Fresh Hop Growler Grudge Match — Rock Bottom Bellevue vs. Rock Bottom Portland

Yes, more fresh hop madness! This time we were fortunate enough to be invited to a massive fresh hop tasting. Our friends Geoff (Seattle Beer News) and Dave (Urban Beer Hikes) took a road trip to Portland and came back with a bunch of growlers full of fresh hop beer. The tasting was absolutely amazing with some ridiculously good fresh hop beers and some not so good. About midway through the evening, before we even knew what was happening a full-fledged Growler Grudge Match broke out. Rock Bottom Portland and Rock Bottom Bellevue squared off and it wasn't pretty. For this match we skipped the tasting notes and just let everyone vote for their favorite.

The Bellevue Rock Bottom won handily. It was way more aromatic with a ton of delicious fresh grapefruit and citrus in the aroma and flavor. The Portland Rock Bottom wasn't terrible, it just got clocked upside the head by a big wallop of Bellevue fresh hop whoop ass. Final tally was Bellevue 10, Portland 1.

Other standout fresh hop beers: Mirror Pond Fresh Hop, Issaquah Brewing Wet Frog, Snipes Harvest (see Tap Tussle).

Thanks to the guest tasters: Geoff, Dave, Jeanne, Colin, Bekky, Philippe, Chris, Francesca and the one and only Beerdouche.

Rock Bottom Portland
Hop Harvest
ABV ?%

Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Mediocre +

Rock Bottom Bellevue
Fresh Hop Pale Ale
ABV ?%

Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Fantastic

Winner by unanimous decision: Bellevue.

Fresh Hop Tap Tussle — Snipes Mountain Brewing

Snipes Mountain
Harvest Fresh Hop Pale Ale
ABV 5.5%

Color: Hazy, golden yellow.
Aroma: Huge sweet grapefruit and bit of cheese rind funk.
Flavor: Grassy, sweet and citrusy.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy
Finish: Grassy fading to nice, mellow lingering bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Fantastic

Snipes Mountain
Zombie, The Fresh Hop Killer
ABV 7.5%

Color: Clear orange with a little brown.
Aroma: Very subtle aroma of citrus hops (perhaps due to lack of carbonation).
Flavor: Sweet grapefruit juice.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy.
Finish: Bitter grapefruit.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good-

Snipes Mountain
2Fresh Double IPA
ABV 8.3%

Color: Ruby brown.
Aroma: Sweet and juicy hop candy.
Flavor: Rich, grassy with prominent bitterness (like bitter greens).
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy.
Finish: Big, bitter and long-lasting.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good

Winner by unanimous decision: Harvest.
Fresh Hop season is here! In honor of this special time of year, we interrupt your regularly scheduled Bottle Battle for an old-fashioned, knock-down, drag-out Tap Tussle featuring three beers that all feature loads of fresh hops. The battle was conducted at the north Seattle beer mecca, Naked City Brewery and Taphouse during a special event promoting the beers of Snipes Mountain Brewery from Sunnyside, Washington.

So what's with this "Fresh Hop" stuff? Well, it's basically beer made with hops fresh off the vine rather than hops that have been dried. Brewers go to great lengths to get these fresh hops into their beers as quickly as possible since once they are picked they immediately begin to degrade and lose their precious hop essence. It's a great way to celebrate the hop harvest and, when made well, these beers have a very distinct flavor that can only come from fresh hops.

The battle was very entertaining. We could definitely detect the green, grassy notes of fresh hops in all of the beers, but it was most prominent in the Harvest Pale which had an aroma that just jumped out of the glass and assaulted us with hoppy goodness. Unfortunately, the carbonation in the Zombie was, ahem, dead, which may have been the reason it didn't have much aroma. And the 2Fresh was good, but the fresh hop flavors were masked a bit by the big, malty sweetness. So, if you're looking for a pure, clean, delicious expression of fresh hops you should definitely seek out the Snipes Mountain Harvest Fresh Hop Pale. It was a dominant and unstoppable force in this inaugural Tap Tussle.

Imperial Red Ales — Port Brewing vs. Yakima Craft Brewing

Port Brewing Shark Attack
Double Red Ale
ABV 9%

Color: Hazy orangish brown.
Aroma: Burnt brown sugar, strong medicinal notes.
Flavor: Thick, intense blast of floral honey and burnt molasses.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: Sweet and intense metallic bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Bad

Yakima Craft Brewing
Imperial Red
ABV 6.6%

Color: Clear brownish ruby red.
Aroma: Sweet roasted malts.
Flavor: Sweet, malty, molasses and honey.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: Same as flavor with a touch of bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Mediocre

Winner by unanimous decision: Yakima Craft Brewing.
In perhaps the upset of the year, the young, upstart Yakima Craft Brewing stunned the established veteran, Port Brewing.

Regular readers might note that we have tried a lot of red ales thus far. We do admit to being intrigued by red ales, since stylistically they can run the gamut from hop bombs to malt monsters. In our experience, west coast red ales tend to fall on the hoppier side, but that was not the case with these two. As a matter of fact, we felt that both of these beers definitely fell more on the sweet and malty side of beer styles and we weren't really impressed by either of them.

