Smiling Samoyed Fresh Hop Ale 2019

For a fourth year, Smiling Samoyed have been playing with freshly-harvested hops from Fresh Hops Co-op in the Adelaide Hills. With each year, lessons are learnt, and this year’s version delivers a beer that tones down the sweetness slightly while ramping up the hop aromas and resinous hop flavours.

They used 20kg of wet Cascade hops this time round, added to a malty, deep orange base beer that gives off distinct resinous and earthy aromas alongside just a touch of sweetness. There's more resin at play on the palate, with the brewers extracting more hop flavour than in previous iterations, while their haul from the Hills contribute a medium bitterness and aid a dry finish too.

Matt King

Published April 17, 2019 2019-04-17 00:00:00