Hi how are you

I think there were a few variables not in Gung Ho's favour this year! My palate had already been hammered with previous fresh hop beers all day & I just really struggled to get anything unique out of it. Maybe this needs a revisit.

Purchased at New World Durham St

Tagged Friends

I have a few certified 'Dog Shit' Fresh Hop™ brews to get through – this being one of them so hopes weren't high. I was pleasantly surprised though! It's not the best but there's a glimmer of herby green and a touch of oily dank here. It's a nice beer!

Purchased at New World Durham St

Tagged Friends

Another surprising contender! I feel like Fresh Hop™ '24 turned a corner just today. This has a lovely nose backed with a dank and superbly green brew on an incredibly soft, hazy base. It's like Garage Project Fresh on a good month X Fresh Hop™. Yum.

Purchased at New World Durham St

Tagged Friends

A very similar story to the Urbanaut. Same hop. Same lack of green. Nice enough but it's actually less impressive as a beer so it scores lower. Disappointment abounds. I think I agree with the sentiment that Motueka doesn't make a good Fresh Hop™.

Purchased at New World

Tagged Friends

Hey it's a really good hazy! But boys, this is Fresh Hop™ and the stakes are high. You need to be extracting maximum dankness and maximum green from that shrubbery. If I hadn't had the Sawmill, I'd be worried we're in for another 2023 shitfest by now.

Purchased at New World Durham St

Tagged Friends

I had high hopes for this one – Hop Fed know how to do a great Fresh Hop™, that's for sure. Unfortunately, other than a grassy nose, greenery was difficult to detect until quite late. Pretty subtle but nice bitterness and a nice brew overall.

Purchased at New World Durham St

Tagged Friends

Fresh Hop™ 2024 begins unexpectedly! I was at the supermarket looking for a pilsner anyway and they happened to have this. It's not a bad mildly grassy pilsner, but it's hard to get a read on whether we'll have a better season than last year's write-off.

Purchased at New World

I haven't had this one before so I was lucky a friend from Nelson ways brought me a 4-pack. An extremely impressive pilsner to be fair! Not excessively hoppy but they're still there and it's just supremely balanced and crisp.

Tagged Friends

Honestly another pretty interesting brew. It does the ice cream lactosey thing for sure, but maybe not quite as strongly as you might expect. But where it shines is as a mango sour with an actually not insignificant peppery vibe. It's surprisingly yum.

Purchased at New World

Tagged Friends

A surprise, really. I haven't rated GP on this front for quite a while now. But they've pulled it off here – this is a lovely, fruity and balanced brew. Dankness shining through a mildly dry IPA.

Purchased at New World

Tagged Friends

Nice hazy, I didn't get the hops that were on the can – I would have guessed Nectaron. But it's pretty good. Bold stonefruit and citrus.

Purchased at New World

Tagged Friends

Last one of these. Honestly such an unexpected banger. Lovely stuff.

Purchased at Alibi Brewers Lounge

Tagged Friends

An earthy and grassy brew. Definitely a skunkiness to it, hence the name. It doesn't quite hide the 9% but it's damn drinkable for what it is, and it's lovely and thick.

Purchased at Garage Project

Tagged Friends

Nice sour with very definite passionfruit notes. The rest isn't doing much to wow me, much like this brewery. I didn't pay for the beer and nor would I with their current art efforts. I'm sure it's been said before about Beers, but jesus christ.

Earned the Pucker Up (Level 53) badge!

Tagged Friends

We chose this as our 'Christmas beer' and damn, was it a goodie. Sweet nose with every single dessert you could think of blended into one. I will absolutely feel this in the morning, but hey, it's Christmas & morning me will just have to deal with it.

Purchased at Derelict Brewing

Tagged Friends

Just as good as the first time. Super good WCIPA.

Purchased at Alibi Brewers Lounge

Tagged Friends

'Tis the season to be binge drinking! This is about the time in the day where each beer seems to merge into one. A bit like this whole series really. Good to share this with the whole Fresh Subscription team 🍻

Purchased at Garage Project

Tagged Friends

A lovely citrus-based month. Definitely worthy of closing the year with it's super balanced hop character and extra soft texture. Let's hope January is worthy of a New Years beer!

Purchased at Garage Project

Tagged Friends