Fresh hop season is upon us and I could not be any happier. Fremont has been giving us delicious but limited fresh hop beers from their kick ass Cowiche Canyon hop program, where they partner with hop growers to grow small plots of organic delicious hops.
For the first time this year they have rolled out a new seasonal pale ale that utilizes different hops as they become available. As much as I hate to see their great Summer Ale go away, I will gladly kick it to the curb for these fresh hop pales.
First released about two weeks ago we were treated to their Centennial hopped version of Field to Ferment, as the weeks have gone on we’ve gotten to come across each of the four variants, including Simcoe, Citra, and Mosaic hops. The latter haven’t been available locally until today, which is partially why we held off from a review last week. All of these hops are fairly well utilized and are somewhat buzz-worthy hops in the industry, this is going to be fun to try them each on their own in the same base beer.
The aforementioned Summer Ale is a SMaSH beer (Single Malt and Single Hop), using 2-Row Pale and Amarillo hops. In this case they aren’t quite as transparent with the malt bill, though I can’t imagine it is much more than some 2-Row Pale and maybe a bit of Crystal malt for color, plus each fresh hop, some house yeast, and water. Keep it simple.
We are going to go in order of release, I had each of these within a week of its packaging date and wrote notes for each as I went. For the most part the appearance, mouthfeel, and overall impression were the same for each beer, so those are going to remain mostly the same across each beer, the key difference is of course going to be in the aroma and flavor category.
APPEARANCE
Appearance AROMA Aroma [Centennial] (8/12) — A nice waft of piney bitterness here, a slight hint of caramel malt base, but I really get old school piney citrus. Aroma [Simcoe] (7/12) — More pine, earthier even more than the Centennials were, almost woody and dirty, kind of forest floor piney notes. Aroma [Citra] (10/12) — Oh hello there citrus, floral, zesty notes, slightly sweet, but this is very nice and not quite as earthy or heavy as the others thus far. Aroma [Mosaic] (10/12) — Herbaceous, floral, fruity, citrus, a little bit sweet and maybe a touch tropical, but big notes of grapefruit and lemon for me. FLAVOR Flavor [Centennial] (14/20) — Starts with a sturdy but light malt base and leads way to a piney and earthy, woodsy hop profile, slightly sappy with lingering bitterness. Flavor [Simcoe] (13/20) — Piney, earthy, bitter, woody, pine cone, pine needle, not bad but I still get this slightly muddy tone that I usually find with Simcoes. Flavor [Citra] (17/20) — Floral and chewy, like freshly cut flowers, some really nice citrus character and subtle juiciness as well. This is more in line with my expectations. Flavor [Mosaic] (16/20) — Very closely matched to Citra but slightly drier and a bit more bitter to me. Lovely notes of grapefruit, pineapple, and melon. MOUTHFEEL Mouthfeel [All] (4/5) — A solid and well put together beer that toes the line between hoppy pale and malty IPA, which is fine by me. A nice sturdy but not overpowering malt base supports each hop showcased with ample prowess. A great balance and wonderful drinkability, these are super fresh and refreshing at the same time. OVERALL Overall [All] (8/10) — All are very well done and good-great representations of each hop utilized. These are a very welcome seasonal treat and shows a great balance of malt and hop combined with super fresh and powerful hop additions. TOTAL RANGE — 35-42 — VERY GOOD-EXCELLENT I enjoyed each of these for different reasons and liked some more than others, I encourage you to go and try them on for yourself. I didn’t much care for the Simcoe option, but I am not sure I ever really love Simcoe. These are all well executed and I will welcome them with open arms for as long as we can, which isn’t much longer now that they’ve all been released. Cheers! *Illustrations are Credited to the Fremont Brewing Company, image taken by myself.
