Fresh Hop Howdy, Friend by Ladd & Lass Brewing: the hops, explained

Fresh hop beer. Fresh (or “wet”) hops go from the bine to the kettle within hours, never kilned. The figures below are for the dried hop; fresh ones carry the same oils in a greener, brighter form, and brewers use several times the weight.

What it'll taste like

Apricot ×2
Citrus ×2
Grapefruit ×2
Mango ×2
Passionfruit ×2
Pine ×2
Tropical fruit ×2
Blueberry
Dank
Floral
Herbal
Lime

What the 5 hops smell like, most shared first — from the hop growers' and breeders' own notes, not the brewery's. 4 from USA, 1 from New Zealand.

The hop bill

Citra
USA · Dual purpose

Fresh hop

Passionfruit, Mango, Grapefruit, Citrus, Tropical fruit, Lime

Bitterness High 11–14.3% α

Aroma oil 2.2–2.8 mL

Mostly myrcene 60%, humulene 12%

Grown 2025: 5,327 ac Washington · 1,525 ac Oregon · 729 ac Idaho
Simcoe
USA · Dual purpose

Fresh hop

Pine, Resinous, Passionfruit, Grapefruit, Apricot, Dank

Bitterness Very high 10–16% α

Aroma oil 0.5–3 mL

Mostly myrcene 59%, humulene 15%

Grown 2025: 2,962 ac Washington · 431 ac Oregon · 97 ac Idaho
Mosaic
USA · Dual purpose

DynaBoost

Blueberry, Mango, Tropical fruit, Citrus, Herbal, Pine

Bitterness High 10–15% α

Aroma oil 0.5–3 mL

Mostly myrcene 53%, humulene 15%

Grown 2025: 2,246 ac Washington · 684 ac Oregon · 558 ac Idaho
El Dorado
USA

Melon, Pear, Apricot, Tangerine, Mint

Bitterness Very high 12–17% α

Aroma oil 1.5–3.3 mL

Mostly myrcene 70%, humulene 16%

Grown 2025: 434 ac Washington
Riwaka
New Zealand

No aroma descriptors on file yet.

Bitterness Moderate 4.5–6.5% α

Aroma oil 0.9–1.5 mL

Mostly myrcene 76%, humulene 13%

In the order Ladd & Lass Brewing lists them: Fresh Citra, Simcoe Cryo Fresh, Mosaic Dynaboost, El Dorado, Riwaka. From the brewery's page for this beer. Forms like Cryo and CO2 extract are the same variety processed differently.

Beers like this one · the closest hop bills on file

Cool Cat Georgetown Brewing · shares Citra, Simcoe, Mosaic, El Dorado
Topcutter IPA Bale Breaker Brewing · shares Citra, Simcoe, Mosaic
Shine, Dream, Smile Breakside Brewery · shares Citra, Simcoe, Mosaic
West Coast IPA Chuckanut Brewery · shares Citra, Mosaic, El Dorado
Even More So IPA Cloudburst Brewing · shares Citra, Simcoe, Mosaic

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New to hop talk? What these words mean

Bitterness (alpha acid): How much bite a hop gives when it's boiled. Under 5% is gentle, 13%+ is a bruiser. It's why a West Coast IPA snaps and a pilsner doesn't.
Aroma oil: The smelly part of the hop — where the citrus, pine and tropical fruit come from. More oil, more punch when it's added late or dry-hopped.
Myrcene, humulene…: The main oils. Lots of myrcene reads fruity and resinous; humulene and caryophyllene read woody, herbal, spicy.
Aroma / bittering / dual purpose: What brewers mostly use the hop for: smell, bite, or both.
Fresh (wet) hop: Hops straight from the field into the beer, same day, never dried. Only at harvest, late August into October.
Cryo, CGX, LupoMax, Incognito: The same hop, processed: concentrated powder or extract, for more aroma with less vegetal taste.

In Brooks’s glass

Brooks hasn’t had this one yet.