up this question:  what do you call it when you dry hop with wet hops?

Now, it is certainly no sin to have a mix of fresh and dried hops in a beer -- that's how most fresh hop beers are done:  dried hops for bitterness and fresh hops later in the process for aroma and flavor.  But to call a beer with only dried hops a "fresh hop beer" is completely unjustifiable.  Yes, the first dried hops of the season are the freshest ones you can use, and should make delicious beer.  However, the flavors in those beers are not what people expect when they ask for a fresh hop beer.  Most brewers that I have asked about this subject were completely dumbfounded to hear that some fresh hop beers contained only dried hops -- it had simply never occurred to those honest folk that anyone would tell such a ridiculous lie.

Go forth with the awareness that there are deceptively labeled fresh hop beers out there, and spread the word.  But do not give in to the falsehood.  Don't use the term "wet hop", and push back when you hear someone use it.  If you need clarification about a fresh hop beer, ask whether it has some hops that haven't been dried.

2012 Fresh Hop Beers and Festivals

We're just a week away from Oregon's granddaddy Fresh Hop event, the Hood River Hops Fest, next Saturday September 29, 2012.  My beer-blogging brother Ezra over at the New School pulled off the astounding coup of becoming the curator for this year's HRHF, and he put together a superlative lineup of beers.  Highlights include new breweries like Pfriem, Gigantic, and Solera; a couple of beers that I've already tried this year that are among the best ever; plus a first-ever fresh-hop offering by Block 15.  I don't recall ever getting a fresh hop beer from Lagunitas, but apparently there will be one at Hood River.  Seriously, read the list, you'll be amazed.  I also like it that Ezra notes the hop varieties on all the beers -- a crucial piece of information that is often lacking at events like this.

Last year was the first year I made it out to Hood River for the fest despite a longstanding interest in fresh hop beers.  Even though it's just in a parking lot in the middle of town, the views out toward the surrounding hills make a very nice setting for a festival.

Then Portland gets its turn the following Saturday, October 6, with the Portland Fresh Hops Beer Fest at Oaks Park.  I'm not sure the list is out yet for that festival, but Oaks Park is also a lovely setting if the weather is good.  Most importantly, I can ride my bike there on the Springwater Corridor.

This year I haven't gone as insane in trying to track down fresh hop beers as I have in years past.  The 2012 Fresh Hop Map tells the tale -- not much action compared to last year's map, and this year I have 3 people helping fill it in.  Still, it's becoming difficult to avoid fresh hop beers, so here are the ones I've tried so far (I will keep updating this list as the season goes on).  As usual, I'll rank them in order of my preference, and split them into four categories:  truly excellent must-try fresh hop beers, beers with good fresh hop character, good beers that somehow lost the fresh hop character, and beers to avoid.  Beers marked "(HR)" are on the list for the Hood River Hops Fest. 
[Update 2012/10/02: Beers that will be at Oaks Park on October 6 (according to the OBG's Fresh Hop Beer List (pdf)) are marked "(OP)".]

Must Try:

• Laurelwood Fresh Hop Free Range Red (HR) (OP)
• Deschutes Fresh Hop Bachelor Bitter (HR)
• Deschutes Fresh Hop Mirror Pond (OP)
• Double Mountain Killer Red (draft -- bottle isn't as good)
• Ninkasi Total Crystallization (OP)

Good Fresh Hop Flavor:

• Crux Crystal Zwickel
• Alameda 100# Nugget
• Deschutes Fresh Hop Deschutes River Ale
• Upright Kiln 'em All (HR)
• Logsdon Fresh Hop Seizeon (OP)
• New Belgium Trip 14
• Gigantic The Most Interesting Beer in the World (HR) (OP)
• Rogue Chatoe Wet Hop (HR) (OP)
• Lucky Lab Mutt
• Pelican Elemental Ale (OP)
• Lucky Lab Last Little Fresh Hop in Oregon
• Full Sail Hopenfrisch Lager (OP) 
• Base Camp Hoptastic Voyage
• Ft. George Fresh Hop Vortex
• Burnside Nuggets With Attitude
• 10 Barrel Crosby Fresh Hop (OP)
• Falling Sky Whoa Dang
• Commons Fresh Hop Farmhouse
• Three Creeks Cone Lick'r (OP)
• Big Horse Paragon
• Breakside Wet Hop Simcoe 
• Anderson Valley Mendo Mellow
• Falling Sky So Fresh, So Green Lager (OP) 
• Oakshire Ask the Fish 
• Hales Fresh Hop Supergoose 
• MacTarnahan's Fresh Hop Amber
• Migration Green Reaper 
• Sierra Nevada 2012 Harvest Ale (bottle) 
• Deschutes King Cone (HR) (OP)
• Rock Bottom Fresh Hop Ale (HR)
• Double Mountain Killer Green
• Pints Fresh Hop Seismic Upgrade IIPA
• Amnesia French Connection
• Cascade Lakes Harvest
• Everybody's Brewing Fresh Hop Head Stash
• Sasquatch Fresh Hopped Healy Heights
• Burnside Pub Draught
• Astoria Fresh Hop
• Golden Valley Crystal Fresh Hop 
• McMenamins Thundercone (OP)

Good Beer, Can't Taste the Fresh Hops:

• Bridgeport Hop Harvest (HR) (OP)
• Deschutes Fresh Hop Black Ale
• Lompoc Harvest Man Red
• Pfriem Fresh Hop Strong Blonde 
• Hopworks Powell Estate IPA
• Beer Valley Fresh Hop Leafer Madness
• Alameda Failing Street Fresh Hop IPA (OP)
• Oakshire 100 Hops (OP)
• Logsdon Fresh Hop Seizeon Bretta
• Deschutes Fresh Hop Black Butte Porter
• Hopworks Give Me Liberty (HR) (OP)
• Pints Fresh Hop Saison
• Ninkasi Smells Like Purple (OP)
• Lucky Lab Reaperweizen
• Block 15 Heliotropic
• Schooner Exact Amarillo Fresh Hop

Beers to Avoid:

• Two Beers Fresh Hop IPA (bottle)
• Coalition Green Pig
• Solera Kwazy Wabbit (OP)
• Old Market Vers Bloem
• Flat Tail Home Grown
• Beer Valley Tri-State (OP)
• Fire on the Mountain Magnum P.A.
• Walking Man Cents and Centsability

Some of these beers deserve special mention.  Gigantic's beer reminds me of the first fresh-hop beers I ever tried, 7 or 8 years ago when the trend was just getting off the ground: an almost honeyed light ale with beautiful fresh aroma and flavor.  It's an indication of how far this style has progressed that the flavor that made me a maniac only gets you into the "good" category these days.  Speaking of which, my favorite from the last two years -- Fresh Hop Mirror Pond, which I have often proclaimed the best beer in the history of the world -- is outdone this year by Laurelwood's astounding fresh-hopped version of their Red Ale, and also by Deschutes' own fresh-hopped Bachelor Bitter.  Don't miss any of those three beers this year.

