Fresh Hop 2014 Recap

I spent the weekend contemplating what I learned from brewing this year’s round of fresh hop beers, mostly because I came across a bottle of Deschutes Chasin’ Freshies at Belmont Party Supply and felt compelled to pick it up. Yes, it was a bit past its prime—hop grassiness had started to cut through the more interesting hop flavors—but it was still certainly enjoyable. And my introspection led me to consider not only what I had learned this year, but also over the last couple of years of fresh hop brewing. Generally, I brew four or so fresh hop beers a year in my pursuit to retain the self-proclaimed title of Fresh Hop King of Ohio, which started in 2012 during a speculative moment similar to this one. Unlike most of my other posts, however, someone actually read that post and called me out on it, hence the small-scale competitions of the last two years. So what did I learn this year? 

1) Hop volume matters. One pound of fresh hops is not enough for a good or interesting fresh hop beer. Yes, you can adulterate your recipe with dried hops for the 60 minute addition to compensate for a lack of fresh hops, or mix dried hops in throughout the hopping schedule, but that is not really a fresh hop beer, is it? While getting multiple pounds of fresh hops is both difficult and expensive, it is worth it. I’m generally not a brewing purist, but when it comes to Fresh Hop beers, I am. The Bike Path Fresh Hop beer I made this year with almost 4 pounds of hops is the closest I’ve come to getting that gamey wild hop character you find in the best fresh hop beers, although it lacked the reciprocal hop flavor and aroma intensity I also desire. Next year, I’d like to combine a couple of different hop varieties in the same batch as a way to expand my repertoire—all of my previous fresh hop beers have been single-hop beers.

2) Simplify your malt bill. I learned some of this during last year’s round of fresh hop beers, but this year confirmed it. Want to use a whole bunch of caramel malt? Then you should probably just throw those fresh hops in the trash can right now. Unless you have multiple pounds of fresh hops to use in your beer. This year Pilsen was the base malt for all four of my fresh hop beers; I also used White Wheat in three, and MFB Vienna in the fourth as an experiment carrying over from last year. One beer did have a pound of MFB Pale, but that was because I ran out of Pilsen, and that was the most appropriate malt on hand. I did try a pound of acidulated malt the Smith Hop, which I will try again next year; the bright carbonation and slight tartness from the acidity really brought the beer together as a whole. And while I have no scientific justification for what I’m about to say, the acidity seemed to accentuate the subtle hop flavors—it was saison-like in brightness and acidity, and this was accentuated by the subtle hop flavors. Focus on the base malt, and cut out the darker and sweeter malts.

3) Yeast selection matters. I initially started with “pick a clean, neutral yeast,” but thought better of it. This year, I used US-05 for three of the four fresh hop beers. While I know that US-05 is supposedly a clean, neutral yeast, all three of these beers had a similar subtle off-flavor in the finish that I found off-putting. The fourth beer went the opposite route; I used a blend of custersianus, bruxellensis Trois, and Lactobacillus that is currently my house yeast, mostly because it was on hand when a couple of pounds of Nugget fresh hops magically came my way. It made a great beer, but by the time it got into the bottle, the Brettanomyces had decimated anything that might be identified as fresh hop derived, which was something of a tragedy, since those Nugget were the nicest fresh hops I had ever laid my hands on. Still, there are a lot of options between the two poles of neutral and wild; last year, I used ECY08 Saison Brasserie, WLP510 Bastogne, and Wyeast 1272 American Ale II in fresh hop beers. While the ECY08 might have been a bit too expressive of a yeast choice, the WLP510 paired well, and the Wyeast 1272 is a better clean, neutral American yeast selection that US-05, at least to my palate. 

For ease of reference, here are links to the fresh hop beers I’ve brewed over the last four years:

Bike Path Fresh Hop 2014 Fresh Hop King of Ohio winner 2014
Sour Fresh Hop w/ Nugget 2014
Brewer’s Gold Fresh Hop 2014
Smith Hop 2014
Last Wild Fresh Hop 2013
Brewer’s Gold Fresh Hop 2013
Smith Hop 2013 Fresh Hop King of Ohio winner 2013
Cascade Fresh Hop 2013
Last Wild Fresh Hop 2012
Smith Hop 2012
Wild Wet Hop 2012
Wild Wet Hop 2010

(4/13/2015)

Bike Path Fresh Hop Brewday

Time again for my annual bike path fresh hop beer. There were a lot of hops on the bike path this year—some of the biggest ones I’ve ever seen. That wet crappy summer gave way to a whole bunch of late heat, and those hops went to town. I picked all the hops for this beer within 400 yards of each other along the bike path. And I wasn’t picky either. I picked enough to cram my brew kettle full: almost four pounds of fresh hops total, and two pounds in the final twenty minutes. Damn. Big learning.

