We’re well into fall now, which means we’re well into fresh hop season.
Although it’s short-lived, it’s an exciting time of year for hop-loving British Columbian beer drinkers.
Let’s start with a quick lesson for those who are unfamiliar with this type of beer.
Fall is hop harvesting season and most of them are dried to preserve them for the upcoming year of production.
But for breweries that create fresh hop beers, a small amount of undried cones are rushed straight from the field into the brewing process.
The product is a fresh hop beer, which features vibrant floral and grassy notes along with intoxicating aromas.
Here are a few fresh hop beers from BC breweries that have already hit liquor store shelves this year:
The folks at Container Brewing raided Topp’s Hops in Abbotsford to pick fresh Centennial hops that team up with Columbus, Simcoe and Citra hops to create this exciting beer.
They say this year’s blend has a “citrusy grapefruit-life bitterness” to go with an earthy-pine base and wood aromatics.
Fresh Coast is lightly malty with a “hint of honey sweetness” for balance.
Amara from Category 12 was also out at Topp’s Hops early one morning to harvest the Centennial hops needed for the No. 93 Fresh Hop IPA.
Founder and head brewer Michael Kuzyk has a doctorate in microbiology and biochemistry from the University of Victoria and his scientific mind shapes all of Category 12’s fascinating creations.
As a result, I won’t even bother to try and explain this one to you, since I haven’t tried it yet myself, and I’ll instead just provide the blurb from the brewery’s Facebook post.
“We like to call this the beer equivalent of wine’s Beaujolais nouveau, as the freshness captured in this unique style simply must be experienced as opposed to reading our words. Expect a cacophony of fresh chlorophyll encapsulated in each can…”
I’ll have to heed their advice and try this one for myself, but given my past experience with delicious Category 12 beers I have no hesitation in recommending it to you now.
Squamish’s Backcountry Brewing used fresh Centennial and Cascade hops from Maple Bay Hops on Vancouver Island for their annual batch of Maple Bay Fresh Hop IPA.
The product is a beautifully-hazy and deliciously-citrusy IPA that is very rich in flavour.
Backcountry goes back to the well every fall with this same release that is one of BC’s most popular fresh hop beers.
You have options if you’re looking for Yellow Dog’s fresh hop release, as the brewery has dropped a trio of beers that you can choose from.
Yellow Dog typically doesn’t miss so you’ll likely be happy with any of the three, or all three, depending on your mood.
Click on the names above to learn more about each beer.
Josh Duncan is the NowMedia news director and a craft beer lover. Reach him at [email protected]. His beer column appears every Saturday afternoon in this space.
