Fremont Brewing Cowiche Canyon Fresh Hop Ale With Mosaic & Equinox: Brewed in Seattle, WA at a strength of 6% abv, this fresh hop variant features 70 IBUs worth of fresh Mosaic and Equinox hops. This is a new variety of their regular fresh hop release, something I wasn’t expecting but was happy to see. Their organic hops are grown in Cowiche Canyon (which is in the Yakima Valley, WA) and a portion of their sales helps fund the Cowiche Canyon Conservancy Organization. This is a great example of how a local beer maker can help support sustainability growth by actively supporting a conservation society with the sales of a product they produce in the area.

Flavour: The beer is extraordinarily fruity up front, with loads of fresh peaches and nectarines blasting your palate forever until some caramel malts eventually appear in the middle of the beer, accompanied by honeydew and cantaloupes to make it interesting. It has a chewy texture with tastes of passion fruit and tropical citrus on which is surprisingly soft and not at all bitter tasting finish.

Overall Impression: I love Mosaic hops – especially fresh ones – so I was thrilled to find this beer and have the opportunity to admire its fruit heavy, hop forward intensity, which makes it a unique offering during fresh hop season.

Rating: I give it an excellent rating of 8/10, a great variant of their already amazing fresh hop pale ale and a sign of innovation in the fresh hop season which is starting to get a bit crowded.

Food Pairing: Easy to enjoy on its own, you could always pair this with a teriyaki pineapple burger or pineapple chicken skewer to make it even more interesting.

I love pictures of fresh hops because I know they’ll lead to something amazing down the brewing road. Here’s a good shot from their Instagram page showing the hop cones they used when brewing this beer about 5 weeks prior to this post, which should let you know just how fresh this bottle was.