Fresh Hop Pale Ale - Great Divide Brewing Company

mdfb79

New York

3.93/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

From 11/17/10 notes. Had on tap at Churchkey in DC.

a - Pours a dark amber color with one inch of white head and light carbonation evident.

s - Smells of fresh citrus hops, pine hops, and fruity malts.

t - Tastes of pine hops, citrus hops, fruity malts, and tropical fruit. Lots of bitterness up front in the taste.

m - Light to medium body and low carbonation, very easy to drink.

d - A very drinkable, enjoyable APA. At 6.1% I felt I could drink a few of them, and I enjoyed the pine and citrus hops in the smell. Would order again.

Serving type: on-tap

11-26-2010 21:37:37 | More by mdfb79

Billolick

New York

4.35/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

22 ouncer, notches on the label let me know this was bottled during the second week of Oct, '07 (nice to get this info) Pours typical almond amber, nice looking medium tan head, that sticks aroud for a bit then leaves tons os thick sheeting and lace on the glass.

Nose of a burlap sack of hops, with a hint of bready malt to boot.

Plenty of gritty, citric hops here, as a dedicated hop head, this one does it for me and lives up to its name. Nice! Grapefruits surrounds the taste buds and continues to the long finish. Sweet malt present but just enough for a pass at balance, ha....hops carry the freight here. Nice offering from G.D.B.C. Go get some and enjoy

Serving type: bottle

03-01-2008 14:25:56 | More by Billolick

ppoitras

Massachusetts

4.33/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22oz bottle purchased as a single from Julio's, Marlboro, MA.

Poured into an imperial pint glass, formed a 1/2" off-white head over the clear dark amber brew. Head lasts nicely, with plentiful sticky lace. Pungeant fruity pine hops aroma over a deeply sweet malt character. Flavor mimics the nose, both grain and hops strong but complementary to each other. Mouthfeel and drinkability are both good, but overall this one's a bit too intense for me to be a session drinker. Definitely and enjoyable brew though.

Serving type: bottle

11-24-2006 11:59:01 | More by ppoitras

Kegatron

Pennsylvania

4.33/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

From a 22oz bottle into a pint glass.

Pours a nice clear copper with a medium sized lather of off-white foam that stuck around and left some rather fantastic lacing. Aroma seems subdued at first but as it warms, some great tones of grassy, lemony fresh hops and a somewhat spicy smelling earthy maltiness come through.

The taste is just as advertised. An abundance of fresh, piney hop character with a nice dollop of lemon and grapefruit for good measure with bitterness that lasts the whole way through. A subtle undercurrent of sweet caramel maltiness seems to somehow glide under all that hop explosiveness. The mouthfeel is medium and crisp and feels oh so right.

Great Divide comes through again with this years batch of Fresh Hop. Bold hop character and a medium ABV make this easy drinking for not only Hop Heads but also lovers of fresh tasting APAs in general.

Serving type: bottle

11-06-2007 02:38:43 | More by Kegatron

Viggo

Ontario (Canada)

4.47/5  rDev +9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Wow. Pours a clear orange/brown, medium sized white head, lots of sticky lace and great retention. Smell is citrus hops, caramel, floral hops, more hops, some more caramel, excellent, and superbly balanced. Taste is caramel up front, followed by an extreme citrus and floral hop hit, lots of hoppage in the finish, clean bitterness thats just right. Great floral/citrus aftertaste. Mouthfeel is medium to light bodied with low carbonation. Amazing, best pale ale I've ever had, hands down. Malt and hops are perfectly balanced, a superb sipper, would love to stock up on this. Thanks DrJay!!!

Serving type: bottle

03-22-2006 05:05:50 | More by Viggo

Bighuge

Minnesota

4.58/5  rDev +11.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Hazed orange. Thin, tight ivroy white head. Good retention and intricate lace properties. Great aroma of fresh hops, orange marmalade based malt derivatives and grassy, pungent hop oils. This all follows through on the buds. Bright citric hop tones of grapefruit and lemon peel. Grassy. Very fresh tasting even though this is months old. Malt provides a solid backbone and is toffeeish and caramelly in nature. Some of that marmalade character comes through as well. Medium bodied and moderately carbonated. Yet another nice accomplishment by Great Divide. They have been impressing the hell out of me over the past year or so.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2006 05:04:41 | More by Bighuge

corby112

Pennsylvania

3.8/5  rDev -7.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a clear golden amber color with a thick to finger frothy off white head that has decent retention, only slowly fading into a lasting ring that leaves sporadic spots of lacing behind.

