Twang is not a word that turns up often in release notes. It is the most useful one in Ferment Brewing Company's.
The Hood River brewery has released Fresh Hop Centennial IPA, a 6.6 percent golden IPA built on undried Centennial cones from Coleman Alluvial Farm. It is one of four fresh hop beers Ferment is running this season, each one built on a different variety. The brewery describes bold floral notes, juicy citrus and fresh pine, plus a nose and twang it says can only be had from this hop at harvest time.
That last claim is the one worth unpacking. Centennial has been commercially available since 1990, and the version nearly everyone knows arrives as a dried pellet tasting of grapefruit and pine. Wet cones behave differently. They still hold the moisture, chlorophyll and green plant matter that a kiln would otherwise drive off, and beers made with them tend to land sharper and greener - closer to the smell of a field than of a bag. Twang covers that better than most of the words usually reaching for it.
Ferment has also named the farm, which is not a given. Coleman Alluvial Farm is part of Coleman Agriculture, a seventh-generation family operation in the Willamette Valley that grows its hops under the Coleman Hops name. That detail matters more in fresh hop season than at any other time of year. Undried cones start degrading within hours of coming off the bine, so the distance between the field and the brewhouse is a genuine constraint on what a brewery can attempt at all. On its own account, Ferment picks at dawn and gets the cones into the fermenter the same day.
The color is worth a note too. Ferment is calling this one bright and golden, not hazy, which is a slightly old-fashioned way to present a fresh hop IPA in 2026. A clear golden beer gives the hop nowhere in particular to hide.
Fresh Hop Centennial IPA is pouring now at the Hood River beer hall and is available in 16-ounce cans.
Source & Editorial
JollyPint independently prepares release articles using information published by breweries through newsletters, websites, and other official public communications. Brewery-supplied descriptions and tasting notes are reported as provided, while editorial context is added by JollyPint.