Seattle Fresh Hop Throwdown 2011

Fresh hop beers have exploded in Portland the last few years, and they are also catching on more and more in our sister city of Seattle.  This past Saturday, Geoff Kaiser of Seattle Beer News (he's also a regular columnist at NW Brewing News) curated 15 fresh hop beers for a mini-festival at The Noble Fir, a relatively new tavern in the Ballard neighborhood.  The place quickly filled up, and had a line running down the block.  There were eight beers from Washington and seven beers from Oregon, so before the doors opened about a dozen beer mavens from the two states took part in a blind tasting to choose the best of the lot -- and to decide which state turned out the best fresh hop beers.

Oregon won the blind tasting decisively.  Scoring out of 25, where anything above 13 was a good beer, and 19 and above indicated a good showcase for fresh hops, the Oregon beers averaged 16.2 vs. 15.7.  That's hardly a landslide, but the top four beers went to a second round of judging for best in show, and Oregon beers took gold, silver, and bronze:

1. Laurelwood Fresh Hop Cavalry IPA
2. Deschutes Fresh Hop Mirror Pond
3. Double Mountain Killer Red

Fourth place was taken by a Washington beer:  Two Beers Fresh Hop Ale.  I wasn't involved in the final best-of-show judging, so of the four finalists, I only scored Double Mountain and Two Beers.  If it's any consolation to fans of Washington beer, I preferred the Two Beers to the Killer Red, though both were excellent.  Afterward I did have my first taste of the Laurelwood Cavalry.  I had been hearing good things about it from people who had already tried it in Portland, and it was indeed a top-tier fresh-hopper.

The other beers that were poured at the throwdown were:

• Oakshire Triune
• Iron Horse Fresh Hop Loco Red
• Schooner Exact Fresh Hop IPA
• Full Sail Hopfenfrisch Pilsner
• Snipes Mountain The Hooch
• Seven Seas Hop Prophet
• Hopworks Give Me Liberty...
• Ninkasi Fresh Hop Tricerahops
• Big Al Harvest Ale
• Big Time Fresh Hop Bhagwan's Best
• Paradise Creek Alpha Madness

On that list, I judged the six from Oakshire down to Seven Seas, and that's the order in which I had them scored (after Two Beers and Double Mountain).  I foolishly left the bar before the festival opened for real and was then stuck outside because of the crowd, so sadly I missed trying the last three Washington beers.  Still, it was a great experience, and I am grateful to Geoff for inviting me to take part.  Further reading: Geoff's official report on the Throwdown.

If you're not familiar with the Noble Fir, it's a nice place that's worth a visit if you're in the neighborhood.  Fifteen beer taps, plus two nitro taps, and a pretty good selection of bottles; no kids allowed.  The food menu consists of small plates, including vegan options:  you can pick an assortment of 3, 5, or 7 items for $10, $15, or $20 respectively (if I remember right), which seems pretty reasonable.  It's not reflected in the name, but there is a travel theme to the restaurant:  one wall is lined with travel books and laminated maps for your reading pleasure while you're having a beer or some snacks.

2011 Fresh Hop Tastival Checklist

Fresh hops, click, fresh hops, click, fresh hops... Yes, I am a broken record at this time of year.  It's just that the beers are so good, so special, and so fleeting, that it becomes something of an obsession.

The Oregon Brewer's Guild/Oregon Bounty Portland Fresh Hop Tastival takes place tomorrow (Saturday, October 8, 2011) at Oaks Park, noon to 8 PM.  Scroll past the confusing east-is-up map on this page to see the beer list.  Kids are allowed, and if the weather is nice -- unlike last year -- the picnic area just outside the festival building is a great place to mingle in the fresh air.  As with any beer festival, the earlier you can arrive, the happier you'll be.  There is usually drinking water available, but the most convenient option is usually to bring your own.

There are still some entries on the Tastival list that I haven't tried yet, even after the Hood River Hops Fest and several weeks of trying an average of one new fresh hop beer a day.  So I'll be out there trying to fill in those blanks.  Meanwhile, here's my updated list of 2011 fresh hop beers, divided into these four categories:  fresh-hop beers you must try; beers that show off fresh hops well enough; beers that are really good but where I didn't really notice much fresh hop flavor; finally, beers to avoid.  The ones that will be available at Oaks Park this weekend are marked with "(Oaks)". [Update 2011/10/08: and new ones I tried at Oaks Park are marked with italic "(Oaks)".]

Must-try:

• Deschutes Fresh Hop Mirror Pond (Oaks)
• Deschutes Fresh Hop Twilight Ale
• Full Sail Lupulin (with Tettnanger hops) (Oaks)
• Breakside Fresh Hop IPA
• Laurelwood Cavalry IPA
• The Commons Fresh Hop Farmhouse (Oaks)
• Big Horse Vernon the Rabbit Slayer
• Elysian Kama Citra
• Logsdon Fresh Hop Sezoen (Oaks)
• Two Beers The Fresh Hop
• Alameda Citronix (Oaks)
• Double Mountain Killer Red
• New Belgium Fresh Hop IPA
• Bridgeport Hop Harvest (Oaks)
• Laurelwood Laurelfest Vienna Lager (Oaks)
• Deschutes Hop Trip (Oaks)
• MacTarnahan's Fresh Hop Mac's Amber (Oaks)
• Coalition Green Pig (Oaks)
• Laurelwood Fresh Hop Free Range Red (Oaks) 
• Green Dragon (OBC) Sophie Harvest Ale (Oaks)  
• Ft. George CoHoporative Ale
• Terminal Gravity Wild Wild Wet 

Good fresh hop beers:

• Full Sail Lupulin (with Magnum hops) (Oaks)
• Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest
• Rogue Chatoe Wet Hop (Oaks)
• Ninkasi Tricerarillo (Oaks)
• Hopworks Fest of Fury (Oaks)
• Widmer Liberty Fresh Hop Lager (Oaks)
• Deschutes Fresh Hop Inversion IPA
• Pelican Elemental Ale (Oaks)
• Migration 69 Pound Perle (Oaks)
• Fremont Brewing Cowiche Canyon Fresh Hop Pale
• Oakshire Triune Wet Hop Pale Ale (Oaks)
• Everybody's Brewing Head Stash Pale Ale
• Iron Horse Fresh Hop Loco Red 
• Schooner Exact Fresh Hop IPA
• Full Sail Hopenfrisch Pilsner (Oaks)
• Great Divide Fresh Hop Pale
• Lucky Lab The Mutt (Oaks)
• Rock Bottom Hop Harvest (Oaks)
• McMenamin's Thundercone (Oaks)
• Cascade Lakes Harvest Ale (Oaks)

