A surprise package arrived late last week from Hood River’s Double Mountain Brewery, containing a bottle of the latest seasonal/limited IPA that is apparently a collaboration with Solera Brewery (located in Parkdale not far from Hood River): Ring My Bell Fresh Hop Cryo IPA.

“Wait a minute,” you might be saying. (I did.) “Fresh hop IPA? In the beginning of August? Meaning, brewed in July??”

Note the “Cryo” part of the name; it turns out the breweries used flash-frozen fresh hops from last year that were then treated through Yakima Chief Hops’ patented Cryo Hop process. Soooooo… not really “fresh hop” as I would consider it, but interesting nonetheless.

Here’s the press release that came with the beer:

We are proud to present a Double Mountain Brewery & Cidery and Solera Brewery collaboration, Ring My Bell Fresh  Hop Cryo IPA. This beer uses Yakima Chief Hops’ experimental Trial 301 hops that utilize a new way of processing fresh hops.

Fresh hops in July, is that even possible? Well, here is how it works: hops are shucked from the bine during harvest. They are then flash frozen with liquid nitrogen and are processed like cryo hops, removing much of the vegetal matter and leaving behind a sticky, bright green pellet. Since they have not been kilned, there is still moisture and some good greenness left. The effect is a “fresh hop” cryo pellet, exhibiting some of the same aromas and flavors of a fresh hop, any time of year. They’re kept frozen until use. This technology is in the beginning stages of development, so we are one of a handful of breweries to use YCH Trial 301 to date.

We wanted a no nonsense malt bill to support all the hops were going to throw at it, and kept the ABV on the lower side so you can have more than one. You’ll find notes of fresh cut kind herb, resin, and forest petrichor, along with ripe ruby red grapefruit, tangelo, stone fruit, a bit of watermelon, and strawberry that you only get from fresh hop Simcoe. Ring My Bell Fresh Hop Cryo IPA is available in refillable 500ml bottles and on draft at our Hood River Taproom, SE Portland Taproom in the Woodstock neighborhood, at Solera Brewery in Parkdale, OR, and throughout the Northwest.

Ring My Bell Fresh Hop Cryo IPA 6.6% ABV 55 BU

“Exploring these great hops through this new wat of processing is a great way to play with aromas and flavors usually only present in fresh hops. Why does my head hurt?” Matt Coughlin, Lead Brewer

I’ll be drinking this one soon to maximize the hop experience to report on it.