Last year the Shepherds, a hop growing family over at JGL Shepherd Farms in Fleming, Saskatchewan invited me out to their annual open house to show Saskatchewan brewers their hops of the year. I tried to grow a few hops on my own family farm in Pipestone, Manitoba a year earlier but failed miserably. Brewers from all over Saskatchewan came by and got to smell some of the best hops the Prairies have to offer. At the time I knew a brewery was opening up in Moosomin but didn't know what the ETA was. I met Aaron from Skout Brewing that day and pretty much he told me "it's in the works and when it happens, it'll happen", meaning that it could be open any week or month now or it could be a few years.. something you never know in the craft beer industry with all the red tape out there. Thankfully the brewery opened up less than 7 months later in April 2024, right off the Trans Canada Highway. Skout Brewing is only a 10-15 minute drive away from the JGL Shepherd Hop Farm, mostly down a bunch of gravel roads, which my tiny Chevrolet Sonic did not enjoy travelling down back last year. With the proximity of Skout to the hop farm, Skout was able to come out with a Fresh-hopped beer that consisted of hops harvested only minutes earlier, making Skout one of the few breweries out there that can claim that feat, aside from hop and grain to glass farm-based breweries. For the fresh hopped beer, Skout came out with a Fresh Hopped IPA called Straight Outta Fleming, to pay tribute to the very farm it came from. The beer is 5% ABV and contains fresh Cashmere and Comet hops to provide a juicy burst of peach. Pairs well with Harvest celebrations, fall sweaters and toasted BLTs.
Appearance: Moderately clear, somewhat cloudy ale with a caramel appearance to it. The head starts off with a light-to-moderate appearance to it but gradually goes down to just a tiny amount of bubbles at the edge. Good amount of carbonation it the body.
Aroma: Caramel malt is the first thing I get from the beer, but then I get a moderate tropical sweetness of peach and grapefruit. The label wasn't lying about the peach at all! There's a definite pine/leafy bitterness to it with a slight nuttiness at the end.
Taste: The nuttiness is the first thing I get, followed by the same things I got from the aroma - a good amount of peach, as well as grapefruit, as well as a hint of lemon. VERY leafy-forward and almost like lettuce to an extent. Very smooth and definitely palatable for an IPA!
Overall Thoughts: Sweet-forward IPA with a bit of leafy/bitterness to it, tad nutty, great example on what a brewery can do with the freshest hops on the planet at the time of brew.
This made me think, I should post my photos of my visit to JGL Shepherd Farms soon
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