Tasty beers, not much fresh-hop flavor:

• Full Sail Lupulin (with Centennial hops) (Oaks)
• Breakside Fresh Hop CDA
• Long Brewing Fresh Hop IPA #1
• Port Brewing High Tide IPA
• Double Mountain Killer Green (Oaks)
• Hopworks Give me Liberty... (Oaks)
• Lompoc Crystal Missile (Oaks)
• Cascade Fresh Hop Porter (Oaks)
• Old Market Nugget IPA (Oaks)
• Snipes Mountain The Hooch 
• Ninkasi Total Crystallization (Oaks)
• Upright Hits from the Vine (Oaks)
• Gilgamesh Fresh Prince 
• Big Horse Red Fang
• Seven Seas Hop Prophet
• Seven Brides Fresh Hop Emily's Ember (Oaks)
• Coalition Liquid Sterling (Oaks)
• Beer Valley Fresh Hop Leafer Madness (Oaks) 
• Gilgamesh Fresh Hop Double IPA

Avoid:

• Ft. George Fresh Hop Vortex IPA (Oaks)
• Burnside Nuggets with Attitude (Oaks)
• Deschutes Fresh Hop Chainbreaker White IPA
• Lucky Lab Reaperweizen (Oaks)
• Portland U-Brew King Harvest (Oaks) 
• Philadelphia's Willamette in the Rye (Oaks) 

Of course, those are just my opinions, and your mileage may vary. But if you see something in the top two categories that ordinarily you would have skipped, give it a try at the Tastival or around town. A good example is the Fresh Hop Mac's Amber. The last couple years it hasn't been too exciting, and I had low expectations this time since Mac's excellent head brewer Vasili Gletsos jumped to Laurelwood earlier in the year, but the 2011 batch of Fresh Hop Mac's is really outstanding.

Hood River Hops Fest 2011

Early autumn in the Northwest is marked by the return of the rain and drastically shorter days, but brings with it a special compensation: beer flavored with fresh hops.  The Hood River Hops Fest kicks off a series of fresh hop beer festivals around Oregon each year, and I was glad to finally make it the HRHF for the first time last Saturday.  The weather could not have been nicer, the crowd was bustling but manageable, and there were some very nicely done beers on tap.

There were 38 fresh hop beers offered up, and I had already slimmed down the task ahead of me by scouting out 16 of them around Portland in the couple of weeks that the fresh stuff has been out. I also cut a few corners by skipping Portland breweries that I knew I could easily catch up with if I didn't get to those beers at a festival. Even so, the taps started drying up mid-afternoon, and I missed out on a couple of beers that I intended to try: Pelican Elemental Ale and Beer Valley Fresh Hop Leafer Madness. Those are pretty popular numbers, and both are bottled in limited quantities, so I expect to track them down somehow or another. Is it just a coincidence that these are also the two breweries that give me so much trouble every time I go to compile the Portland Beer Price Index?

My favorites of the day were:

• Big Horse Vernon the Rabbit Slayer -- giant double IPA, with a beautiful flowery hop flavor
• Elysian Kama Citra -- awesome, very fresh flavor
• Logsdon Fresh Hop Sezoen -- very different take on fresh hops, nice apricot flavor
• Double Mountain Killer Red -- malty red ale with good fresh hop presence
• Ft. George CoHoporative Ale -- great orange blossom hops (lots of Centennials?)

Double Mountain's Killer Green is a yearly favorite, though I tend to complain that the fresh hop greenness gets buried under the massive bitterness, so I was looking forward to trying this year's and comparing it to Killer Red, which I don't recall seeing before.  Killer Red is just as massive, but to my mind does show off the fresh hops better, even though it's built on a darker, roastier beer.

I was a little disappointed in Ninkasi's Total Crystallization -- Total Domination with fresh Crystal hops.  Last year it was stunning, and really a breakthrough for Ninkasi, who had always come up surprisingly short at fresh hop time.  This year it was nicely bitter, with a pleasant grassiness, but not up to the level of last year's.  Their Fresh Hop Tricerarillo had a little more going for it, but could still be better.

There was one disaster at the festival:  Lucky Lab's Reaperweizen, which was either infected or had something else strange going on with it.  A couple weeks ago I had an early taste of Reaperweizen, and it seemed promising at that time, so I don't know what happened in the meantime to it.

The Hood River Hops Festival was a great time; if you've never been, consider going next year.  As with every festival, early is better, as some of the buzz beers were gone in just a few short hours, and by about 7 PM very few of the 52 beer lines were still flowing.

The Portland Fresh Hop Tastival is coming up this Saturday, October 8, 2011 at Oaks Park, 12 - 8 PM (there is also a sneak preview Friday night from 5:30 to 8:30).  I've updated the Fresh Hop 2011 Progress Report with my opinions from the Hood River Festival -- when the Oaks Park taplist is published I'll probably put up another progress report annotating the beers that will be on tap Saturday.

Fresh Hop 2011 Progress Report

The 2011 Hood River Hops Festival is Saturday (October 1), and I'm going to make it over there for the first time. Maybe the hops are always greener on the other side of Gresham, but it always seemed to me like the beer list was a little nicer for the Hood River festival than for the followup fresh-hop festival in Portland (this year's is at Oaks Park again, on next Saturday, October 8). Ezra published the Hood River taplist yesterday -- it looks pretty good.

Meanwhile, I've been on my yearly quest to try a new fresh-hop beer every day.  I missed Monday, which would have been the 15th day in a row, because foolish overindulgence Sunday left me with no appetite for beer that day.  Maybe I'll cut myself some slack and count one of the earlier days when I tried two new fresh-hop beers as a reasonable substitute for Monday.

Since the festivals are cranking up, I'll give you my progress report on the beers I've tried so far this season.  I'll put them into four categories:  fresh-hop beers you must try; beers that show off fresh hops well enough; beers that are really good but where I didn't really notice much fresh hop flavor; finally, beers to avoid.  The ones that will be available at Hood River this weekend are marked with "(HR)".  [Update 2011/10/03: I've added in the beers I tried Saturday at Hood River, marked with italicized "(HR)".]