Earthy hop aroma with citrus fruit notes balanced by a sweet caramel malt presence. Hints of pineapple, grapefruit and lemon.

Very well balanced with a strong malt backbone that compliments the citrus and earthy hop presence. This beer has a bitter hop bite up front which lingers over the sweet malt body into a dry finish. I usually do not prefer hoppy beers to have this much of a prominent malt character but I thought that it provided some nice balance and complexity in this beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-06-2010 07:37:15 | More by corby112

lacqueredmouse

Australia

4.5/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Purchased from New Beer Distributors in New York.

Pours a lovely, slightly hazed orange golden colour, with a full, thick and frothy head of off-white. Lacing is riotous and speckled. Body is light and supple. Looks really good.

Nose is bright and fresh, with characters of crushed vegetation and rubbed citrus rind. Zesty and sharp, but very smooth. The sort of beer that's going to be great to drink, you can just tell.

Crisp and zesty on the palate, with pleasant citric bite and a sweetness like musk and grain. It's supremely refreshing, and extremely well balanced. It's the sort of beer that's bursting with flavour, but which you also just want to drink and drink and drink. Feel is light and fresh. Matches beautifully.

Gorgeous beer, eminently drinkable and extremely refreshing. Even for 6.1%, it's an amazingly sessionable beer. So clean, so light and just so damn good. One of the best APAs I've ever had.

Serving type: bottle

07-11-2011 17:42:47 | More by lacqueredmouse

DoubleJ

California

4.03/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Because I obviously didn't have enough hops that weekend, why not close it out with a fresh hop ale at Great Divide itself? On to the beer:

Lots of bubbles run throuigh the body of this orange colored brew. A creamy inch thick head sits on top and retains very well. The nose is "fresh", and grassy. I wasn't expecting so much grass, but that's fine. It tastes grassy too. Grassy notes with some grapefruit rind and herbal notes. Very hoppy, that's certain. It's medium bodied and somewhat creamy, rounding out what is a good fresh hop ale.

Serving type: on-tap

10-20-2012 02:24:34 | More by DoubleJ

glid02

Georgia

4.45/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Had this on-tap at the Brick Store in Atlanta.

Pours a clear copper color with a one-finger off-white head. The head sticks around for a while before dissipating into a patchy layer on top and a thick ring around the glass. The lacing is pretty sticky.

Smells largely of citrus and floral hop aromas with some light pine. Very hoppy, I'm excited to sip on it.

Tastes just as good as the smell would indicate. Sweet malts mixed with a slight citrus flavor up front, followed shortly by a nice wallop of bitterness. The flavors linger for a moment but then disappear, making me want to take another sip.

Mouthfeel is good. It's got a good thickness and solid carbonation, but nothing special.

Drinkability is great. This is an easy drinking APA that I could easily have a few more of.

Overall this is one of the better APA's I've had recently. Be sure to give this one a shot if you see it around.

Serving type: on-tap

10-30-2008 03:08:27 | More by glid02

Gusler

Arizona

4.13/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

The beer dispenses from the 22-ounce brown bottle a luminous golden amber color with a moderate semi-creamy light tan head that slowly erodes leaving a fine coating of lace to surround the glass. Nose has pleasant hop floral aroma backed buy sweet malt, start is slightly sweet, the top middling in feel to the palate. Finish is mildly acidic with nice hop spiciness, dry aftertaste and a very drinkable beer and Great Divide a long time favorite brewery.

Serving type: bottle

01-02-2006 21:32:05 | More by Gusler

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

3.3/5  rDev -19.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Say, since when did it become customary to leave this beer on the shelves for so long? I had stopped in at one of my up-and-coming bottle shops to score some CANs for a CANTrade and snagged this while I was there. I now notice a "Bottled On OCT 14 2010" stamp on the label! WTF, over?!? It's not the bottle shop's fault, per se as they are just recently stepping up their game, but their master distro must have decided to unload some outdated beers on them. Fooled me once, shame on you. Oh well, I like beer.

