Pacific Northwest hops are harvested each year from late August through September, which means beers brewed with the freshest hops available, known also as wet-hopped beers, arrive this month. What are fresh hop beers? Simply put, they’re brews made with hops that are pulled off the bine and go straight into the kettle. The vast majority of the hops used by U.S. breweries are cultivated in Oregon and Washington. For the most part, these hops are dried and processed before being sold to professional and amateur brewers, which affects the flavor punch. With fresh hops, drinkers can expect more hoppiness, more aroma and more flavor — kind of like cooking with fresh herbs and spices instead of something that’s been on the shelf for a while. Fresh-hopped beers are best consumed ASAP; let’s drink five today. Stop by Peaks & Pints and enjoy Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Fresh Hop Friday 9.20.24.

Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Fresh Hop Friday 9.20.24

Hetty Alice Fresh Hop Italian Pilsner

5.2% ABV

Brewed with fresh-harvested Lorien hops from Goschie Farms in Silverton, Oregon, plus Saphir, Mandarina Bavaria hops, Hetty Alice Beer’s Fresh Hop Italian Pilsner hits the nose with candied citrus, honeydew and wildflowers followed by flavors of limoncello, fresh cracked pepper and sourdough before a fresh, snappy, citrus-amaro finish.

Fort George Fresh Hop IPA (2024)

6.5% ABV

Fresh IPA was Fort George Brewery’s first fresh hop beer they packaged. Each year the Astoria, Oregon, brewery scans for the newest, tastiest hops on the planet, then grab them fresh off the bine and dump them into a beer. This year, they loaded up the hop back with 500 pounds of fresh Strata hops from Coleman Agriculture. Full of bright, zesty fresh Strata, plus Indie Strata, Fresh IPA (2024) lives up to its name.

Reuben’s Fresh Hop Crikey IPA

6.8% ABV,

In 2014, Crikey IPA was originally the younger brother of Blimey, Reuben’s Brews’ triple IPA. Robbings took the Blimey recipe down a couple of notches to make it more approachable. And he used his three favorite hops at the time — really ramping them up in the dry hop. It was, and is today, their purest expression of a timeless West Coast IPA, and their most award-winning beer. Building body and balance with a combination of four different malts, Crikey layers in judicious amounts of Citra, Amarillo, Simcoe, Centennial, Mosaic, Columbus and Azacca hops for notes of grapefruit, guava, orange, and Douglas fir. For the fresh hop version, Reuben’s adds fresh Amarillo hops for added tropical fruit notes.

Double Mountain Killer Green

7.3% ABV

Double Mountain Brewery was established in 2007 in the heart of downtown Hood River, Oregon. Founder Matt Swihart opened the brewery with a clear mission: make great beer for craft beer fans. Their unique location lends to not only using pure and clean glacial water for their beers, but they also take advantage of regionally grown hops. Killer Green fresh hop IPA is brewed with Centennial and Simcoe hops straight from Crosby Hops in the Willamette Valley. Quick from bine to the boil for initial bright evergreen, red fruit, and blood orange flavors that finishes will all the juicy pine and slight herb.

Reuben’s Fresh Hop Double Crush

8% ABV

In October 2016, Reuben’s Brews launched their Crush Series of crushable Northeast-style IPAs with Cloud Crush, a soft, hazy, pillowy IPA brewed with Galaxy hops. In November 2016, they released Citra Crush, which they brewed with Citra hops. Today, Reuben’s released their Fresh Hop Double Crush, a fresh hop version of their Reuben’s Double Crush imperial hazy IPA brewed with fresh Simcoe hops added to Mosaic, Citra, and HBC 1019.

LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory