Fresh Hop Ale

Hop Trip

Deschutes Brewery ABV: 5.4%

When the harvest day hits, brewers from Bend, Oregon’s Deschutes clamber across the mountain pass to Salem, Oregon, to acquire farmer Doug Weather’s aromatic crop. Within four hours of the hops being plucked from the bine, Deschutes tosses them into the brew kettle. Instead of overdosing on hoppy bitterness, this smooth pale ale mixes piney overtones and a bright garden smack with lovely malt sweetness. Deschutes also makes a fresh-hop version of its Mirror Pond Pale Ale and the Chasin’ Freshies IPA.

Fresh Hop

Great Divide Brewing Co. ABV: Varies

Though Denver’s Great Divide is half a continent from the hop fields of the Pacific Northwest, the brewers do not let distance dissuade them from brewing fresh-hop ale. The brewery charters a truck with two drivers, having them drive whole-cone hops directly from a Washington farm to Great Divide, where an in-the-works batch of Fresh Hop is awaiting the fragrant flowers’ arrival. The splendid results: grassy, citrusy hops set atop a balanced framework of malt, with a touch of pine thrown in for fun.