From the bottle: "Fresh Hop Pale Ale is brewed with fresh whole cone hops from the Pacific Northwest. We ship these "wet" hops to Denver overnight and brew shortly after harvest, imparting an intensely grassy hop aroma and citrus hop flavor in a medium-bodied ale."; "Suggested Food Pairings: Grilled trout, grilled bratwurst, garlic/ginger sweet potatoes, Epoisses (a rich, washed rind cow's milk cheese from France.)"

I loved the visual aspect of this beer! I got two-plus fingers of tawny head off of my pour, and the color was a deep-orangish/ coppery amber with NE-quality clarity. The nose had a very earthy, grassy, hay-like aspect underlain by a caramel/biscuit sweetness. I'll bet that this would have been killer, had it been fresh. I was reminded of summers in my youth, when my maternal grandparents were still largely surrounded by farms and the meadows were freshly mown and left to dry before raking. Mouthfeel was medium with an initial hit of grassy, minty hops before allowing a caramel sweetness to pop up like Whack-a-Mole. Finish had a slight hoppy bite, and again, I wept for what might have been. It was as if the Volume knob had been turned to "2", vice "11". Awww, man. The sticky lacing that appeared looked like it was going to require a jackhammer to remove later.

If it is still on their shelves on my next visit, I am going to bring this to their attention. This travesty is on their distro, not them.

Serving type: bottle

02-12-2011 19:47:39 | More by woodychandler

beerthulhu

New Jersey

4.33/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A: Poured a hazy golden-orange color with moderately lasting 2 finger foamy white head.

S: The nose was well rounded with fresh flowery pine scents, grapefruit and fresh citrus that was well balanced with some malt sweetness.

T: For flavor there was fresh wet hop resins of grapefruit and pine. A big flowery flavor that was well balanced as well with malt sweetness producing a very smooth and refined citrus hop tang in the end. The beer finishes semi-dry.

M: mellow and medium bodied with a very good carbonation highlighting the perfect balance of hops and malt.

D: Overall a very well rounded and smooth drinkable pale and sets the standard by style.

Serving type: bottle

04-03-2008 00:46:59 | More by beerthulhu

kojevergas

California

2.9/5  rDev -29.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Served on draught into a Great Divide stemgoblet at the Great Divide tap room yesterday. Cost was $4.00. Reviewed from notes.

A: Pours a 1.5 finger head of nice cream, fair thickness, and average retention. Colour is a textbook copper.

Sm: Hoppy, with very light toasted malt. A mild strength aroma.

T: Pleasantly hoppy without too much bitterness. Well balanced and built, but not bold or inspired. Simple but pleasant. Not too bitter, though the finish needs work. Malt-heavy for the style.

Mf: Smooth until the coarse finish (on account of the bittering hops), and wet throughout. Fairly complementary of the flavour in a general sense.

Dr: Quite drinkable, but largely unremarkable for the style. I wouldn't have it again. It's okay.

Serving type: on-tap

12-18-2011 19:29:09 | More by kojevergas

plaid75

New York

3.98/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured a hazy medium copper hue with a quarter inch foamy white head. There was little retention and decent lacing.

The smell featured a resiny citric, peppery and piny hop.

The taste consisted of a strong earthy and spicy hop coupled with a soft grainy malt.

The mouthfeel was full with a dry finish.

Overall a very good APA. Very drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

02-05-2007 01:57:01 | More by plaid75

DrJay

Massachusetts

4.53/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

Crystal clear amber/orange with a frothy, off-white head. Great retention and lots of clumpy lace. The hop aroma is very smooth and completely without harshness, very delicate for the amount - plenty of grapefruit and grassy character. There's also a bit of caramel and honey behind all the hops. Very balanced flavour with Just enough maltiness to keep the hops in check. Bitterness is solid, but not overdone. Green, grassy, and grapefruit hops are everywhere in the flavour - they linger long into the finish along with a hint of caramel. Slightly drying and creamy texture - there's a bit of powdery character from the hops. Carbonation and body are just on the light side of medium. There's a hint of warmth as well. This beer is highly quaffable. I can imagine drinking pint after pint of this.

