Best of Craft Beer Awards – 2024 Fresh Hop Award Winners (Early Harvest)

Over the weekend, the results from the Best of Craft Beer Awards – 2024 Fresh Hop (Early Harvest) were announced. Nearly 80 Fresh Hop beers were entered into the competition in five categories. These categories included Fresh Hop Pale Ale or Hazy Pale Ale, Fresh Hop Hazy IPA, Fresh Hop IPA, Fresh Hop Lagers, and Fresh Hop Other Styles. The 2024 Fresh Hop (Late Harvest) judging will take place in mid-October.

So what constitutes a beer being considered a Fresh Hop beer? The Best of Craft Beer Awards requires the beer to meet the following style guidelines…

For our competition, the term “fresh hop” is defined as newly harvested hops which have not been dried for preservation. Fresh hops may be used in any part of the brewing process, and dried hops or other hop products may be used in conjunction. Fresh hop characteristics can be described as green or grassy, though vegetal aromas or flavors are undesirable. Also common is fruit cocktail or other light fruitiness distinct from those aromas/flavors found in dried hops. Aroma/flavor profiles from African, American, European, and Oceanic origin hops are acceptable. The goal in all subcategories is the ideal expression of fresh hop character in harmony with the base beer.

Of the winning breweries from the Best of Craft Beer Awards – 2024 Fresh Hop (Early Harvest), four breweries took home multiple medals. Breakside Brewery was awarded three medals, a Gold in Fresh Hop Other Styles and a Silver and Bronze in Fresh Hop Pale Ale or Hazy Pale Ale. Both Sunriver Brewing and Trap Door Brewing each took home a Gold and a Bronze while StormBreaker Brewing received a Silver and Bronze medal. Below is a complete list of all the winning breweries.

2024 Fresh Hop Medalists (Early Harvest)

Fresh Hop Pale Ale or Hazy Pale Ale
Gold: Sunriver Brewing Company – Bondi Fresh Hop Strata – Sunriver, OR – Coleman Ag
Silver: Breakside Brewery & Taproom – Breakside Fresh Hop Cascade Wanderlust – Milwaukie, OR – Goschie Farms
Bronze: Breakside Brewery & Taproom – Breakside What Fresh Beast – Milwaukie, OR – Sodbuster Farms

Fresh Hop Hazy IPA
Gold: Reuben’s Brews – Fresh Hop Party Float – Seattle, WA – Coleman Ag
Silver: Moonraker Brewing – Fresh Juicy Strata – Cameron Park, CA – Indie Hops
Bronze: StormBreaker Brewing – Set Freshies to Haze – Portland, OR – Sodbuster Farms

Fresh Hop IPA
Gold: Everybody’s Brewing – Head Stash – White Salmon, WA – Loza Farms
Silver: Shred Beer Company – Stacks of Green – Rocklin, CA – Crosby Hops
Bronze: Del Cielo Brewing Co – Cosecha Fresca – Martinez, CA – Indie Hops

Fresh Hop Lagers
Gold: Trap Door Brewing – Lupulo Fresco – Washougal, WA – Goschie Farms
Silver: StormBreaker Brewing – Fresh Hop What We Brew in the Shadows – Portland, OR – Goschie Farms
Bronze: Trap Door Brewing – Fresh Day Beer – Washougal, lWA – Coleman Ag

Fresh Hop Other Styles
Gold: Breakside Brewery & Taproom – Breakside Fresh Hop Crystal Double Wanderlust – Milwaukie, OR – Goschie Farms
Silver: Schussboom Brewing – Freaky Freaky Fresh – Reno, NV – Crosby Hops
Bronze: Sunriver Brewing Company – Fuzztail Fresh Hop Luminosa – Sunriver, OR – Coleman Ag

For breweries that would like to enter the 2024 Fresh Hop Competition (Late Harvest), there is still time to do so. Registration continues through Friday, October 4, 2024. Each entry is $75 and the drop off/mail in window is from October 4 – 11, 2024. Judging will take place at Single Hill Brewing in Yakima, Washington on October 13, 2024. To learn more about entering, click here.