183. Bike Path Fresh Hop

Mash:

8 lbs. Rahr Premium Pils

3 lbs. Breiss White Wheat

Mash @ 150° F for 90 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water & 6 g. gypsum + 3 g. CaCl; collected 2 ¾ gallons @ 1.078; FWH with 1 lb. of bike path fresh hops

Batch sparge @ 170° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 gallons RO water; collected 4 gallons @ 1.028

Topped off to 7 gallons, brought to a boil (90 minutes), & added:

FWH: 1 lb. bike path fresh hops

w/60 to go: 12 oz. bike path fresh hops 

w/20 to go: 8 oz. bike path fresh hops + 7 g. gypsum

w/10 to go: 8 oz. bike path fresh hops + 3 g. Wyeast yeast nutrient

w/5 to go: 8 oz. bike path fresh hops

w/0 to go: 8 oz. bike path fresh hops

Let stand for 20 minutes; chilled & pitched packet of US-05

Brewed: 9/11/2014

Secondary: 9/22/2014 @ 1.004

Bottled: 10/7/2014 w/ 2.5 oz. table sugar

OG: 1.054

FG: 1.008

Tasting Notes: For the sake of science, I’ve combined my fresh hop tasting notes for the year. As the photos attest, I did try them all at the same time. The second picture is from the 2nd Annual Fresh Hop King of Ohio competition with Brent Osborne, where my beers came in 1st (183), 2nd (178), and 3rd (182). Yes, there were only seven beers, and four of them were mine. But I’m still the Fresh Hop King of Ohio for 2014, dammit. I would add (as I note below) that 178 is probably the best beer, but 183 is the best fresh hop beer.

178. Smith Hop: made with Cascades from my neighbors; last year, it was by far the best fresh hop beer I made, and it won me the Fresh Hop King of Ohio title. This year it is the best beer in terms of quality, but I am giving the nod to the Bike Path 

Fresh Hop as the best of this year’s fresh hop beers. Smith Hop is the lightest of the four in color, and the most effervescent; it pours a hazy straw with a rocky head, and has lemon zest, lemon, and grapefruit in the nose, along with hints of pepper and orange. Flavors open with lemon and lemon zest, moving into a mineral and pepper bite in the middle, and finish with grapefruit and a slight citrus pith. The malt flavors in the beer are mainly playing a supporting role, while the bitterness is medium and clean. I expected more grassiness from dry hopping this with 4.6 oz. of fresh hops for two weeks (I left a bunch on the vine, and then picked them fresh for dry hopping); as it warms, a slight phenol gaminess comes out, but it balances well with the citrus flavors. Those Smith Hops rock!

180. Brewer’s Gold Fresh Hop: I’ll start with this: I don’t like this beer. It has some off-putting flavors, starting with the phenol band-aid of stressed/unhealthy yeast (as opposed to infection) and ending with the blandness and wood-like flavors from the hops. Others did not have as strong of a negative reaction to this beer as me, but I’m going to chalk that up to them being nice. While the beer did sit too long on the yeast, I’m still not sure how it ended up here. I got these hops from Brent Osborn at Osborn Brewing; I’m not blaming him, however, as the Brewer’s Gold fresh hops I got from him last year were phenomenal. BGFH pours a hazy gold with a thin white head that leaves some lacing; at one point, there were hints of orange marmalade in the nose and body, but currently the nose is merely “hoppy.” Flavors include a light bitterness and scratchy green grass character, but not much else worth noting. Mouthfeel and body match, but off-flavors mar this beer. Haters gonna hate. 

182. Sour Fresh Hop: made with Nuggets from Heartland Hops. This beer is straw colored and crystal clear, with a thin white head that disappears quickly. The nose is herbal and earthy, followed by sour orange and candy pilsen; going into the carboy, there was a much more intense herbal hop aroma that I wish was still here. Flavors open with candy and a slight grain-y Cheerios flavor coupled with wood and herb; the middle features a spicy hop bite—albeit low—and more wood. The herbal flavors come out in the final third, lingering with a dry cracker malt flavor and a hint of sweetness. All in all, this beer is a hot mess—it is neither fresh hop nor sour, while showcasing components of both. While I do like it—it has some intangibles that make it eminently enjoyable—it is simultaneously a pedestrian beer that borders on insulting: I would be pissed off if this was served to me at a bar, but I am glad I made it. That clarify things enough for you?

