The mid-Atlantic has never been great for making beer with freshly picked hops; this year those beers will come to us from afar. We believe this to be the largest collection of fresh/wet hop beers at a Snallygaster and we’re going to take advantage of it. What are fresh or wet hopped beers? Most beers are made with dried or kilned hops or hop pellets, the beers below are made with freshly picked hops. Expect beers with a hint more vegetal or “green” notes than usual when tasting. To the list!
- Bond Brothers, Old & Fresh, Fresh Hop Wild Ale w/ Idaho 7, 6.5%: Let’s get weird to start! Idaho 7 usually plays a supporting role in IPAs, but here it’s the star in a wild ale. This is a must try for me.
- Carton, Something Harvest, Wet Hop Mixed Fermentation Table Beer w/ Cascade, 5.3%: I really like where we’re going with fresh hops this year, with almost as many non-IPAs as IPAs using them. I’m also a sucker for heavily hopped Belgian-style beers.
- Dovetail, Wet-Hopped Hopfenlager, Wet Hop Lager w/ Zuper Saazer Hops, 5.1%: Cans of Hopfenlager, see above, occasionally hit DC and VA, but this is a different beast with fresh Saaz.
- Fair Isle, Früh, Fresh Hop Saison w/ Hallertau Mittelfrüh, 6.0%: The first of two saisons getting the fresh hop treatment, we’re here for it!
- Fast Fashion, Look Book, Fresh Hop IPA w/ Amarillo, 6.5%: An underrated hop from an underrated brewery, this should be lovely.
- Foam, Local Dork, Fresh Hop IPA w/ Vermont-Grown Chinook, 7.0%: Terroir in hops is absolutely real as evidenced by the differences in New Zealand and Pacific Northwest Cascade, we’re curious to taste Vermont’s take on a classic West Coast hop.
- Resident Culture, Brother Flower 2025, Fresh Hop IPA w/ Strata, 7.0%: We are suckers for Strata, with its notes of strawberry.
- Root + Branch, Fresh Hop Harvest Ale: Citra & Comet, Fresh Hop Hazy Double IPA, 8.0%: There will be lines at other breweries known for haze, and I’m not sure those breweries are any better than Long Island’s Root + Branch. If you think you don’t know Comet, it’s the primary hop in Right Proper’s Raised By Wolves.
- Sierra Nevada, Northern Hemisphere Harvest, Wet Hop IPA w/ Cascade & Centennial, 6.7%: The brewery used to distribute this, in 22 ounce bomber bottles, even. Now the stray keg might be the only way to drink it. Sad.
- Wunderkammer, Fresh Hop Crystal Saison, Fresh Hop Saison, 5.6%: We have no idea what fresh Crystal hops taste like, but we’re going to find out on Saturday.
The only DC-made fresh hop beer in 2025 comes from Red Bear in NoMA, next to REI. We suggest you check out District Flannel, with locally grown Centennial hops from brewer Thad Adkins. On draft and in 4-packs. More on Red Bear soon.
