N. Portland’s Swift Cider is one of a few northwest cideries getting into the hop harvest season with a fresh hop version of their Pineapple Hop Cider. Already one of our favorite Oregon ciders, the Pineapple Hop flavor is complemented by tropical fresh El Dorado hops in this very limited release.

Pineapple Hop is a longtime Swift Cider flagship flavor that was originally called Dank Hop, but was more recently rebranded and the amount of pineapple amped up. The fresh cut pineapple adds sweetness and body to the fermentation for the base, while all the hops add a dank bitter balance.

“Even people who say they don’t like hopped cider tend to enjoy the beer-like balance of this one. For the hop heads among us, this cider is straight up dank,” says Swift cider owner Aidan Currie.

For the 2021 fresh hop version of Pineapple Hop they sourced 60 lbs of El Dorado hops freshly harvested from Crosby Hop Farm in Woodburn, Oregon. The hops steeped for 10 days on the cold side with a 300 gallon batch of the pineapple hop base cider.

El Dorado Hops were born and bred at CLS Farms in the Yakima valley of Washington and introduced in 2010. El Dorado is known as a big juicy hop with natural notes of pineapple, pear, watermelon and stonefruit and as an efficient bittering hop, but can be used in late additions to maximize the fresh, fruity aroma and flavor.

“Not only can you expect some piney pineapple hop tasting characteristics, but you can also expect some lovely orange tang, tropical fruit, and pineapple aromas,” says cidermaker Stan Barnes.

El Dorado Fresh Hop Pineapple Cider is not as sweet as it might sound, it really is dank and tropical with a surprising amount of bitterness. Grass, weed, and ganja intertwined with Sunny D flavors for a semi dry finish.

This fresh hop cider is on draft now at the Swift Cider taproom in N. Portland at 100 NE Farragut St UNIT 101 and a limited number of kegs are available via Point Blank Distributing, and should be showing up on draft at the following Portland and Eugene area establishments.

Belmont Station
Mayfly
John's Market
Loyal Legion
Apex
Imperial Bottle Shop Division
Imperial Bottle Shop Alberta
Ale Fire
Beer Garden Eugene
Public House Eugene
The Bier Stein Eugene
Lombard House
Bridgetown Beer House
Roscoe's
Haymaker
John's Market SE