183.Bike Path Fresh Hop: I’ve been lurking and picking hops off Dayton’s bike paths long enough to note that this year was an exceptionally good year. The hops for this particular beer came from a section of the bike path that I had not utilized before; these hops had none of the ephemeral pear and apple aromas found in previous years, but they did provide more actual bitterness to the beer. BPFH poured a hazy straw with a white head that had more retention and lacing than 180 and 182. The nose was all grimy green chlorophyll and game-y grass, and flavors followed. Unlike some previous iterations of bike path beers, the wild fresh hop character came through. Malt flavors played a back fiddle to the grassiness in the front; the middle was grassy and scratchy, while the finish featured a grimy medium bitterness that was not clean but was enjoyable. The medium to low body and medium carbonation suited the beer; as a whole, this beer was easy drinking. And this beer in particular taught me a lot about how to think about and implement a good fresh hop beer.

Fresh Hop w/ Brewer’s Gold Brewday

More in the way of my favorite seasonal beer style. I just can’t stop. And honestly, why would I even try? Exactly. Fresh hop ’til I die, yo. I mean, will you look at those beauties?

180. Fresh Hop w/ Brewer’s Gold
Mash
8 lbs. Best Malz Pilsen
2 lbs. MFB Vienna

Mash @ 150° F for 90 minutes w/ 3 ½ g. RO water & 10 g. gypsum; collected 2 ¼ g. @ 1.072
Batch-sparge @ 171° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 g. RO water $ 10 g. gypsum; collected 4 g. @ 1.026

Collected 6 ¼ gallons; topped off to 7 gallons, brought to a boil (90 minutes), & added:
w/60 to go: 6 oz. Brewer’s Gold

w/20 to go: 6 oz. Brewer’s Gold

w/10 to go: 6 oz. Brewer’s Gold
3 g. Wyeast yeast nutrient

w/5 to go: 7 oz. Brewer’s Gold

w/0 to go: 7 oz. Brewer’s Gold

Let stand for 20 minutes, chilled and racked onto US 05 cake from 178. Fresh Hop w/ Cascade

Brewed: 8/10/2014 @ 78° F
Bottled: 9/23/2014 w/ 2.5 oz. table sugar

OG: 1.054
FG: 1.008

Tasting Notes: For the sake of science, I’ve combined my fresh hop tasting notes for the year. As the photos attest, I did try them all at the same time. The second picture is from the 2nd Annual Fresh Hop King of Ohio competition with Brent Osborne, where my beers came in 1st (183), 2nd (178), and 3rd (182). Yes, there were only seven beers, and four of them were mine. But I’m still the Fresh Hop King of Ohio for 2014, dammit. I would add (as I note below) that 178 is probably the best beer, but 183 is the best fresh hop beer.

178. Smith Hop: made with Cascades from my neighbors; last year, it was by far the best fresh hop beer I made, and it won me the Fresh Hop King of Ohio title. This year it is the best beer in terms of quality, but I am giving the nod to the Bike Path 
Fresh Hop as the best of this year’s fresh hop beers. Smith Hop is the lightest of the four in color, and the most effervescent; it pours a hazy straw with a rocky head, and has lemon zest, lemon, and grapefruit in the nose, along with hints of pepper and orange. Flavors open with lemon and lemon zest, moving into a mineral and pepper bite in the middle, and finish with grapefruit and a slight citrus pith. The malt flavors in the beer are mainly playing a supporting role, while the bitterness is medium and clean. I expected more grassiness from dry hopping this with 4.6 oz. of fresh hops for two weeks (I left a bunch on the vine, and then picked them fresh for dry hopping); as it warms, a slight phenol gaminess comes out, but it balances well with the citrus flavors. Those Smith Hops rock!

180. Brewer’s Gold Fresh Hop: I’ll start with this: I don’t like this beer. It has some off-putting flavors, starting with the phenol band-aid of stressed/unhealthy yeast (as opposed to infection) and ending with the blandness and wood-like flavors from the hops. Others did not have as strong of a negative reaction to this beer as me, but I’m going to chalk that up to them being nice. While the beer did sit too long on the yeast, I’m still not sure how it ended up here. I got these hops from Brent Osborn at Osborn Brewing; I’m not blaming him, however, as the Brewer’s Gold fresh hops I got from him last year were phenomenal. BGFH pours a hazy gold with a thin white head that leaves some lacing; at one point, there were hints of orange marmalade in the nose and body, but currently the nose is merely “hoppy.” Flavors include a light bitterness and scratchy green grass character, but not much else worth noting. Mouthfeel and body match, but off-flavors mar this beer. Haters gonna hate. 

