This year’s fresh hop season looks a bit different with the COVID-19 pandemic. Events have been canceled, and I’m not planning on running all over the place looking for draft pours (it’s a pandemic, folks—stay home and wear a mask and maybe we can actually get things under control like most other countries in the world). Instead I’m buying packaged fresh hop beers to enjoy at home when we go out shopping.

And to not be a total downer about it, I’ll be posting my mini-review notes about them to keep the fun going, starting with beers from Crux and Level Beer.

Pert Near Fresh Hop IPA from Crux Fermentation Project

Crux’s first fresh hop of the year landed last month on draft and in cans; I picked up a couple of cans and then received a couple more from the brewery. The fresh hops in Pert Near are Centennial (many early fresh hop beers are, as Centennial seems to ripen early), and Crux says:

We always look forward to this time of year because we love brewing with fresh hops! In anticipation of the first Centennials coming off the bine, we got a head start and brewed this IPA so it would be ready to be “wet hopped” as soon as we got the call from Gayle at Goschie Farms. It’s pert near the first fresh hop beer you’ll enjoy this season while waiting for us to brew up a few more. (6.9% ABV, 50 IBUs)

It was my first taste of fresh hop beer of the season, even before my own homebrew. The cans were packaged on August 25. My notes:

Pretty, deep copper color. Aroma is green, fresh, lightly spicy and resiny. Peppery greens. Really nice savory/herbal fresh wild greens flavors with light mint and peppercorn spiciness and some bitter greens mixed in. Nice sweetness here as well which amps up the drinkability, complementing the fresh hop character really well. This is just a really nice first fresh hop beer of the year.

Fresh-Hopped Oktoberfest from Level Beer

Fresh hops usually get used in lighter, hop-forward ale styles, so I’m always intrigued to see lagers and other styles get the fresh treatment. Level’s Fresh-Hopped Oktoberfest is (clearly) a Märzen-style festbier, that is 5.9% ABV. The brewery’s brief description says, “This is a very special seasonal beer. We put hundreds of pounds of US-Grown hops from Goschie Farms into this Lager.”

The text on the can reveals that fresh Hallertau hops were used — another unusual marker considering most brewers tend to pick the American, fruit-forward varieties. This can was packaged on August 18. My notes:

Getting a two-fer with this one (Oktoberfest and fresh hops… my favorite time of year). Nice copper-amber color with off-white head. Hops are elegantly spicy in the aroma, bringing a bit of fresh-cut hay, with a touch of green chlorophyll. Overall, subtle aroma, some sweet maltiness there too. Flavor is where the hops are prevalent, green and spicy, herbal and a touch minty, with low to no bitterness. Good malty Marzen underneath, toasty flavors and clean. The hops just pop nicely without overstating but still bring green notes and touch of resin. Tasty.