Must-try:

• Deschutes Fresh Hop Mirror Pond (HR)
• Deschutes Fresh Hop Twilight Ale
• Full Sail Lupulin (with Tettnanger hops) (HR?)
• Breakside Fresh Hop IPA (HR)
• Big Horse Vernon the Rabbit Slayer (HR)
• Elysian Kama Citra (HR)
• Logsdon Fresh Hop Sezoen (HR)
• Double Mountain Killer Red (HR)
• Bridgeport Hop Harvest (HR)
• Laurelwood Laurelfest Vienna Lager (HR)
• Deschutes Hop Trip (HR)
• MacTarnahan's Fresh Hop Mac's Amber (HR)
• Ft. George CoHoporative Ale (HR)
  

Good fresh hop beers:

• Rogue Chatoe Wet Hop (HR)
• Ninkasi Tricerarillo (HR)
• Hopworks Fest of Fury (HR)
• Widmer Liberty Fresh Hop Lager (HR)
• Deschutes Fresh Hop Inversion IPA
• Migration Fresh Hop Pale Ale
• Oakshire Triune Wet Hop Pale Ale (HR)
• Everybody's Brewing Head Stash Pale Ale (HR)
• Rock Bottom Hop Harvest (HR)
• McMenamin's Thundercone (HR)

Tasty beers, not much fresh-hop flavor:

• Full Sail Lupulin (with Centennial hops) (HR?)
• Breakside Fresh Hop CDA (HR)
• Double Mountain Killer Green (HR) 
• Hopworks Give me Liberty... (HR)
• Lompoc Crystal Missile (HR)
• Ninkasi Total Crystallization (HR)
• Big Horse Red Fang (HR) 
• Seven Brides Fresh Hop Emily's Ember

Avoid:

• Ft. George Fresh Hop Vortex IPA (HR)
• Deschutes Fresh Hop Chainbreaker White IPA
• Lucky Lab Reaperweizen (HR)

These are just my opinions; feel free to comment if you disagree.  Leave it to Deschutes to take first, second, and last place in the pageant -- they're all over this fresh hop thing.  Likewise, John Harris' experiments with various hop varieties in Full Sail Lupulin keeps pushing the boundaries:  I thought the Centennial was a miss, but the Tettnanger was as good as the mind-blowing batch of Amarillo Lupulin that started the dynasty in 2007.  Anyone know which Lupulin will be on hand in Hood River?  There are some big gaps in my list -- some from breweries that haven't put out the green stuff yet, others that I just haven't gotten to yet.  I'll fill the list in with more beers as I try them.

One thing that makes me very happy is that I don't have to chastise anyone around Portland this year for using 0% undried hops in their "fresh hop" beers.  Remember, no one expects 100% fresh hops in these beers -- although at Breakside Ben Edmunds went the extra mile with his fresh Simcoe IPA and used no dried hops whatsoever -- they just expect brewers to make an effort to get that green flavor with some amount of fresh hops.

Don't forget to consult this year's Portland Fresh Hop Map when looking for that fresh flavor around town.

Hopworks BikeToBeerFest 2011

I had a nice time Saturday at Hopworks Urban Brewery's bike-in version of Oktoberfest, the BikeToBeerFest  -- the third annual.  They always roll out some special beers for the festival, and this year was no exception, with two fresh hop beers, several barrel-aged monsters, and a few other rarities pouring alongside the brewery's standards.  The gigantic glass that Hopworks founder Christian Ettinger is drinking from contains a special pale ale called Lover Brau, an homage to head brewer Ben Love, who is leaving HUB to help found Gigantic Brewing.  To keep it a surprise, Lover Brau was actually brewed at Golden Valley in McMinnville.

Last year I made a big stink about Hopworks labeling beers "fresh hop" when they contained only dried hops.  This year I'm told that the fresh hop beers really do have some "wet hops" (I hate that silly term) in them.  Perhaps my whining paid off -- I just hope that one day it will be heard in Chico, California.  I thought the true fresh hops really made this year's Fest of Fury Märzen the best batch I can remember.  The Give Me Liberty fresh-hop Pale Ale was also very hoppy and bitter, very good stuff though I didn't pick up much of the fresh-hop flavor.  Hats off to Hopworks for going fresh this year.

At the 2010 festival, the most noteworthy big beer was Piledriver -- Hopworks' dubbel, barrel-aged with cherries and brettanomyces.  It was back again this year, and people were saying it was the same batch, though that seemed strange to me since it didn't look nearly as dark as I remember it -- look at these pictures of it last year over on the New School.  Whichever batch it was, it was at least as good as before -- nice cherries and a little drying funk on top of what was already a nice beer.  I also liked the bourbon barrel-aged Ace of Spades, though several people told me it was too over-the-top for them.  And Kronan the Bourbarian was another fine use of bourbon barrels -- adding a little extra kick to HUB's already potent Baltic Porter.

The beer price scheme has changed every year of BikeToBeerFest.  This year's was the most sensible system yet, so I hope it sticks.  Normal-strength pints were $4, or $2 for a half pour.  Strong beers were $3 for a half pour.  If you remember last year, the choices were either a full pint for $4 or $6, or a four-ounce pour for $1 (even for the $6 bruisers).  The half-pint option this year is a much better option all around.  Also this year there was no charge to get in to the festival, just the cost of a glass and your tickets.

Attendance seemed to be down from 2010.  Just a week ago, we were talking about how the hot weather might have kept people away from the Beermongers 2nd Anniversary Brewfest; Saturday the intermittent rain might have similarly dampened the BikeToBeerFest crowds.  Can we blame the weather, or are we really starting to have beer event fatigue in Portland?  Whatever it was, the bike racks in the lower parking lot were mostly empty during the time I was there, and there was never much of a line for any beer -- not that I'm complaining about that.  Maybe there was more of a crowd after I left.

Bikes and beer -- a great Portland combination, and a great thing to make a tradition of.

Sanjay has a post about the event, including some nice video, over on the Not So Professional Beer Blog.

2011 Portland Fresh Hop Map

Last year I made a map of places around town that had Fresh Hop beers on tap. The 2010 Fresh Hop Map got surprisingly full; I think the trend is only increasing, and I expect this year's map to get even more crowded.


View 2011 Portland Fresh Hop Beers in a larger map

Luckily, I got a couple of volunteers this year to help with the upkeep:  Charles from An Ear for Beer, and my twitter/neighborhood friend Tracy.  If you see a fresh hop beer on tap that isn't on the map let us know the following information:

• The brewery
• The name of the fresh-hop beer
• The establishment serving it
• The date it went on tap (approximately)
• How well you liked it
• Any trivia you know about it (e.g. hop variety)

You can supply the information in a comment on this post, but if you're on the twitters, a tweet might get our attention faster: @itspubnight (me), @HumuloneRed (Charles), or @TracyTThomas (Tracy).

