Just in time for cooler temperatures, Great Divide will bottle its fall seasonal beer, Fresh Hop Pale Ale. Taking advantage of the late-summer hop harvest, Great Divide searched for the perfect combination of fresh, whole cone hops to create the distinctive hop profile of Fresh Hop Pale Ale. The September hop harvest is a once-a-year opportunity to brew with fresh hops, sometimes called "wet hops." Normally, brewers use dried and pelletized hops, which are more stable than wet hops, making them the standard form for year-round use.

Freshly-harvested hops bring such a unique flavor to Fresh Hop Pale Ale that Great Divide brewers can easily justify the logistical challenges of brewing this labor-intensive beer. Throughout the summer, Great Divide keeps in close contact with its Pacific-Northwest hop supplier, tracking the crop and selecting the perfect combination of fresh hops. Given the perishable nature of just-harvested hop cones, they were shipped overnight to Great Divide shortly after harvest. The morning of the scheduled hop delivery in Denver, Great Divide’s brewers began brewing Fresh Hop Pale Ale and were ready to hop the beer just as the fresh hops were delivered.

Brewing with fresh hops is a big endeavor, requiring four to five times the hop volume compared to using pelletized hops. The process is complex and it brings impressive results: Fresh Hop is an American-style pale ale with moderate hop bitterness marked by a unique and intensely grassy hop flavor and aroma. Fresh Hop is a superbly refreshing, medium bodied, light-copper colored pale ale weighing in at 55 International Bittering Units (IBUs) and 6.1 Alcohol By Volume.

Even though Great Divide brewed double the volume of Fresh Hop this year compared to last, distributor orders are greater than the amount of beer available and once again will be sold on an allocated basis.

Release date: October 9th in limited quantities of draft and 22 ounce bottles.