Beer of the Week: 5 Rights Brewing’s Fresh hop imperial IPA

Wobbly the Laborer

5 Rights Brewing, Marysville

Style: Fresh hop imperial IPA

Stats: 8.6 percent ABV, 100-plus IBU

Available: On tap at The Independent Beer Bar, The Hop and Hound, Fred’s Rivertown Alehouse, Bruno’s Pizzeria, Flatstick Pub, Creekside Ale House and Grill and The Brewmaster’s Taproom.

My thoughts: With only 24 hours to get the hops into the kettle, most fresh hops are made after a mad dash over the mountains to a hop-growing region like Yakima and a harried return that day.

5 Rights owner and head brewer R.J. Whitlow has an ace up his sleeve: Nick Loyd. The owner of Loyd Hops Farms has helped Whitlow brew his annual Wobbly the Laborer fresh hop imperial IPA for the past three years, including this year’s version.

What makes Loyd so special? He’s right here in Everett. Loyd’s family simply picks the hops off the rows of hop plants in his yard, drives them over to Whitlow and delivers the baskets of bright green goodness. Whitlow then pops the C-hops — Cascade, Chinook, Centennial and Columbus hops — and Nugget hops into the kettle.

This year, Loyd’s harvest was abundant. The hot, dry summer produced a large enough harvest — Whitlow received 70 pounds of hops — for 5 Rights to make two barrels’ worth of Wobbly. Loyd was also able to provide Everett’s Lazy Boy Brewing with 20 pounds of German Hallertau and Tettnanger hops for use in a fresh hopped Bavarian hefeweizen.

Loyd, who is a pastor at Mill Creek’s Pathways Church, started the hop farm five years ago after his mother-in-law brought back a hop starter plant from central Washington. The “farm” is really just Loyd’s south Everett back yard, but maximized the space, building a 10-foot-tall trellis that runs 40 feet across his yard for the hops to grow.

For Loyd, it’s a family affair, with his two children helping train the hop bines, prune excess growth and eventually pick the hops. He said there aren’t many days from when they first pop out of the ground until harvest in late August/early September that the family isn’t caring for the hops in some way.

“It’s been a fun hobby that’s brought our whole family together,” Loyd said. “And my kids can tell the difference between varieties of hops based on their leaf structure and cone appearance, which, in my mind, is just good parenting.”

As for the beer, Wobbly the Laborer is a big fresh hop IPA, finishing at more than 100 IBU. There’s a strong resiny aroma and punch of flavor up front, but the beer finishes soft and wet, maintaining the key aspect that makes fresh hop beers so famous. It’s a really good beer.

Whitlow reached back into Everett’s history to name the beer. Because fresh hops are brewed around Labor Day, Whitlow thought he’d name the beer after the Industrial Workers of the World, a radical labor group popular in the U.S. around the turn of the century that advocated for the end of capitalism. Members of the group were known as the Wobblies. Whitlow said he disagree with the Wobblies’ politics, but he admires their fight for workers’ rights.

Whitlow is also using nearly 400 pounds of Amarillo fresh hops straight from Gamache Farms in Toppenish to make a single hop IPA. For a look at all the fresh hop events happening over the next few weeks, see this week’s booze calendar.

5 Rights Brewing continues to make progress on its new taproom and restaurant in Lake Stevens. Whitlow was cautious not to give an opening date, but said everything is going well and that construction was recently put on hold for everyone involved in the project to take a deep breath and live their lives.

From the brewery: We start with a big West Coast imperial IPA recipe and then steep ridiculous amounts of fresh Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Columbus and Nugget hops that were picked less than 24 hours before to create a one-of-a-kind hop lover’s delight.

More fresh hop releases:

Mosaic Fresh Hop and El Dorado Fresh Hop, Lazy Boy Brewing: Along with the fresh hop version of the Bavarian hefeweizen, Lazy Boy made a pair of single-hop fresh IPAs.

Black Sail CDA Wet Hop edition, Sound to Summit Brewing: This Cascadian dark ale is wet hopped with fresh Cascade hops, giving it a hop-forward citrus aroma and a malty backbone with flavors of coffee and caramel.

In Bloom, Pocketful of Fresh Hops and Höpley Crüe, Decibel Brewing: In Bloom is made with Centennial fresh hops, while Pocketful of Fresh Hops is the brewery’s Pocketful of Gold IPA dry hopped with Centennial, Chinook and Columbus hops. Höpley Crüe is a fresh hop saison made with wild hops picked in Snohomish.

Skookum If Ya Got Em, Skookum Brewing: Brewed with spelt and flaked wheat, this Simcoe fresh hop IPA has aroma of melon, citrus and grass.

Fresh Hopportunity, Lake Stevens Brewing: Made with fresh-picked Lake Stevens-grown Cascade and Tettnang hops, this pale ale is unique and resinous.

Momma’s Boy, Middleton Brewing: This fresh hop pale ale is brewed with 15 pounds per barrel of Cascade and Citra hops.