We're only mapping Portland, so please don't report locations in Hood River, Astoria, Denver, or even Vancouver. If that rankles you, feel free to maintain your own map and I will publicize yours right here.

As I write this, there are only four entries, but trust me, it's going to go crazy very soon.

Governor of Beervana

The Lucky Lab Hop Harvest that happened Tuesday on the Lab's patio was another enjoyable time, just like every year.  If you ever get a chance to attend, it's a great experience that reminds you why we call this place Beervana.  Even Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber poked his head in on the operation, along with First Girlfriend Cynthia Hayes.

Yes, that's why we call this place Beervana, but the sleepyheads running the Oregonian's sad excuse for an editorial page evidently disagree.  This morning's O prepended "Governor of Beervana" to the headline of a George Will editorial about Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, who founded the Wynkoop Brewing Company brewpub in Denver.  I've come to expect more Portland bashing than boosterism from the Oregonian -- remember the idiotic non-foodie restaurant guide they put out last year? -- but conceding the label Beervana to another state is really over the top.  Not even the Denver Post added any beery honorifics to their headline for the same editorial.

Meanwhile, on Beervana, the Blog, Jeff Alworth goes on to critique the actual content of Will's editorial.  Hint: the editorial starts with a fictional quote from Benjamin Franklin, and doesn't stray too much closer to reality after that.

You can see from the photo above why Gov. Kitzhaber has a reputation for quiescence.  In my long-exposure photo, he is the only subject not blurred by motion -- and no one else is even moving!  I wish my good friend and noted hop connoisseur Marc Martin hadn't blocked the view of Ms. Hayes as he mesmerized the couple with an explanation of the humulone levels present in the fresh lupulin of various hop strains.  Despite my poor photography skills, I like it that I was able to squeeze Pub Night regular Lindsey into the frame, and I even see civic-minded beer man El Gordo hovering there in the background.

I asked the governor if he visited the Lucky Lab often, and he adroitly responded "Not often enough".  But Ms. Hayes covered for him and said that he does consume an adequate amount of beer at home.

John Foyston has some much better pictures in his report on the event.  He reports that a record 227 pounds of hops were picked this year.  Bravo!  And cheers to the real Governor of Beervana.

Honest Fresh Hops

The hop harvest season is upon us. This is one of my favorite times of the beer year, and it's the reason I started It's Pub Night in 2007.  The last couple of years, Deschutes' fresh-hopped batches of Mirror Pond have been so good that I can't shake the feeling that it is the best beer anyone in history has ever been privileged to taste.  This year they're actually going to bottle it, so people outside our little lupulin bubble are going to get to try it for themselves.

It doesn't stop with Fresh-Hopped Mirror Pond:  there are plenty of excellent fresh-hopped beers made in the Northwest and elsewhere.  Enjoy them while they're fresh!

Every rose has its thorn, however, and the thorn in fresh hop season are those breweries that label their wares as Fresh Hop beers, when 100% of the hops in those beers have been dried.  Sure, they're the first hops of the season.  Sure, most Fresh Hop beers contain some dried hops as well.  But if all the hops in a beer have been dried, don't call it a fresh hop beer.  Last year I got so worked up about this that I had to follow up my Attention! Dried Hops are NOT Fresh Hops with a second rant about fresh-hop fakery. The breweries that I know faked it last year are:

• Hales
• Hopworks
• Sierra Nevada
• Widmer

I got a hint from Widmer that they might do a true fresh-hop beer this year; let's hope Hopworks will also get it right. Sierra Nevada does make some of their Estate Harvest ale with fresh hops, but most of the Harvest Ale is done with hops that have been dried.  SN pushed it even further last year, labeling Celebration Ale as "A Fresh Hop Beer".  They make a sophistic distinction between "dried hops", "fresh hops", and -- this is clever -- "wet hops".  As I said last year, do you go into the grocery store and ask for "wet parsley", or do you ask for "fresh parsley"?  Wouldn't you be surprised if you asked for "fresh fish", and you were handed a dried cod?  "I'm sorry, I didn't know you wanted wet fish.  This one was freshly dried as soon as it was caught."

Talk to your local brewers, and insist on honest fresh hops.

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Lucky Labrador Hop Harvest

This coming Tuesday, August 30, 2011, you are invited to participate in one of the sweetest and most rewarding events you can attend in Portland: the Lucky Lab Hop Harvest.  It's basically a shucking bee held on the patio of the Hawthorne Lucky Lab.  People donate their homegrown hops for inclusion in the Lab's fresh hop beer -- aptly named "The Mutt" since its hop parentage is completely unknown and very mixed up.  This year's Hop Harvest starts at 5:30 PM, a little later than in previous years, so you don't have to play hooky to join in the fun. If you have hops in your yard that you don't plan to brew with, bring the vines in, preferably within a few hours of cutting them down.

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Hood River Hops Fest

The Oregon Brewers Guild teams up with Oregon Bounty each year to put on a few Fresh Hop Festivals around the state.  The first one is always the Hood River Hops Fest, and the selection in Hood River always seems to be broader than that at the following fests.  It's happening October 1, 2011, noon to 9 PM, between 5th and 7th Streets and Cascade and Columbia Streets in downtown Hood River.  Minors are allowed until 6 PM.  For being such a fresh-hop fiend, it pains me to say I haven't been to the Hood River fest before, but I plan to go this year.

Fresh Hop Tastival 2010

The insistent rain made for a damp day Saturday for the Oregon Brewers Guild/Oregon Bounty Fresh Hop Tastival at Oaks Park, but it was still a very enjoyable festival. I was happy to get to fill in some of the blanks on my fresh-hop dance card, including some really delicious ones. Full Sail's Hopfenfrisch was the first fresh-hop pilsner that has ever appealed to me, and was my favorite new discovery of the fest. It had a nice crisp flavor, with an appropriate amount of hopping that included that green fresh-hop flavor we're looking for. Next to that, I really liked Fort George's Cohoperative, which was light and flowery, showing off the hops really well. Double Mountain's Killer Green is a big monster as usual, and Astoria Brewing came out with one of the few dark ales that still showed off the fresh-hop flavor.

There were a few misses, though. As many people noted, the Hop Diddly brewed on the Green Dragon's pilot system was a complete disaster. I had Dave take a picture of me pouring mine right into the city storm drain, so it could mingle with Portland's combined sewer outflow a few yards away at the Willamette River. (Sorry to commemorate the Tastival with that picture, but I forgot to take any others.) The other beer that I dumped was Ram Brewery's Hop Sack Harvest Ale, which was pretty bland except for an unwelcome musky flavor.

