It’s that time of year again in the beer world — hop harvest season! Hops are the flowers of the hop plant Humulus lupulus, used in brewing for bittering beer as well as adding flavor and aroma. Late summer is when the flowers are ready to pick, and for a short period of time, from about mid-August through early October, the harvest is underway.

Most of the hops will be dried and processed for use year-round in commercial brewing, but a small amount of them will be set aside for the annual tradition of brewing fresh hops beers. These are beers brewed with freshly picked, undried hops, which impart vibrant green aromas and flavors to the beers — think in terms of fresh herbs, fresh cut grass or essential oils.

It’s a season that many craft drinkers look forward to, and in recent years I’ve begun thinking of this time of year as America’s homegrown equivalent to Germany’s Oktoberfest.

Fresh locals

Most of Central Oregon’s breweries will offer one or more fresh hop beers this year, and it’s always worth trying as many as possible. Here’s my advice on what to seek out:

Sunriver Brewing Company promises “more Fresh Hop beers this year than any other previous season” and the first to hit the market was Fresh Hop Vicious Mosquito IPA. This year’s edition of Fresh Hop Vicious was brewed with Centennial CGX Fresh Hops, a new cryogenic product from Crosby Hops.

It involves flash-freezing the hops at the time of harvest, which locks in their flavors and compounds; it’s similar to the nitrogen freezing technique that Boss Rambler Beer Club started working with last year.

Fresh Hop Vicious is one of my gold standard fresh hop beers, and this year’s meets that expectation. The fresh character shines through with a minty pop of pine greens, bergamot, and a touch of wintergreen.

Speaking of Boss Rambler, its nitro-frozen fresh hop beers are back this year, starting with two variant beers named Fresh 1 Trillion IPA, as well as Liquid Fresh IPA. These were variously brewed with fresh Centennial and Strata hops, two varieties that mature early for the harvest and are favored by brewers.

I found the Fresh 1 Trillion West Coast IPA to be similar to Fresh Vicious (both brewed with Centennial); it’s piney with wet grass notes and a hint of wintergreen as well.

The fourth Boss Rambler release this year should not go unnoticed either — a three-way collaboration with Boneyard Beer Company and Barley Brown’s Beer of Baker City named Cones Brigade. It’s a west coast style IPA brewed with nitro-frozen Citra hops from Coleman Agriculture exhibiting tropical fruit characteristics.

Crux Fermentation Project has a number of fresh hop beers slated for release this season; two of the first available in cans are Fresh Is Best IPA and one that caught my eye in particular, a fresh hop version of its non-alcoholic NØMØ IPA, Feeling Fresh.

It’s the second year that Crux has released a fresh hop version of NØMØ, and it’s the only NA fresh hop beer that I’m familiar with. Both it and Fresh Is Best are brewed with fresh Centennial hops which are redolent with notes of wet evergreen forest, along with flavors of herbal pine and orange peel.

Fresh Hops on the Pond

These are just a few of the fresh hop specialties you’ll find this year, and it’s only scratching the surface. A good opportunity to try many in one place is at the upcoming Fresh Hops on the Pond event hosted by Bend Brewing Company. It takes place on Friday, October 4, and beers from over 20 breweries will be available, representing both local and regional companies. It’s a terrific showcase of different hop varieties that you’ll be able to sample.

Whether you seek out fresh hop beers from the source, or attend an event like Fresh Hops on the Pond, don’t miss out on the season, because these beers won’t last long.