On Tap: Brewers benefit from bounty of backyard hops
‘Fresh sheet” takes on a new meaning this month for beer lovers.
Around the region, brewers are making their annual beers with fragrant, freshly harvested hops – and in a growing trend, they’re asking backyard hop farmers to pitch in.
Iron Goat collected more than 100 pounds of hops from home growers last Saturday at its third annual Spo Hop picking party, up from some 60 pounds last year. They immediately went into the tank for a beer by that name, which will be ready in a couple of weeks.
Meanwhile, look for the Goat’s other fresh hop beer, an IPA using commercially harvested Simcoes, any day now.
Laughing Dog – which has won six medals at the Yakima Fresh Hop Ale Festival, more than any other brewery – is again brewing a batch with locally picked hops, plus three more using commercial Cascades. And Slate Creek is getting in on the action with a Backyard Harvest Rye IPA.
Plenty more are coming using all commercially grown hops. Trickster’s is readying a pair, one with Citra and Chinook, and a Cascadian dark ale made with Simcoe, Centennial and Mosaic.
Simcoe is the single hop of choice for IPAs from Twelve String and from Paradise Creek in Pullman, which is brewing its fourth annual Alpha Madness. Look for that at the Inland NW Craft Beer Festival in Spokane at the end of the month (see following item).
Also debuting there will be Easy Green Fresh Hop Pale, a collaboration between River City and Waddell’s using Simcoe, Cascade and Equinox. And No-Li will release an all-Chinook offering at the Yakima festival on Oct. 4.
Iron Goat, Laughing Dog and Paradise Creek will be on hand as well. For ticket information, see www.freshhopalefestival.com.
Making their pitch
Fresh hop offerings are only part of more than 100 beers from 35 breweries statewide coming to the Inland NW Craft Beer Festival, Sept. 26-27 at Avista Stadium – a new home for the event after four years at Riverfront Park.
Parking was the biggest concern about the downtown location, said Eric Radovich, executive director of the sponsoring Washington Beer Commission. There will be plenty of that at Avista, for free, with breweries lined up along the outfield wall and baseball-themed activities on the infield.
Radovich, who happens to be the official scorer and part-time announcer for the Seattle Mariners, got the idea from a similar festival at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma. “I saw some pictures and thought, ‘That looks kind of cool,’ ” he said.
With the help of some promotion at the end of the Spokane Indians season and during the Spokane Interstate Fair, Radovich hopes to finally pull in the 3,000 people the festival needs to break even financially. He expected that last year, when ticket presales were up 25 percent, but cold, wet weather dampened the crowd to around 2,100.
Advance tickets are $20 (they’ll be $25 at the gate) online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/805556, and at several area breweries and Pints Alehouse. Or you can get in for free in return for working a volunteer shift; for details, see washingtonbeer.com/ inlandnwcraftbeerfestival/volunteers.
Freshly tapped
• Perry Street is pouring a crisp-finishing American Pale Ale (5.2 percent alcohol by volume, 33 International Bitterness Units) that’s lighter in color, alcohol and bitterness than its previous Northwest Pale Ale, with orange and grapefruit notes from a combination of Amarillo and Cascade.
• Iron Goat’s rose-tinted Apricot Blackberry Sour (6.2, 17) starts out fairly tart and lightly fruity before finishing dry with a little lingering bite. More of the base beer has gone into a cabernet sauvignon barrel, minus the fruit, for long-term aging.
• The easy-drinking Cloud Sweeper ESB (6.2, 60) at Hopped Up is medium-bodied with a slightly sweet maltiness and some spicy hoppiness.
• Twelve String released two new beers this week: the clove-accented HIPA (6.2, 67), a hybrid featuring Bavarian hefeweizen yeast and an IPA hop profile, and the bright, citrusy Palouse Hoppin’ India session ale (4.6, 62) with all Mosaic hops and malt made from regionally grown barley.
• The latest from Big Barn on Green Bluff is Miss Maggie’s Lavender IPA (6.1, 87), with a pronounced floral aroma nicely balanced by fruity Amarillo hops.
Brewery watch
• Green Bluff’s second brewery, 238 Brewing, has been wrapping up its federal licensing and hopes to open at the beginning of October.
• Also shooting for early October is Downdraft Brewing in Post Falls, which is brewing away in preparation.
• Black Label, on the east end of downtown Spokane, is looking to begin limited distribution later in October, with a taproom opening at month’s end.
• Daft Badger in Coeur d’Alene is getting ready to remodel its facility, with an eye toward opening before year’s end.
• December is the target date for the brewery incubator project at the former Spokane Public Market, with space shared by three fledgling breweries: Young Buck, Ponderosa and another yet to be named.
• Plans still call for eventually adding a brewery at Paragon Brewing in Coeur d’Alene, which is operating as a restaurant/pub serving other people’s beer.
Save the date
• Sours N’ September continues today and Saturday at The Lantern Taphouse, with more than 20 sour beers on tap and in bottles in the outdoor tent over the course of the weekend and live music nightly at 10 p.m.
• Perry Street Brewing’s Oktoberfest on Sept. 18-19 will feature a kolsch and traditional Oktoberfest lager, beer hall-style seating and a German-inspired menu from the Couple of Chefs food truck. Commemorative 32-ounce steins are available in advance for $25 (includes one fill).
• Manito Tap House continues the Oktoberfest fun Sept. 20 (all ages 3-7 p.m., 21 and older until 10 p.m.) with food trucks, German beers, games and live music under the outdoor tent. Tickets are $15 in advance (includes a half-liter stein and one fill) at oktoberfest- 2014.simpletix.com, or $12 at the door (no stein).