This is a special time of year on the beer calendar. It's fresh hop beer season and if you live in the Pacific Northwest you are likely enjoying pints of vibrantly hoppy ales. The rest of us are just dreaming of what could be.

Hard to define, difficult to describe, and a revelation each time, fresh hop beers are best experienced in person where the beers were made.

Zach Beckwith, the head brewer of Bend Brewing Co. has some thoughts on fresh hops and what is being done right, what could be better, and how we should approach each glass. He recently penned a column for Jeff Alworth's Beervana Blog, but goes into deeper details here.

He spoke to the show from the brewery in Bend, Oregon. 

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• Host: John Holl
• Guest: Zach Beckwith
• Tags: Beer, Craft Beer, IPA, Hops, Fresh Hops, Farming, Recipe Development, Oregon, Ales,