Jeff Alworth had issued an advisory against Philadelphia's Sellwood Golden, and while it was a little homebrewy and not that good, it wasn't in the same league of awful as Hop Diddly. I even finished my sample of it as I scarfed down a Philly's cheesesteak. On the upside, McMenamins must have hand-picked the most awesome keg of Thundercone for the festival -- I enjoyed my first taste of Thundercone at the Crystal, but the festival batch was seriously good -- very lovely green floral hops flavor. Thanks to Rich for tipping me off to it. Anyone know which McM's brewery made that batch?

Because of the rain, I spent a lot longer in the tent Saturday than I did at last year's fest. It was a pretty awful atmosphere -- even though it wasn't very cold in the tent, it was so humid you could see your breath. The lighting was pretty grotesque in there also. I'll never complain about the convention center setting of the Spring Beer and Wine Fest again. Luckily, the rain mostly let up a little later, and it was possible to stand around outside.

There's one more Fresh Hop Tastival, this Saturday in Eugene. If you want a cheat sheet, here is my final ranking of the fresh hop beers I've tried this year:

Must try:

• Deschutes Fresh-Hopped Mirror Pond
• Ninkasi Total Crystallization (fresh-hopped Total Domination)
• Walking Man Hop-Along
• Full Sail Lupulin (I like the First Gold version slightly more than the Centennial)
• Rock Bottom Hop Harvest
• Full Sail Hopfenfrisch
• Ft. George Cohoperative
• Upright Tyler the Elder
• Bridgeport Hop Harvest
• Elysian/New Belgium Trip VI
• Double Mountain Killer Green
• Ninkasi Parlay
• Lompoc Crystal Missile
• Laurelwood Hop Pickin Pale
• Lucky Lab The Mutt

Worth a try:

• Alameda Failing Street IPA
• Deschutes Hop Trip
• Sierra Nevada 2010 Harvest Ale
• Oakshire Localvore
• Lompoc Ale Conner ESB
• Pelican Elemental Ale
• Deschutes Yam-a Lam-a
• Sierra Nevada 2010 Estate Ale (usually better than Harvest, this year a little blander)
• Everybody's Brewing Head Stash
• Amnesia Mother Plucker
• Astoria Fresh Hop Dark
• Three Creeks Cone Licker
• Beer Valley Hwy 19
• Deschutes Lug Nut
• Deschutes Fresh Hop Lager
• Rogue Chatoe Wet Hop
• Fort George Hopstoria
• Issaquah (Rogue) Wet Frog
• McMenamins Thundercone
• Golden Valley Centennial Fresh Hop
• MacTarnahan's Fresh Hop Mac's

Don't get distracted:

• Lompoc Harvest Man Red
• Coalition Liquid Sterling
• Vertigo Midnight Harvest VSB
• Cascade Brewing Rye Pale Ale
• Silver Moon Hoppopotamus
• Hale's Harvest Ale (all dried hops)
• Hopworks Gayle's Pale (all dried hops)
• Deschutes King Cone
• Laurelwood Some Like It Hop
• Philadelphia's Sellwood Golden
• Hopworks Goldilocks (all dried hops)
• Widmer Black Nugget (all dried hops)
• Ram Hop Sack Harvest Ale
• Rogue/Eugene City Brewery Tracktown Wet Hop
• Green Dragon Hop Diddly

Fresh Hops 2010: Third Report

This year I've kept a pretty good streak going of trying a different fresh-hop beer each day: today makes it the three-week mark. By the way, I'm talking about fresh hops, not dried fresh hops (see rant #1 and rant #2).

Some days I actually tried two fresh-hop beers. It's been a good year! So I have plenty to add to my three categories of "must try", "worth a try", and "don't bother". It's tough, because some of the "don't bother" beers are quite tasty, they just don't win in the fresh-hop category, or they are not really fresh-hop beers, no matter how hard the brewers wish they were.

Must try:

• Deschutes Fresh-Hopped Mirror Pond
• Ninkasi Total Crystallization (fresh-hopped Total Domination)
• Full Sail Lupulin (right now it's the First Gold variant)
• Rock Bottom Hop Harvest
• Upright Tyler the Elder
• Bridgeport Hop Harvest
• Ninkasi Parlay
• Lompoc Crystal Missile
• Laurelwood Hop Pickin Pale
• Lucky Lab The Mutt

Worth a try:

• Alameda Failing Street IPA
• Deschutes Hop Trip
• Sierra Nevada 2010 Harvest Ale
• Oakshire Localvore
• Lompoc Ale Conner ESB
• Pelican Elemental Ale
• Three Creeks Cone Licker
• Beer Valley Hwy 19
• Rogue Chatoe Wet Hop
• Fort George Hopstoria
• Issaquah (Rogue) Wet Frog
• McMenamins Thundercone

Don't get distracted:

• Lompoc Harvest Man Red
• Silver Moon Hoppopotamus
• Hale's Harvest Ale (all dried hops)
• Hopworks Gayle's Pale (all dried hops)
• Deschutes King Cone
• Hopworks Goldilocks (all dried hops)
• Widmer Black Nugget (all dried hops)
• Rogue/Eugene City Brewery Tracktown Wet Hop

I've tried to get those roughly in order of how much I prefer them. If you take only one piece of information away from this post, it's that you must try the fresh-hopped Mirror Pond brewed by the Portland Deschutes operation. It is my favorite beer of all time. Following that, Ninkasi has finally come out with not one but two excellent fresh-hop beers this year, which is only a surprise because their fresh-hop beers have been very disappointing every year so far. The fresh-hopped version of Total Domination is fabulous, and I liked the Parlay Bitter a lot also.

Another thing to note about a lot of these beers is that you're going to lose some of the goodness if you drink them too cold. Take the time to let them warm up a little. For me, this was especially true of Upright's Tyler the Elder and Laurelwood's Hop Pickin -- at first taste there was nothing to write home about. Upright's was also a little too phenolic or chemically at first. But after they got to tasting temperature, those were two really well-done beers.

I didn't make it to the Hood River Hops fest last weekend. Actually, I've never made it out there. Maybe next year. But you can read Angelo's positive review, Jason's negative review, or this report from Ben. I am very excited about the upcoming Fresh Hop Tastival at Oaks Park this Saturday. In light of all the fresh-hop cheating this year -- and the ridiculousness of calling something a "tastival" -- I hope Brian will rename it next year to the "Wet Hop Wastival". Also, keep an eye on Belmont Station's tap list this week -- it's heavy on fresh hops. Finally, remember to consult the 2010 Fresh Hop Map for all your pub-going needs.

