Beer of the Week: Hops for the Holidays ’24

You can file this Beer of the Week post under “D” as in “duh”. When considering a brewery to close out the year, I wondered the following. Would popular brewing outfit Green Cheek Beer Co. release something special in celebration of the holiday season? Well, duh…of course! Would it be good? Well, duh…of course! Would it be an IPA? OK, now this one isn’t 100% automatic, but likely enough that the answer should be, you guessed it…duh, of course! By the time I learned the holiday beer they’d produced was a collaboration with a San Diego County brewery, I didn’t even bother asking – or even wondering – if it was a standout. By then I knew. Duh…of course! Clearly I feel as though I’ll be entering the New Year much wiser than I was heading into it. That’s always a good feeling. So, too, are the feelings that come when consuming this week’s featured beer, Hops for the Holidays ‘24. An annually produced West Coast IPA that changes each year, it’s a shared passion project of the minds behind Green Cheek and North Park Beer Co. I’ll let the former’s fermentationist, Evan Price, tell you more about the beer’s composition, but not before I gush about a stellar IPA that’s legitimately deserving of saving-the-best-for-last Beer of the Week status. On the nose, I get loads of peach character plus a hint of guava. On the palate, this extra-dry IPA brings big passionfruit and nectarine up front, followed by lingering notes of white wine and tomatillo. From sniff to swallow, it’s a well-rounded drinking experience from two experts at producing this particular style. Like the holidays, I wish this beer would stick around the whole year through, but I’ll happily enjoy it for as long as I can get my hands on it. Cheers to you, dear readers, and happy New Year to all!

Hops For The Holidays is our yearly collab with one of favorite humans, Mr. Hop Fu, himself, Kelsey McNair, of North Park Beer Co. Kelsey and I make a different version of this beer every year to suite the constant evolution in West Coast IPA. This year’s features Nelson hops from our pals at Freestyle Hops, picked at their Sunrise Valley Farm in New Zealand, which is prized for its flavorful layers of passionfruit, Oro Blanco grapefruit and kiwi. We pair that with a super-dope lot of Citra from our good Pallys (TM) at Coleman Agriculture, picked at their Alluvial Hop Farm out of Oregon, which brings hoppy layers of mango, apricot and zesty citrus. We also are using a range of different intense hop oils that bring even more flavor and aroma to the drinking table, all while maintaining the drinking experience you come to expect from a West Coast IPA: dry, pleasantly bitter and deliciously resinous.”

Evan Price, Co-founder & Head Brewer, Green Cheek Beer Co.

Green Cheek Beer Co. is located at 601 South Coast Highway in Oceanside