182. Sour Fresh Hop: made with Nuggets from Heartland Hops. This beer is straw colored and crystal clear, with a thin white head that disappears quickly. The nose is herbal and earthy, followed by sour orange and candy pilsen; going into the carboy, there was a much more intense herbal hop aroma that I wish was still here. Flavors open with candy and a slight grain-y Cheerios flavor coupled with wood and herb; the middle features a spicy hop bite—albeit low—and more wood. The herbal flavors come out in the final third, lingering with a dry cracker malt flavor and a hint of sweetness. All in all, this beer is a hot mess—it is neither fresh hop nor sour, while showcasing components of both. While I do like it—it has some intangibles that make it eminently enjoyable—it is simultaneously a pedestrian beer that borders on insulting: I would be pissed off if this was served to me at a bar, but I am glad I made it. That clarify things enough for you?

183.Bike Path Fresh Hop: I’ve been lurking and picking hops off Dayton’s bike paths long enough to note that this year was an exceptionally good year. The hops for this particular beer came from a section of the bike path that I had not utilized before; these hops had none of the ephemeral pear and apple aromas found in previous years, but they did provide more actual bitterness to the beer. BPFH poured a hazy straw with a white head that had more retention and lacing than 180 and 182. The nose was all grimy green chlorophyll and game-y grass, and flavors followed. Unlike some previous iterations of bike path beers, the wild fresh hop character came through. Malt flavors played a back fiddle to the grassiness in the front; the middle was grassy and scratchy, while the finish featured a grimy medium bitterness that was not clean but was enjoyable. The medium to low body and medium carbonation suited the beer; as a whole, this beer was easy drinking. And this beer in particular taught me a lot about how to think about and implement a good fresh hop beer.

Smith Hop Fresh Hop Brewday

Thus begins another year of Fresh Hop madness, in which I look to defend my Fresh Hop King of Ohio crown, and to brew any many Fresh Hop beers as possible. And straight out of the gate is this year’s version of Smith Hop, the beer made from the generously donated Cascade hops of my neighbors, the Smiths. In fact, this is the third year of Smith Hop; last year’s version won me the Fresh Hop King of Ohio crown. So a lot of history with these hops already. And like last year, I left enough hops on the vine to fresh dry hop the crud out of this beer.

178. Smith Hop Fresh Hop w/ Cascade
Mash
8 lbs. Best Malz Pilsen
1 lb. Breiss White Wheat
1 lb. Weyermann Acidulated

Mash @ 150° F for 90 minutes w/ 3 ½ g. RO water & 10 g. gypsum; collected 2 ¼ g. @ 1.064
Batch-sparge @ 164° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 g. RO water & 10 g. gypsum; collected 4 g @ 1.022

Collected 6 ¼ gallons; topped off to 7 gallons, brought to a boil (90 minutes), & added:
w/60 to go: 5 oz. Cascade/Smith fresh hops

w/20 to go: 6.25 oz. Cascade/Smith fresh hops

w/10 to go: 6.25 oz. Cascade/Smith fresh hops
3 g. Wyeast yeast nutrient

w/5 to go: 6.4 oz. Cascade/Smith fresh hops

w/0 to go: 6.5 oz. Cascade/Smith fresh hops

Let stand for 20 minutes, chilled and racked to carboy; pitched 1 packet US 05

Brewed: 8/4/2014 @ 78° F; dropped to 73° F before fermentation took off
Secondary: 8/10/2014 @ 1.010; on 8/12/2014, dry hop w/ 4.6 oz. Cascade/Smith fresh hops
Bottled: 8/25/2014 w/ 2.5 oz. table sugar

OG: 1.044 @ 78° F
FG: 1.010

Tasting Notes: For the sake of science, I’ve combined my fresh hop tasting notes for the year. As the photos attest, I did try them all at the same time. The second picture is from the 2nd Annual Fresh Hop King of Ohio competition with Brent Osborne, where my beers came in 1st (183), 2nd (178), and 3rd (182). Yes, there were only seven beers, and four of them were mine. But I’m still the Fresh Hop King of Ohio for 2014, dammit. I would add (as I note below) that 178 is probably the best beer, but 183 is the best fresh hop beer.