Fresh Hops 2010: Second Report

Last Monday I listed the fresh hop beers I had tried so far, and promised more updates along the way.  I thought I might be able to pull off the stunt of trying a different variety each day, but Monday and Tuesday already fell through for me.  The earliest beers came out much sooner than the parade of them that is starting to emerge now.

I think there are enough things out now, that if I can schedule things right, I should be able to keep a streak going now for a couple of weeks, maybe until the Portland Fresh Hop Tastival Oct. 9.  Remember, if you see a fresh-hop offering that's not on the Fresh Hop Map, drop me a line so I can update it.

Here's my current list of must try/should try/don't bother from what I've seen so far:

Must try:

• Deschutes Fresh-Hopped Mirror Pond
• Full Sail Lupulin (right now it's the First Gold variant)
• Rock Bottom Hop Harvest
• Bridgeport Hop Harvest
• Lompoc Crystal Missile

Worth a try:

• Sierra Nevada 2010 Harvest Ale
• Fort George Hopstoria
• Issaquah (Rogue) Wet Frog
• McMenamins Thundercone
• Pelican Elemental Ale

Don't get distracted:

• Hale's Harvest Ale (all dried hops)
• Hopworks Gayle's Pale (all dried hops)
• Deschutes King Cone
• Hopworks Goldilocks (all dried hops)

I had complained that the Fresh-hopped Mirror Pond was not as good as last year's, but I have to take that back.  I tried it again Friday, and it was just how I remember it.  I don't know which of us -- me or the beer -- was having a bad day when I first tasted it, but I'm back on board with saying it is the most important beer you will ever taste in your life.

People have been raving about the hard-to-find Pelican Elemental.  I don't get it.  It is a solid beer, with unmistakable fresh-hop goodness, but it has a few too many other flavors going on to make it into my first tier.  Instead, I would seek out the Lompoc Crystal Missile, which is a light, easy drinker just perfect for showing off what we like about these fresh-hop ales.  It reminds me of the first of these that I tasted a few years ago.

The McMenamins Thundercone I tried at the Crystal was not bad.   A little light on the hops, but they had the idea.  McM's threw a curve ball at my plans to keep the Fresh Hop Map complete:  this beer was brewed at every McMenamins brewery, and is served at every pub.  Well, after adding two of the locations to the map, I realized I wasn't going to cover them all.  If you taste a batch that was especially fine, contact me and I'll add that location to the map.

Rant:

Why do I put "all dried hops" next to some of the beers to avoid? Why not just leave them off the list? Because these beers are promoted as Fresh Hop Beers.  Oh, the hops are "freshly dried", but they're not "wet hops".

That is ridiculous.  If you go to the grocery store and ask for fresh parsley, or fresh ginger, or fresh garlic, they will point you to the produce aisle.  Try telling them you don't want wet parsley, you want fresh-dried parsley.  And by the way, where is the wet ginger?  I'm making a stir-fry, should I put in dried garlic, fresh garlic, or wet garlic?

Hopworks is selling "fresh hop beers" brewed with 100% dried hops. Gosh, maybe we better go over their food menu. Hmmm... that fresh romaine lettuce, is it wet lettuce, or fresh-dried? What about the fresh spinach and fresh basil -- are you sure those were dried freshly at the farm? I'm not sure about the fresh cucumbers on that salad, is it possible to get it with wet cucumbers?

Don't fall into this trap of talking about "wet hops".  Those are fresh hops.  All other hops are dried hops.  Calling dried hops "fresh" is pure deception.

Fresh Hops 2010 -- The Story So Far

Some years I try to keep up a streak of tasting a different fresh-hop beer every day while they're out. I'm going for it this year, but it already has some gaps. Maybe I started a little early, but I try and soak it up while it's available. Anyone have an idea for me for today? I don't have anything on the radar, so if you know of something available today that's not on this list, let me know.

First let me give you a few recommendations from what I've tried so far. Last year when I boastfully listed all the fresh-hop beers I had tried, Jeff Alworth asked a very reasonable question: "Which ones were good?". Now, almost every one of them on my list was a beer I would have again. Some of them were fantastic. However, many of them -- even some fantastic ones -- failed to really show off the distinctive flavor of green un-dried hops. This year I want to lump the beers into three categories: those that nailed the fresh-hop flavor and must be tried immediately; those that have a nice fresh-hop flavor but won't knock you out of your chair; and those that should not be allowed to distract you during this holy time of year.

Must try:

• Deschutes Fresh-Hopped Mirror Pond
• Full Sail Lupulin (right now it's the First Gold variant)
• Rock Bottom Hop Harvest
• Bridgeport Hop Harvest

Worth a try:

• Oakshire Harvest Ale (oops, all dried hops)
• Sierra Nevada 2010 Harvest Ale

Don't get distracted:

• Hale's Harvest Ale (all dried hops)
• Hopworks Gayle's Pale (all dried hops)
• Deschutes King Cone

Bridgeport and Rock Bottom have improved their fresh-hop beers this year, and you should check both of them out (though I didn't care for the cask version of Bridgeport's that was available at the beer release party).  Lupulin and Mirror Pond are returning favorites, though the Mirror Pond is not quite as stellar as last year.  Dave summed it up well by saying that last year's was unmistakably Mirror Pond, but with extra goodness from the fresh hops.  This year's is really good, but won't remind you much of Mirror Pond, and the freshness isn't as intense as last year. [Update 2010/09/26: I had the FH Mirror Pond again Friday, and the love is back. I don't know why the first try didn't grab me, but this beer is incredible. Don't miss it.]

I usually am not very impressed by Sierra Nevada's Harvest, but I think they did a good job capturing the fresh flavor this year.  And yes, it uses un-dried hops, unlike their Southern Hemisphere Harvest, and unfortunately unlike Hale's Harvest Ale, which the brewery has told me uses "FRESH dried" hops.  I feel an Honest Fresh-Hop Project coming on.  Nevertheless, Hale's is a robust, malty, hoppy delight, and it comes in six-packs.  Good thing to have in the fridge this time of year.

Anyway, this is a work in progress.  Next week I hope to have more recommendations as more beers come out [Update: click here for the second report].  And remember to check the Fresh Hop Map for where to find stuff.

Attention! Dried Hops are NOT Fresh Hops

I'm going to milk this month of fresh hops for all it's worth. Partly because I love fresh-hop beer; partly because I don't have time to generate original content for you.

A commenter on the Fresh Hop Map said:

I sense the level of confusion rising between fresh hop (freshly dried hops) and wet hop (freshly picked hops).

