Here’s the next batch of mini-reviews in my quarantine at-home fresh hop season. I’ve started with my own homebrew featuring Santiam hops, then check out one from Migration Brewing.

Desert Harvest Fresh Hop Ale – Santiam – Homebrew

I try to brew a fresh hop ale every year with the hops I’ve got growing on my fence, and this year the Santiam hops ripened really early. I still had enough ingredients stored from when The Brew Shop closed to brew two small (~4% ABV) batches, which included a mishmash of other odds and ends grains and such. Here’s my basic recipe with proportions:

• American 2-row malt (78%)
• Mecca Grade Lamonta pale malt (4%)
• Briess Goldpils Vienna malt (5%)
• Crystal 15°L (9%)
• Crystal 40°L (4%)
• Magnum hop pellets, approx. 9.28% AA at 30 minutes of boil
• Fresh Santiam – 3 ounces for 15 minutes of boil
• Fresh Santiam – 1.5 pounds for whirlpool

I also dry-hopped with some freshly-dried Santiam (leftovers from brew day) as well as 10 ounces of my other “fence” hops (probably either Cascade or Willamette but I don’t know for sure, so they are “fence”). Original gravity on this recipe was 1.032.

I brewed it on August 22, kegged with (with dry hopping) on August 30, and tapped my first pint on September 6. It’s 4% ABV and (guesstimating) about 29 IBUs. My notes:

Nice golden copper color, a touch hazy (though not to that style); good head. Had a fresh “yard” quality that’s mellow and green, kind of meadow-y or how your yard might smell after a rain. A bit of fresh green spiciness in the flavor over a neutral malt body, with some green tea notes at the back.

Fresh Outta Portand Fresh Hop IPA – Migration Brewing

Most of the early fresh hop beers use Centennial hops, but Migration bucked the trend with fresh Strata for this IPA, which definitely differentiated this beer to me. The brewery’s description is, “Oregon harvested strata hops bring big tropical aromatics and lasting hop flavor and finish.”

It’s 7.3% ABV, with 69 IBUs. The cans I bought were packaged on August 28. My notes:

Hazy golden-orange. Lovely aroma unlike the rest so far, notably catty (tomato vine) and brightly citrusy (though indistinct as to what fruit specifically). Flavor has a nice big punch of snappy, zesty fresh-picked herbs and greens. Spicy, nicely bitter (herbal), tastes really fresh. One of the “biggest” so far in terms of sheer amount of fresh character.