178. Smith Hop: made with Cascades from my neighbors; last year, it was by far the best fresh hop beer I made, and it won me the Fresh Hop King of Ohio title. This year it is the best beer in terms of quality, but I am giving the nod to the Bike Path 

Fresh Hop as the best of this year’s fresh hop beers. Smith Hop is the lightest of the four in color, and the most effervescent; it pours a hazy straw with a rocky head, and has lemon zest, lemon, and grapefruit in the nose, along with hints of pepper and orange. Flavors open with lemon and lemon zest, moving into a mineral and pepper bite in the middle, and finish with grapefruit and a slight citrus pith. The malt flavors in the beer are mainly playing a supporting role, while the bitterness is medium and clean. I expected more grassiness from dry hopping this with 4.6 oz. of fresh hops for two weeks (I left a bunch on the vine, and then picked them fresh for dry hopping); as it warms, a slight phenol gaminess comes out, but it balances well with the citrus flavors. Those Smith Hops rock!

180. Brewer’s Gold Fresh Hop: I’ll start with this: I don’t like this beer. It has some off-putting flavors, starting with the phenol band-aid of stressed/unhealthy yeast (as opposed to infection) and ending with the blandness and wood-like flavors from the hops. Others did not have as strong of a negative reaction to this beer as me, but I’m going to chalk that up to them being nice. While the beer did sit too long on the yeast, I’m still not sure how it ended up here. I got these hops from Brent Osborn at Osborn Brewing; I’m not blaming him, however, as the Brewer’s Gold fresh hops I got from him last year were phenomenal. BGFH pours a hazy gold with a thin white head that leaves some lacing; at one point, there were hints of orange marmalade in the nose and body, but currently the nose is merely “hoppy.” Flavors include a light bitterness and scratchy green grass character, but not much else worth noting. Mouthfeel and body match, but off-flavors mar this beer. Haters gonna hate. 

182. Sour Fresh Hop: made with Nuggets from Heartland Hops. This beer is straw colored and crystal clear, with a thin white head that disappears quickly. The nose is herbal and earthy, followed by sour orange and candy pilsen; going into the carboy, there was a much more intense herbal hop aroma that I wish was still here. Flavors open with candy and a slight grain-y Cheerios flavor coupled with wood and herb; the middle features a spicy hop bite—albeit low—and more wood. The herbal flavors come out in the final third, lingering with a dry cracker malt flavor and a hint of sweetness. All in all, this beer is a hot mess—it is neither fresh hop nor sour, while showcasing components of both. While I do like it—it has some intangibles that make it eminently enjoyable—it is simultaneously a pedestrian beer that borders on insulting: I would be pissed off if this was served to me at a bar, but I am glad I made it. That clarify things enough for you?

183.Bike Path Fresh Hop: I’ve been lurking and picking hops off Dayton’s bike paths long enough to note that this year was an exceptionally good year. The hops for this particular beer came from a section of the bike path that I had not utilized before; these hops had none of the ephemeral pear and apple aromas found in previous years, but they did provide more actual bitterness to the beer. BPFH poured a hazy straw with a white head that had more retention and lacing than 180 and 182. The nose was all grimy green chlorophyll and game-y grass, and flavors followed. Unlike some previous iterations of bike path beers, the wild fresh hop character came through. Malt flavors played a back fiddle to the grassiness in the front; the middle was grassy and scratchy, while the finish featured a grimy medium bitterness that was not clean but was enjoyable. The medium to low body and medium carbonation suited the beer; as a whole, this beer was easy drinking. And this beer in particular taught me a lot about how to think about and implement a good fresh hop beer. 

Rockit Cup Brett Trois IPA Recap

As suspected, Brian Gallow and myself were the only two participants. Alas, alas. Still, a fun experiment, since we both had two versions: I had a custersianus version as well as the standard Trois version, while Brian brought a version hopped with Zythos that he had used to grow up the yeast cake for the Rockit Cup version of the beer.

As well, both of us could pick out all four of the beers even though we were served them blind. Of the four, the two Trois versions were clearly better than the other two; I liked my version better and Brian liked his better, so we polled a couple of people, which gave Brian the title. Stupid Gallow and hoppy beers. Between the other two, I like the custersianus version better than the Zythos, even though the Zythos was also Trois—something about that hop/yeast combination didn’t sit as well on my palate. But this has also certainly given me food for thought in regards to brewing projects to pursue: I think Comet and Centennial would make a delicious Brett Trois IPA. Don’t worry—I’ll keep you posted.