Some people might be confused about this, but those of us who have tasted the delights of Fresh Hop beers are not confused.  Hops that have been dried are not fresh.

What the hell is a "wet hop"?  A hop that slipped and fell in the bathtub?  A hop that got rained on?  If you've ever touched a hop on the vine, it's not wet, in fact it's kind of papery and rough like a cat's tongue.  But it isn't wet like a fresh tomato or a fresh berry.

If there's any damn confusion, it might stem from Sierra Nevada, who promotes their Southern Hemisphere Harvest thusly:  "the fresh hops in this beer are dried right after being picked" (emphasis mine).  Are you kidding me?  Do you consider beef jerky to be fresh?  Dried apples?  Evaporated milk?  Powdered garlic?  Let's put this another way:  what other dried item do you think of as fresh?

Fresh hops have not been dried.  Accept no substitutes.

More ranting at the bottom of this post.

2010 Fresh Hop Map

We're getting into that wonderful few weeks when the fresh hop beers start rolling out.  I've been so patient waiting for them this year that I have only asked one establishment -- Deschutes -- if they have it on tap yet.  And I haven't even made it over to Full Sail to try this year's Lupulin -- an annual favorite -- but I will remedy that very soon.

Since Google maps are such a handy way to present lists of Where Stuff Is, I propose to maintain a map of which fresh hop beers are available in the Portland area (no offense, Taplister). As far as I know, Full Sail's is the only one on tap so far, so I've started a map with only that entry so far [Update 2010/09/10: it's steadily filling up now]:


View 2010 Portland Fresh Hop Beers in a larger map

Click on the thumbtacks to find out what and where the beer is. I think I'll start with green thumbtacks, and if a beer runs out I will change the tack to red.

Please help me fill it in! If you see a fresh-hop beer on tap around town, leave a comment, email me, or tweet me (@itspubnight). Feel free to comment on how you liked the beer, I'll add some of that to the entries on the map.

Upcoming Lucky Lab Events

It's Pub Night is usually written in past tense, as a diary of what I've been up to, since other Portland bloggers cover the event calendar much better than I could.  But there's one event that I love so much that I want to give you a quick heads up about it:  the Lucky Lab hop harvest party.

Next Thursday, September 2nd, the back patio of the Hawthorne Lucky Lab will be filled with homegrown hop vines brought in by anyone who cares to contribute to the Lab's fresh-hop seasonals this year.  At 3 PM, an informal hop-picking session begins -- whoever drops in can just grab some vines and start picking off the hops.  Free beer, lupulin aromatherapy, jovial company, and the satisfaction of a job well done are your payment.  Most of the work will probably be done by about 7 PM, at which time some grilled snacks will be served.

It's a very special experience that I highly recommend.  You'll see lots of the usual Portland beer geeks -- an alarming number of whom now write blogs -- as well as stalwart Lucky Lab regulars.  But -- I swear I see this happen every year -- there will also be people who just happen in to the pub for the first time, see what's going on, and dive right in.  That, friends, is Beervana.  To get a flavor of it, check out my slide show from last year, or Angelo's excellent recap. If you have hops growing at home and aren't going to use them in your own brew, bring 'em on down, even if you can't stay to pick.

While I'm writing in the future tense, another chance to drink free Lucky Lab beer is coming up September 11th: the Tour de Lab bike tour.  I guess it's not really free beer, since you pay $35 to register, but the proceeds benefit Dove Lewis veterinary hospital.  I've not gone on the ride before, but since I was offered a free pass, I'm going to brave the 30-mile loop hitting all four Lucky Lab pubs with my neighbor Lindsey (there is also a less hilly 18-mile route that skips the Multnomah pub).

While I'm writing about the future, bikes, and beer, don't forget that Hopworks BikeToBeerFest is tomorrow, and is also a really excellent time.  Here are my thoroughly-researched ideas on the best bike approaches to Hopworks (especially useful if you're in a big group or biking with kids or novices).

Last Fresh Hop Post of 2009

You must be completely bored by now with all the fresh-hop talk on It's Pub Night. One last gasp from me: I'll list the ones I've tried this season, in roughly the order that I'd recommend them to you as examples of fine fresh-hop flavor. Some of the ones far down the list are still nice beers, just not as remarkable for fresh-hop-ness.

1. Deschutes Fresh-hopped Mirror Pond
2. Full Sail Lupulin (Crystal)
3. Laurelwood Hop Bale Pale
4. Walking Man Fresh Hop IPA
   
5. Bridgeport Hop Harvest
6. Three Creeks Santiam Hop Harvest
7. Full Sail Lupulin (Cascade)
8. Widmer Hopturnal Emission
9. New Old Lompoc Crystal Wheat
10. Lucky Lab The Mutt
11. Barley Brown's Roadside Fresh Hop
    
12. Upright Fresh Hop of Belair
13. Double Mountain Killer Green
14. Standing Stone Wet-Hop Amber
    
15. Deschutes Fresh-hopped Hop Henge
16. Hopworks Bike Beer
17. Silver Moon Hoppopotamus
    
18. Oakshire Harvest Ale
19. New Old Lompoc Crystal Missile
20. Vertigo Midnight Harvest
    
21. Lucky Lab Das Moot Pilsner
22. Deschutes Hop Trip
23. Pelican Elemental Ale
24. Laurelwood Fresh Hop Organic Goodness
25. Astoria Hoptimus Prime 2.0
26. New Old Lompoc Millenium IIPA
27. Beer Valley Fresh-hopped Leafer Madness
    
28. Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale
29. Rogue Chatoe Wet Hop
30. Deschutes King Cone
31. Hopworks Sodbuster Pale Ale
32. McMenamin's on Monroe Hop Bud-E
33. 4th Street Brewing Fresh Hop Pale
    
34. Hopworks Fest of Fury
35. Oakshire Conundrum Cascadian Dark Ale
36. Cascade Cascadian Fresh Hop
37. Beer Valley Fresh-hopped Black Flag
    
38. Oakshire Red Nugget
    
39. Rock Bottom Hoodwinked
40. Golden Valley Mt. Hood Fresh Hop
41. Roots Hoppopotamus
    
42. Fort George Cohoperative Ale
43. MacTarnahan's Fresh-hopped Amber
44. Ninkasi Nugg E. Fresh

That's a lot of beers, if I do say so myself, though some of them I just had small tastes of. I tried all of those on draft -- or cask -- except the Silver Moon, which I got a bottle of from Belmont Station. That's probably it for this year, though I haven't had Amnesia's, Caldera's, or the Harvest Man from Lompoc yet, and I suppose there's a chance I'll see one of them.

And now I'll shut up about fresh hops for a few months.