Serving type: bottle

03-23-2006 23:09:54 | More by DrJay

biegaman

Ontario (Canada)

4.1/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

This is indeed pale, but not to say colourless. Its lucid, brassy tone catches the light and reverts it in even brighter, sharper rays. Small spurts of lackadaisical bubbles do just as much to catch the eye. Its well lathered head is both filmy and bubbly; despite the apparent weariness of the carbonation the bubbles turn out to be surprisingly industrious.

This smell of grassy, vinous hops has a curiously sedative quality to it. There are, I'm told, sound scientific explanations for this - none of which interest me. All I care is that this bouquet has enough citrus to give it a dynamic tang (it does) and enough sweet, biscuity maltiness to engage the other half of my beer-related appetite (that too, it also has).

Similarly, the taste also satiates both my penchants for solid, sessionable pale ales. It has a sufficient amount of lightly herbal, citrus smacked hops to satisfy my itch for lupullin, while at the same time it has plenty of caramel and biscuits to gratify my affection for malts. The hints of lemon grass are equally appreciated as those of toffee. Yum!

Perhaps the most important aspect to a successful pale ale is balance - Great Divide has struck a resonance between yin and yang that would impress any Chinese zen master (maybe that's where the brewery get's its name?) One person could call this ultra hoppy and another super malty, neither opinion would be wrong. It's like an Escher painting.

Fresh Hop Pale Ale would make a great girlfriend: it looks nice, it smells nice, all its parts are well proportioned and it's incredibly easy to get along with. The only problem would be that, given the nature of the beer and the fact that only freshly-harvested hops are used, you'd really only get to see her once a year. Hmm, perhaps then she'd make a better affair!?

Serving type: bottle

12-16-2009 02:10:02 | More by biegaman

Georgiabeer

Georgia

4.4/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Pours with a beautiful bronzed dark amber with a nice but not huge head.

Fresh soft hops on the nose, with a yeasty finish.

Tastes fruity of apples and cherries and lingering fresh bitterness.

Mouthfeel is great- perfect heft and nice carbonation, crisp and balanced.

Great drinkability. Nice flavors and very refreshing.

Serving type: bottle

12-26-2006 22:49:41 | More by Georgiabeer

mactrail

California

3.95/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Handsome amber in the glass with a touch of burnt orange. Nice lacing and pleasantly carbonated.

Flavor and mouthfeel are more like a DIPA. Big and rich with malt. Tangy and winey. The hops are resiny and aromatic, but not as bitter as you might expect in a Pale Ale. Sweet and malty on the tongue, but it dries out in the aftertaste. A great mouthful of flavor and a bigger, better brew than most APAs.

On tap at Zero One in San Angelo, Texas [Transcribed notes from 11/13/2012 tasting].

Serving type: on-tap

03-13-2013 04:56:44 | More by mactrail

tavernjef

Minnesota

4.25/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Clear amber gold color with a medium stacking head of off-white fluffy foam on top. Top stays present for good length, fading slow to a hefty skim and collar. Lacing is in a fine, tightly spotty sheeting across the glass. Nice looking glass of ale.

Aroma is of pale citrus, dullish-like orange and grapefruit with a spritz of lemon. Lots of pine-sided woodyness hovers over the top. Semi resinous and floral with a grassy touch, but mostly woodish and pale citrus. Clean and pungently pleasing.

Taste is more wood toned then citrus, at least in this serving, perhaps an actual fresher bottle would have had more of the citrus tones more forward. As is, this time around, the wood is a bit heavy and bringing it to one side of the hop scale that isn't really keeping a good balance from others GD Fresh Hops I've had. Medium to light bitterness, semi drying into the finish with some citrusy tones, but more piney and thickly prevalent in wood flavors that take away from the crispyness that pops in front.

