Hood River, OR – September 2026. Boy howdy! It’s here again; Fresh Hop Season! Yup. It’s important enough to get capitalized. Double Mountain Brewery & Cidery is celebrating the 2026 hop harvest with the return of four fresh hop favorites: Killer Red, Killer Green, Fresh Hop Iowa Bar Fight, and Killer Lion.
There’s nothing quite like brewing with fresh hops. It’s intense, fast-paced, and a race against the clock to get those green little beauties into the kettle, hop back, or brite tank as soon as possible. The brews capture a moment in time, and that’s what makes them so special.
Double Mountain is lucky to live near by some pretty premium ingredients. The brewers work with local hop growers, visiting the farms, meeting the people who make it all happen, and getting those freshly harvested hops back to the brewery as quickly as possible. These killer beers are little labors of love, and Double Mountain is happy to share the freshest beer possible with the world. This year fresh hops include Centennial from Crosby Hop Farms and Strata & Mosciac from Coleman Hops.
First in the Fresh Hop lineup is Killer Red, which gets the fresh hop treatment in the brite tank, with about 100 pounds of Centennial hops per batch from Crosby Hop Farm in the Willamette Valley packed into giant hop sacks and beer racked right on top. After a few days, the beer is moved off the hops, crashed, and packaged. The result? Sticky, resinous citrus and pine, dank and green and oh-so-lovely. Holy monkeys and hot damn, this beer is tasty. It’s the first Fresh Hop to be released annually, but it’s already establishing itself as a front runner for the favorite…
Next is Killer Green, a homage to what Double Mountain is known for: big, dank, aggressively balanced West Coast IPAs. This year, the brewers added about 150 pounds of Centennial fresh hops to the hop back as fast as they could make it happen. This results in classic Northwest IPA character, citrus, pine, grapefrui, just MORE. And STICKIER. At 7.3% ABV, that Kolsch yeast keeps things dry enough to make it drink more like a 6%. Say, that’s a good beer name…
Then comes Fresh Hop Iowa Bar Fight, returning for its fourth iteration. This year, the brewers looked back at the original recipe and brought Citra and Simcoe back into the mix, while adding Strata fresh hops and taking a few liberties with the hopping. Oopsies. Strata brought plenty of punch, and the Coleman Hops this year did not disappoint. The result is softer, rounder, complex, smooth, delightful, and has an “everything gon’ be irie” kind of aroma.
And, finally, there’s Killer Lion, back after a hot minute. The brewers went back to the roots, keeping the malt bill and hopping regimen familiar while playing with hop amounts and timing to accentuate the fresh shit they’ve got rockin’ in there. Earlier-picked Mosaic brings ripe tropical fruit and sticky citrus while avoiding some of the onion, garlic, and diesel characteristics that can emerge from later-picked hops. It’s a beer near and dear to the brewers’ hearts, and they’re happy to finally let it shine again.
Fresh hop beers don’t stick around for long. Grab these little labors of love while you can.
ABOUT DOUBLE MOUNTAIN BREWERY & CIDERY
Double Mountain is a Brewery & Cidery based in Hood River, Oregon that extends a warm welcome to all. Our brewery in Hood River boasts our original taproom where you can experience the heart of our craft. We have two additional taprooms in Portland, located in the Woodstock and Overlook neighborhoods, and a kitchen at the Aladdin theater, open during showtimes. We strive to create a living room atmosphere, where we spin vinyl, offer weekly free live music, and host trivia nights. Our food philosophy revolves around sharing moments with friends. We offer various New Haven-style pizzas, sandwiches, salads, and an array of other dishes that proudly steer clear of the fryer.We take pride in our hop-forward beers, crisp unsweetened dry-ciders, and house-made n/a root beer and ginger ale. We hope you’ll stop by and share a pint with us!
