Ghostfish Brewing Chinook Fresh Hop IPA

Brewed in Seattle Washington

It’s Fresh Hop season! Here is the pour and review for Ghostfish Brewing’s Chinook Fresh Hop IPA, their 2020 Fall fresh hop limited release. Each year Ghostfish seems to choose a different variety of hops to feature in this annual release, and I’m excited to see what Chinook hops bring to the table this year.

The Chinook Fresh Hop IPA is brewed in a base of malted millet, rice, buckwheat, AND Quinoa. What a lineup! The most excited part of the recipe is the 300 lbs. of brew day harvested Chinook fresh flower hops that went into this beer. These Chinook hops were harvested from Washington’s Chelan Valley Hops.

This is a 6.3% ABV IPA and the IBU was unlisted. Following is the speed pour for the Chinook Fresh Hop IPA, and if you’re interested in viewing their past fresh hop releases, check out the links I provide at the end of this review.

The Taste Test

Chinook Fresh Hop IPA

The Chinook Fresh Hop IPA pours with a juicy looking grapefruit orange color and a decent head that doesn’t linger long. At first it looked quite clear but as I made it to the bottom of the can, the beer became significantly cloudier. It’s one of those beers whose color isn’t altered much by light.

It smells like a tropical food forest. It smells of grapefruit—but also stone fruity, and even a bit tropical. The taste is much simpler than the aroma in my opinion. The flavor of the hop profile comes through as pine and resign like, while keeping the palate as dry as the forest floor in Central Oregon. (DRY!)

The juiciness of the Fresh Hop IPA’s appearance does not come through in the taste whatsoever. It’s a fairly crisp beer with a bit more bitterness than I was expecting from a Fresh Hop actually! (Not complaining, by the way.)

When the beer first hits my palate, my first observation is the carbonation. It is sharp and crisp and almost a bit surprising because it’s also very very dry. The diverse grain bill carries you through the middle of the palate. It finishes dry and mildly bitter, but the bitterness comes late for me.

You know what? I think this beer presents more grain in the flavor than MOST other IPAs honestly. But the flavor is more grain based and less malt based, as there is no sweetness to speak of and I wouldn’t describe it as roasty either. Maybe toasty. :)

I sort of miss the fruity flavors from the aroma in the taste. I wish there was just a touch of fruity sweetness to balance it’s super dry and fairly light body.

This is certainly a unique IPA, and those super fresh Chinook hops have created a beer that fools you into expecting juiciness and surprises you with a forest infused flavor profile and a manageable IBU.

I do think this Chinook Fresh Hop IPA will appeal most to those who regularly opt for IPAs, like myself. Have you had the opportunity to try this 2020 Fresh Hop release? What did you think about it?

Past Ghostfish Fresh Hop Releases:

P.S. Like what I do for the gluten free beer community? Consider buying me a beer for my efforts! ;)

Ghostfish Brewing Chinook Fresh Hop IPA