Feel is about medium, a bit parching in its bitterness and dryness, but stays the course(coarse) and keeps a very teetering balance that could fold either side into too much pine and/or too much parchness. That said, for no other reason then this- its damn drinkable. It keeps a nice clean profile overall while grabbing hold with woody, citrus tinted bitterness, and maintains a doughy little malt backing while doing it. Some sweetness finds its way in around the corners, in the middle, and very, very late after the finish. Which in turn helps this become quite a fun ride to drink down. After finally sitting down with this one, it seemed a bit more woody then the others I've had in the past month or so. A little more clean, snappy, crisp, and citric and this bottle would have nailed it, much like previous bottles. Another bottle or two and another review may be in order...

Serving type: bottle

01-02-2006 03:54:31 | More by tavernjef

thagr81us

South Carolina

3.73/5  rDev -9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Served from tap into a sampler tumbler. Poured golden yellow-orange with a half finger off-white head that subsided to a minimal amount slowly. Maintained phenomenal lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, earth, earth hop, spice, and spicy hop. The flavor was of sweet malt, earth, earth hop, citrus, citrus hop, and spice. It had a light feel on the palate with medium-high carbonation. Overall this was a pretty decent brew. The hoppiness aspect going on here really carried on throughout the entire glass in both the aroma and flavor. The flavor was fairly well balanced and inviting. If I hadn’t been on a ticking spree this day I likely would have had a full pint of this one without hesitation. Definitely worth your time trying if you have not done so before.

Serving type: on-tap

11-21-2012 12:09:31 | More by thagr81us

Huhzubendah

District of Columbia

4.1/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Clear, light orange. The head is small and generates a bit of random lacing.

S: Very fresh aroma of hops and pine.

T: Really tasty and fresh. Not too sweet, a little bit sticky with a pine resin flavor. Bitterness is minimal, but this is an APA, not an IPA or DIPA.

M: Very smooth drinking with any alcohol flavor masked by a fresh hop profile.

D: Excellent beer. I'm glad I was able to sample a fresh bottle. This would certainly be amazing on draft.

Serving type: bottle

11-29-2010 19:28:37 | More by Huhzubendah

Cyberkedi

Georgia

3.93/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a clear reddish amber, bordering on coppery, with a fine-bubbled, barely off white head. Richly hoppy aroma has grapefruit and spicy hints. Flavor is quite hoppy but not at all bitter, with hints of evergreen and sour orange. Smooth yet lively and fizzy texture leaves behind a nice tingle.

Serving type: on-tap

10-17-2010 15:57:45 | More by Cyberkedi

Stinkypuss

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev -8.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Great Divide's Fresh Hop Pale Ale, poured on tap into a pint glass. A clear orangish color with a soapy off white head and alot of lace.

Aroma pretty hoppy as one might expect. Just a hint of the underlying malt.

Flavor is marked with an intense bitterness. Grapefruit-like, but much more bitter and less sweet. Has a juiciness to it as well, though quite bitter. Earthy stinging hops steal the show.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied while being semi-viscious. Hop presence feels like the enamel on my teeth is being stripped away. Dry.

Drinkability rates pretty good. This beer is a palate crusher and very hop-forward. More like an IPA than an APA.

Serving type: on-tap

12-10-2009 14:54:02 | More by Stinkypuss

ccrida

Oregon

4/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bomber poured into an imperial pint, Great Divide Fresh Hop is bronze with a large, orange-tinged sandy head that is long lasting, creamy, and leaves pretty heavy lace. Forms a nice, dense little hockey puck island of foam that lasts through the last glass, with a few big lace rings as well. If it wasn't the clear brassy color that I favor the least, it would be a 4.5.

Smell is pungent and very resinous, lumber mill style, and lemony with a hint of oranges.

Taste is also very robust, but the intensity of the hops is cut by a sharp malty tang that I don't really care for. Hops are also mostly pine sap, some sour citrus and smooth but firm bittering, with a bit of spicy alcohol on the finish. It certainly grew on me, but the bite was just to sharp, especially initially.

Mouthfeel is oily and chewy, medium-heavy body.

Drinkability is pretty good, not my favorite Fresh Hop, something about the maltiness isn't really my taste, and I could use more depth from the hops, but I love how strong the flavor and aroma were, without being to acrid. As a 'pale ale', it's very good.

Serving type: bottle

11-05-2008 22:32:52 | More by ccrida