The Yakima Imperial Red had a much nicer red hue which was the first blow to the murky brown looking Shark Attack. Neither beer had a great aroma, but the Shark Attack was just plain nasty — somewhere between burnt sugar and burnt tires. So, with the aroma, the Yakima Imperial won not because it was great, but because it was inoffensive. This same scenario was played out in the flavor and the finish as well, with the Shark Attack being way out of balance and the Yakima being somewhat pedestrian, but certainly a lot better than Port Brewing's offering.

Honestly, we can't recommend either beer. We'll give the Yakima Craft Brewing company a pass since they are newer to the scene and perhaps finding their legs. As for the Port, they should know better. Their 9% monster gains the distinction of being our first non-tainted beer to be rated "Bad." Intense bitterness coupled with intense maltiness turned out to be intensely off-putting.

Brett Beers — New Belgium Le Fleur, Misseur? vs. New Belgium Biere de Mars

New Belgium Lips of Faith
Le Fleur, Misseur?
ABV 6.2%

Color: Clear golden yellow.
Aroma: Grain, sour yeast, mango.
Flavor: Clean, clove and cardamom spice. More savory than sweet.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Balanced
Finish: Touch of grain then quickly disappears.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good

New Belgium Lips of Faith
Biere de Mars
ABV 6.2%

Color: Clear orange.
Aroma: Barnyard funk, dust, gingerbread.
Flavor: Sweet rich malts, cinnamon, molasses.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Malty
Finish: Roasted malt and a slight bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Good +

Winner by unanimous decision: Biere de Mars.
Tonight, as we watched the New Orleans Saints clash with the Minnesota Vikings, we were waging a battle of our own with two specialty beers from New Belgium Brewing. Both beers were from the highly regarded Lips of Faith series of unique and experimental beers that come in boldly decorated bottles. Both beers also contained some of the yeast strain known as Brettanomyces or Brett for short. Brett is kind of a wild card. It can create a wide range of flavors from sour to funky so it's always with a sense of adventure that you raise a new Brett beer to your lips.

From the beginning it was a good fight. The Misseur came out with a nice sour aroma and the Mars countered with a big, banyardy funk. The Misseur offered up flavors of clove and cardamom and the Mars answered with cinnamon and molasses. These were fun beers — a welcome change from the bevy of Pale Ales and IPAs we've been drinking over the summer (if that's what you call this mess). Neither were overly soured or overly funky from the Brett. They both just incorporated the Brett in different ways.

Ultimately, we decided on the Biere de Mars mostly because it was a bit richer in mouth feel and seemed to fit the Fall/Winter weather we've been getting in Seattle. We were both surprised to find out that the Mars was brewed as a Spring seasonal beer. Call us crazy, but that beer tasted way more Fall than Spring. To us, the lighter, crisper Misseur would have made a far better Spring beer, but who's keeping track? As long as they keep coming out with new Lips of Faith beers every season we'll be happy and so should you.

Extra credit: Perhaps no beer bottles on the market make better flower vases than these. Put a flower in one and give it to your non-beer drinking husband or wife and they might be more supportive of your expensive beer drinking habits.

In the interest of full disclosure to satisfy the FTC’s law, this battle features sample bottles received from the New Belgium Brewery.

Imperial Ales of Different Colors — Red Hook vs. Iron Horse

Red Hook 8-4-1 Expedition
Imperial Brown Ale
(Oak Aged Ale Brewed with Honey)
ABV 9.5%

Color: Mahogany.
Aroma: Sweet, floral with a bit of coffee.
Flavor: Simple honey sweetness quickly overwhelmed by intense tannic (from the oak aging?), vegetal bitterness.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): N/A (Tannic)
Finish: Tannic bomb.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Mediocre -

Iron Horse
Imperial Loco Red
ABV 7.5%

Color: Brown/orange.
Aroma: Grapefruit and big, sharp, resinous hops. Also a touch of cannabis.
Flavor: Salad of citrus fruits and marijuana.
Hops vs. Malts (Hoppy, Malty or Balanced): Hoppy.
Finish: Intense, citrus rind bitterness.
Overall (Fantastic, Good, Mediocre or Bad): Mediocre

Winner by unanimous decision: Iron Horse.
Imperials are the heavyweights of the beer world. When you see "Imperial" on a bottle it's basically a warning: "This beer is intensely flavored and has a higher alcohol content than your average beer." We've had many imperial beers that are absolutely spectacular, so it was with great anticipation that we staged this battle. Unfortunately, both of these heavyweights were a bit sloppy and the fight was a bit of a mess.

The Iron Horse ended up winning, but it wasn't pretty. Both combatants came out slow and nary a punch was thrown in the first round. Instead, they both seemed content to trudge around the ring and pretend to be bad ass. In the end, it came down to which beer was less offensive. The Red was way too bitter and lost its carbonation towards the end, but the Brown was just straight bizarre, with such a clumsy finish (it seemed that it was aged too long in oak, giving it a tannic component that was overbearing) that we just couldn't make it to the finish and poured half a glass down the sink.

Kudos to both breweries (especially Red Hook) for trying out new things and releasing specialty beers, but we suggest you prepare your beer a bit more before you send it out to battle. Discriminating palates demand something with a bit more balance. Bigger isn't always better.