Brewers from the Pacific Northwest and Cascadia, confirm their beers made with fresh hops, for this year's Guide to Fresh Hop beers.
Close your eyes, imagine a hilltop, silhouetted by the oncoming sun, the birds starting to chirp and a sense of crispness in the air. Continuing with that thought, imagine the sun rising behind those same hills, its light rolling down the hill like an avalanche into the Yakima and Willamette valleys. Slowly, as the sun washes West on it’s journey to the Pacific Ocean, hop bines can be seen. Finally, imagine the sounds of tractors and box trucks, as you witness the unveiling of the early morning harvest. That’s right, it’s another year of fresh hops.
A magical time for brewers and farmers alike, the hop harvest is the culmination of a farmer's work as they plant the rhizomes, watch them grow, before guiding their vines along the trellis wires, before cutting them down for another season. It’s also a time, where for a few short weeks, brewers can produce a beer that is made with hops from the bine to the kettle, in less than 48 hours. Taking the magic out of the process, this is also a period of stress for those who are given days, not weeks, to prepare their breweries when their varietals of hops are harvested. But we understand if you care little ‘house the sausage is made’ as it relates to your fresh-hopped beer.
For those who neither labor or brew, this is your unique opportunity to enjoy beers that produce memorable aromas, some polarizing, some familiar. A time when it is easy to be overwhelmed by the plethora of beers and breweries producing their homage to the hop harvest.
Recognizing the overwhelming options, the Northwest Beer Guide has sought out hundreds of brewers, with the one question, are you making a fresh hop beer? Many have answered but hundreds are noticeably silent. After reviewing the answers, we have created this unique Guide to Fresh Hop beers, which is both interactive and educational.
Located in its own Guide, we invite you to click here to learn more about fresh hop beers.
Within the Guide you will find a breakdown of releases by date, if they are packaged, and also the hops and farms that support breweries during this season of harvest. Besides an interactive list of beers, each brewery is represented via an individual ‘profile’, featuring abv, ibu, and other helpful information. Besides ingredient breakdown and abv/ibu, each ‘profile’ provides links to learn more about the fresh hops incorporated in the beer, the farm where the hops were sourced, the brewery, and even a map to the brewery’s taproom.
So, sit back, crack open a cold one, and relive the most interesting time of the year for brewers, farmers, and imbibers.
Welcome to another hop harvest and fresh hop beers.