The other results worth reporting from this evening: I am now officially the 2013 Fresh Hop King of Ohio. Brent Osborn’s challenge to my throne was rebuffed; his minion, Ryan Tarpley, brought Brent’s two fresh hop beers to challenge the two I had in the bottle at that point, and my Smith Hop Fresh Hop was declared the winner. I’ll be interested to see how it stacks up against the version I made today with bike path hops. Go fresh hop beers!

December’s Rockit Cup will be a Mini-Cask Fest, while the Rockit Cup for February will be a Robust Porter; the recipe for that one will be posted shortly.

(10/11/2013)

The Last Wild Fresh Hop Brewday

I’ll be happy when the four different fresh hop beers we’ve made this year are all ready to drink, but I’m also already slightly nostalgic for the passing of one of my favorite seasonal moments during the year. Sure, I have fall to look forward to (and I do), and all of that delicious fresh hop beer to drink (and again, I do), but since we’re not living in a beer-rich area, and more specifically, not the Pacific Northwest, fresh hop offerings are themselves few and far between. As in non-existant. In fact, there’s a big enough gap that I’m officially declaring myself the Fresh Hop King of Ohio. You heard it here first: what we’re drinking is the 2012 Fresh Hop King of Ohio, and we’re awarding ourselves the first annual Ohio Fresh Hop 2012 Championship Belt. You want to take it away? Bring that fresh hop beer, son, and get ready for 2013, when maybe they’ll actually be some challengers. Knowing the history of any contest I run, I’ll not be holding my breath.

131. The Last Wild Fresh Hop
Mash:
8 lbs. Rahr 2-row
1 lb. MFB Vienna
1lb. Breiss White Wheat

Mash @ 151° F for 70 minutes w/ 3 ½ gallons of RO water & 2 g. gypsum; collected 2 ¼ gallons @ 1.078
Batch sparge @ 166° F for 20 minutes w/ 4 ½ gallons RO water & 2 g. gypsum; collected 4 ½ gallons @ 1.024

Collected 6 ¾ gallons, brought to a boil (60 minutes), & added:
w/60 to go: 1 ½ oz. Willamette leaf 7.8% AA

w/20 to go: 3 oz. wild wet hops

w/15 to go: 1 tsp. Irish Moss

w/10 to go: 2 oz. wild wet hops

w/5 to go: 3 oz. wild wet hops

w/0 to go: 3 oz. wild wet hops

Chilled, racked onto Wyeast 1272 American Ale II pancake from 130. Cascade Fresh Hop

Brewed: 10/13/2012
Secondary: 11/14/2012 @ 1.008
Bottled: 11/29/2012 w/ 3.0 oz. table sugar; added 2 oz. Press concentrate to the last gallon

OG: 1.046
FG: 1.008

Tasting Notes: The one difference between this and the other fresh hops beers I made is that I used commercial hops for the 60 minute bittering addition, although I chose Willamette so that it would be gentle and not overpower the subtle wild hops flavors. As well, this beer actually pours a much lighter color than I could record in the picture; while hazy, it is closer to a dull gold than the almost
copper seen in the picture; it also has a mousse-y white head—I always like it when the wheat does its job. The main hop aroma in the nose is new-mown grass coupled with a touch of hay; there are lesser amounts of pear and apple fruitiness, both of which are delicate and subtle. The malt is only minimally present, which was intended—I do think this grain bill creates a light, pleasant body for the beer, although next time I might switch out the MFB Vienna for Dingemans Cara 20, or maybe try a ½ lb. of each. Flavors start with a gentle bread crust malt flavor and the apple and pear hop found in the nose. Grass hop flavor and bitterness comes in the middle, along with just a hint of restrained malt sweetness; the grassiness and bitterness continues into the finish, ending with a slightly stronger grassy note—let’s call it hay. The grassiness might be a bit much for some, specifically as it is the main hop flavor, but I find it enjoyable. The body is light, and the carbonation is bright and cleansing—it gives the finish an almost refreshing spritzy crisp to it that rounds the beer well. The light body and clean yeast profile allows the subtlety of the wild hops to come out in this beer. I’m already looking forward to making more of this next year. 

I forgot I put coffee in the last gallon until I was typing up the notes; I’ll try and pull a bottle of that one soon to drink and compare.