In Search of the Holy (Fresh Hop) Ale

As I have mentioned before on this blog, I tend not to be a huge fan of fresh hop beers. I like the creative aspect and I once made my own fresh hop beers. That was back when I grew hops on the side of the house and home-brewed every other week. And before aphids ravaged my hops plants.

The problem with fresh hop beers is most of them don't have a lot of character. I suppose this is exactly what makes them special. When you use whole hops that haven't been compressed and dried, you wind up with beers that are typically juicier and brighter. More flavor or aroma? Not in my experience. But that's my opinion.

The side view glamour shot

It doesn't much matter what I think because the brewing community has jumped on the fresh hop bandwagon. A few years ago, your typical craft brewery might produce a single fresh hop beer this time of year. They'd pour that beer for a few weeks and that would be it. Craziness in craft beer being what it is, most places are now brewing several fresh hop beers and releasing them on a staggered schedule.

There's a lot of denial out there regarding fresh hop beers. Brewers are happy to talk about the creative appeal and uniqueness of these beers. That's well and good. In practice, though, breweries are forced to have a fresh hop beer. Why? Because everyone else does. When your best friends jump off a cliff, you're obligated to follow, right? Indeed.

Despite my ragged opinion of fresh hop beers, I ran into a very nice one at Laurelwood yesterday. It wasn't Fresh Hop Workhorse, which I found to be thin and a mere shadow of its standard self. It also wasn't the fresh hop version of their terrific Pilsner. Instead, it was Fresh Hop Red, which they started pouring on Monday at the Sandy location.

A nicely bronzed head caps this fine beer

Fresh Hop Red is a modified version of Laurelwood's well-known and respected Free Range Red. They add fresh Cascade Hops harvested at Crosby Hop Farms in Woodburn for the fresh hop effect. This is a terrific beer...with a well-balanced hop and malt character. I suppose you could argue that some of the more volatile aromas and flavors imparted by the fresh hops are subdued by the chewy backbone of this beer. No matter...it's not to be missed.

Brewmaster Vasili Gletsos says he hopes to keep the Fresh Hop Red on for a couple of weeks. This in contrast to Laurelwood's prior fresh hops beers (Workhorse and Pils), which lasted only about a week each before running dry. Get down there and give Fresh Hop Red a try.

Fremont Ridge Surfs the Craft Wave

There may be no better way to appreciate to growing influence of craft beer than to make a stop at a local dive bar. There are plenty to choose from...just pick one. You can use creative and non-creative ways to make a selection. In my case, I just traveled up to the road to Fremont.

The expanded patio looks inviting

A little background. The last time I visited Fremont Ridge was about 15 years ago. It was a total dive...in the parlance of those times, as the Dude might say. Smokey, stinky, dark, grubby and grimy...with a shitty beer selection to match the decor. I remember it well.

Fast forward to present day. Things have been looking up on Northeast Fremont. Alameda Brewing is celebrating 16 years in business this week. Bottles NW is just down the street. Fire on the Mountain (3Mont) and McPeet's Portland Pub are bookends on this stretch of Fremont.

A cleaned up street view is part of the package

Fremont Ridge is located a hop and a skip to the east of Bottles. Promotional signage on the building suggested it might be a good time to stop in. There were other indications that changes were in the works, including the fact that the business was closed for a while.

First things first. If you know this area, you'll note the name has changed. This place was known as Fremont Ridge Inn for many years. When it was sold a few months ago, the new owners opted to simplify the name to Fremont Ridge. That's what you'll see on the liquor license renewal application here and on updated signage.

The big board...a little thin on a Monday

Stepping back in time for just a moment, this space originally opened in 1940, as the Mirror Cafe. They have a picture of the old place near the bar and there's some brief information the menu. Very quaint. A tip of the hat to history is a nice touch.

They spent some serious money remodeling the space. The women's bathroom was moved to allow for a more functional kitchen and bar. Floors were redone. The classic wood bar was refinished. A small outdoor area was expanded and improved. The furnishings and menu were updated. Oh...and additional beer taps were added.

Tap handles on the back bar

Of the 15 or so taps here, the bulk are reserved for a rotating list of craft beers. It was a nice selection when I stopped by...Boneyard RPM, Laurelwood Free Range Red, 21st Amendment Back in Black IPA and more. PBR is the lone macro...and the barkeep said it sells nicely at times. They have a bit of Coors Light and Corona in bottles, as well as full bar. But Fremont Ridge is focused on craft beer in a big way.

This is a popular trend. More and more former dive bars are being bought and transformed into pubs that ride the wave of craft beer's popularity. McPeet's Portland Pub has undergone a similar transformation within the last couple of months. Both places hope to build their clientele by catering to people who have turned against industrial lager.

These changes are part of an evolving beer culture in Portland. Craft beer has gained a strong following thanks to the brewpubs and breweries. Self-respecting bars and taverns can no longer look the other way. If they don't have craft beer, customers will go elsewhere. The days of macro dominance are history here.

As I've alluded to before, this emerging reality presents both an opportunity and a risk for brewpubs. With taverns, bars and many restaurants moving to craft beer, there are growing opportunities to sell more beer. The risk is that customers may not frequent brewpubs if they can get good beer wherever they go.

These factoids surely explain why several Portland brewpubs have or will soon open production breweries: they want the capacity to brew beer to sell in outside channels. It also explains the growing efforts to create limited edition, specialty beers that are available only in brewpubs...or at select bottleshops and pubs.