Neighbourhood Brewing – Freshie Fresh Fresh IPA

Neighbourhood Brewing – Freshie Fresh Fresh IPA Review

It’s fresh hop season, the time of year where all hop heads look forward to the releases of Driftwood Brewing’s  “Sartori”, Yellow Dog’s, “Alpha Dog” as well as many others all over the province. Not only are more breweries adding a fresh hop beer or cask to their roster, but the variety of fresh hops to choose from is also increasing- as well as hop farms! What’s interesting to note though is that fresh hop beers are not a common occurrence in BC’s Interior or Okanagan, and Penticton in particular! There has been only one packaged fresh hop beer from the city named as “Canada’s Craft Beer Capital”, that is, until now! Neighbourhood brewing, yet to be opened, released in their format of 355ml 4 packs (no tall cans to be seen!)their first packaged fresh hop beer “Freshie Fresh Fresh IPA”.

The hop choice for their beer was Sabro, a very trendy hop right now used most commonly as a dry hop to add a  tropical, mostly coconut and sweet punch to a beer. Head brewer Darren Binnema chose to use it fresh instead.

The aroma of this beer is very citrusy and tropical – no sign of coconut! It pours a rich orangey/amber colour, slightly hazy with light carbonation and a head that dissipates to a thin coating on top of the beer. The beer is full of citrus(grapefruit) and pineapple juice flavours with a good hit of bitterness, while the mouthfeel has a nice creamy coating with a dry bitter finish. Despite the 6.5% ABV and 65 IBU, it is an extremely easy drinking beer and hopefully a new trend in Penticton breweries for next years fresh hop season.